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Information on this page is provided by Roseanne Jefferson.
Roseanne is a retired USPS employee with an extensive background in USPS
retirement, disability retirement, OWCP, EEO, Labor Relations and HR.
She conducts individual and group counseling and is able to
comprehensively discuss the pros and cons of employees who are on OWCP,
disability retirement and regular retirement. Roseanne will be happy
to answer your postal retirement questions. Contact Roseanne at
roseanne.jefferson@yahoo.com. |
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Postal Retirement
Q&A December 2011 |
Good Day Postal Employees
Lot's of talk this month about an
early out, with incentives such as 25
G's or adding years to service time.
There has not been any decision
made...at least not as I am writing
this column. I will write a special
column this month should the early out
be approved by OPM. I would like to
take this time to thank all of my
readers for their emails, as they are
too assisting fellow postal employees
with their questions.
Q 1. Hi
Roseanne- My wife is considering
retiring from the USPS. She has been a
PTF for many years, and not always
getting 40 hours per week. She has 34
years and is 53 years old, and is
under the CSRS. During the past
several years, she has been able to
work full time, plus overtime. My
question? Can you calculate overtime
into the "high 3 years" calculation? I
betting not, so when I chose to
download one of the many retirement
calculators, should I use a 40 hour
work week as the basis? By the way,
which, retirement planning calculator
do you recommend? If you have a fav,
please reply with the link. Thanks, J.
A 1.Hi J - Unfortunately not....
overtime, Sunday premium and night
differential are NOT included in the
calculations for retirement annuity,
just what the form 50 shows as the
salary, so use the SF Form 50 salary.
For CSRS just use my
calculations....they are OPM's
calculations actually not mine, but
they are very accurate...see the CSRS
calculations below
1.5 % of the
high 3 average salary X 5 = $ (the 1st
five years of fed service)
1.75% of
the high 3 average salary x 5 = $ (the
2nd five years of fed service)
2.00
% of the high 3 average salary X 24 $
( the remaining years of federal
service).in your case 24 .
That
is the yearly figure, divide by 12,
that is the monthly figure...pretty
simple. Just to show I am accurate go
to opm.gov and you will see this
validated on the web site. When you
asked about a favorite web site,
opm.gov is where all federal employees
should go to review information
regardless if you a retiree or even
when employed. Roseanne
Q 1a.
Thanks. Yes, the calcs are simple, but
our challenge is finding the data for
the calculations. How do find the data
for the 1st and 2nd five year windows.
Sorry for the confusion. J.
A
1a. Hi J, There are many ways to find
the high 3 average salary. First to to
postalease, liteblue and go to MYHR.
You will need your EIN and PIN. You
don't need the last 5, but the last 3
years of salary. You can go to your
eOPF, on the MYHR and review your form
50's to see what your salary has been
for the last 3 years, and then use
those below calculations to see what
your high 3 average salary is, then
use the above calculations to compute
your annuity. Roseanne
Q 2.Hi
Roseanne, I'm plan on retiring in Jan
2014 (MRA w/30yrs FERS), but I might
take a VERA early out if they offer
it. I have a couple of questions.
1) Can you go a little more in depth
about the special ssa supplement
(other than what's on the official
video about it)?
2) Would I be
able to withdraw from my tsp account
immediately with no penalties at mra/30,
or do I have to wait until 59 & 1/2 to
be penalty free? Thanks, P
A 2.
Hi P, The SSA supplement is PAID by
OPM (not social security) and is a
"bridge" of money so that you are not
living on just the FERS retirement,
which is difficult to do prior to age
62 since the FERS is only ONE part of
your THREE tiered retirement. The way
to figure out your Special Supplement
payment, is to take 33.00 times the
number of years worked, in your case
approx. $990. That is paid until age
62, your first opportunity to get
social security. I suggest that you
take it at age 62 rather than waiting
for the higher amount at 65, 66 etc.
You will never recapture the amount of
money lost for those 3 years (between
age 62-65) if you wait until later
than 62 to take the SS check.
TSP- yes you can immediately pull out
the $$ in TSP. Whether it's an annuity
purchased through them (Metropolitan
Life) or a monthly payment (paid by
the TSP Board) or pull all of it out
and roll it over. As long a you
retire, there is NO penalty, that 59
1/2 is not applicable to your case. I
was 57 when I retired (early out) and
I pulled all of my money out of TSP (
I was a CSRS) and I was not penalized
for being under 59 1/2, I did however
pay a heavy tax because I did not roll
it over to another IRA or Roth or
401k... I didn't have much of 12 G's
in it. Hopefully this has been
encouraging news to you! Roseanne
Q 2a. Hi Roseanne, It looks like
they may offer another early out soon.
It might be 25k + 2yrs service time
added for FERS. That would put me at
30 yrs, but I'm 54, so I'm 2 yrs shy
of my MRA. If I took the early out,
how much would I be penalized? I know
that I can't get the ss supplement
until MRA. Would you advise against
taking it & wait out the 2yrs? Thanks!
P
A 2a. Hi P, Based on the
early out criteria, you should NOT be
penalized for being under 62, as long
as you are at your MRA. BUT, before
everyone starts jumping the gun, let's
see what they are offering; will there
be a penalty for under 62 if NOT at
MRA. Once there is a decision made,
then I will see what they really mean,
and write something in my column,
regardless if it's in 2 days or 2
weeks. Roseanne
Follow Up: OK,
thanks Roseanne! You basically
answered my question. Not min ret age
= penalty (Unless they deem
otherwise). Knowing the P.O., They
won't offer cash & years. It will
probably be one or the other. There
are a lot of people just waiting for
the cash! Thanks again! P
Q 3.
I am under CSRS, and will retire with
less than 40 quarters to draw social
security. My question is if I don't
have 40 quarters until after I reach
62. Can I draw social security without
affecting my CSRS or will they still
take my military time away?
A
3.Under CSRS rules and regulations as
they relate to retirement and social
security...provided you don't have 40
quarters of social security when you
retire AND YOU DON'T GO BACK TO WORK
AFTER RETIREMENT TO GET THOSE MISSING
QUARTERS TO EQUAL 40, then your
military years count FULLY without
paying it back. BUT if you do go back
to work, and eventually gain 40
quarters, then at age 62 you will have
the 40 quarters and be eligible for
the social security check, and then
YES, your CSRS annuity will be reduced
by the number of years (of military
time) that was counted towards your
federal years (that you did not pay
back). Prior to retirement you still
have the ability to buy back your
military, but only do this if you know
that you intend on going back to work
to gain the 40 quarters.
BUT
lets be clear, that amount that is
showing on your social security
statement, which I surmise is about
500-600 per month, is NOT THE AMOUNT
YOU ARE GOING TO RECEIVE. Even if you
pay your military back, your social
security check is going to be reduced
simply because you have a CSRS
annuity. This is called WEP (Windfall
Elimination Provision). Don't make
this decision lightly, as it will cost
you at age 62...that is if you go back
to work after retirement. Roseanne
I wish everyone a very Merry
Christmas and a safe and prosperous
New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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