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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@icloud.com. |
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Postal Retirement
Q&A December 2013 |
Good Day Postal Employees!!
I begin this
month's column wishing everyone a peace filled
holiday season. I could not let this Christmas
pass without sending my heart felt appreciation to
all of you who write me just inquiring about
Hope's condition. To those who send prayer chains;
teachers that have their students say a prayer
every morning, in Hope's behalf. The many churches
(of all denominations) around the country, that
have her on their weekly prayer list, to all of
you - for all of that, I am truly humbled by your
response. We are so grateful for what has been
initiated in Hope's behalf. She is still
undergoing radiation as of today, and will
continue daily sessions for several more
undetermined weeks. We are praying for a healthy
prognosis this year for her, with all that she has
overcome so far. And so to all of the readers of
Postalmag, and followers of my column, I wish you
all with overwhelming sincerity, a Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year. Roseanne
Well it's
that time of year, and I know working at the post
office during Christmas, can be unreal. This is
when some employees (regardless of rank) are at
their worst and then there are some that will
shine brightly at being their best. It is a hard
time of year and you have to be a postal employee
to know it and understand it fully. And unless you
are a postal employee, it's pretty hard to
complain to anyone else. And when we do voice our
complaints, they typically fall on deaf ears.
Why?.. oh you know why�.it's because of our wages.
That is what everyone says, you make big money,
and so, if you don't like it - leave. And we can't
do anything but agree�."but it shouldn't be that
hard to do this job"�, yea I know, we all say it.
"It's not the job�it's the people", yea, we say
that too. I know for me, Christmas hiring was the
HR Superbowl, every single year. And you hear "but
it's not all of the people, just this one or that
one". Yes, in every office, in every district , it
is THE SAME. Working at the PO is an emotionally
toiling job. From working Tour 3 or Tour 1; or
working weekends for years. Or being unable to to
be at family functions during the holidays, like
that doesn't just piss off the spouse! I would
say, if I didn't write this column, that it's
probably not that bad anymore�.but not from the
information I am getting from all of you. Some
that write are not "years in" as some others are,
and don't really know how rough it was without
machines to sort the mail, I do�.I go back THAT
FAR. This is how far I go back, see if the terms
even mean anything to you: LSM, OCR, blue goose,
nixy, "inside annual"; tie off a sack; 5 minute
leeway; sweeping the machine; pie cart; casing
mail in 030 or 040, ah, by hand. The days when you
LITERALLY had to lift 70 pounds by lifting a sack
(that was weighed ensuring the 70 pounds was
correct!! ) and DOING IT in front of your
supervisor. This on-site physical test was given
to clerks, mail handlers and carriers alike. EVERY
job in the post office had a REQUIREMENT of
lifting 70 pounds. I wonder how many can do that
today that are hired. Yes, I go so far back, that
I was "issued" a postal ashtray that clipped on my
case in 045, so that I could smoke and case mail
at the same time (unbelievable is it NOT!!) And
yes the USPS logo was on the ashtray!!! So in
going back, I also came full circle as I sat in my
office (District HR) with huge windows that
overlooked the parking lot of employees going in
and out of Shared Services. So I am telling you
during this Christmas season�..RETIREMENT IS SO
WORTH IT�.DO THE RIGHT THING FOR
YOURSELF.�PLAN�.UNDERSTAND TSP��KNOW AND
UNDERSTAND YOUR RETIREMENT PLAN. For many, the
retirement and benefits ARE worth the missed
holiday dinners, and the missed parties, and some
vacations you were not able to attend. I tell you
this, because it's so!!
I have had
countless emails, and phone conversations about
how badly things are going in the particular post
office that you work at. Many of the complaints
are so very much the same that clearly it is NOT
your DISTRICT, and no doubt not the AREA office(s)
either. The tactics, the absurd "new ways" of
doing things can only come straight from
Headquarters. It's the Christmas season, and I
don't have to tell any of you, this is the worst
time of the year for any postal employee, in any
position, in any office�everywhere�.and with all
of the early outs, regular retirements, little if
ANY hiring and most of all NO REAL restructuring,
I am sure it is very difficult now.
NOTICE
OF INFORMATION FROM ME TO YOU
I have
reviewed so many different types of annuity
estimates from postal employees all over the
country. I am here to tell you that an estimate
ain't an estimate, unless it's the NARCES Estimate
(USPS National Retirement Counseling System
Annuity Estimate) top left of page says: Report
AAF241P1. THAT IS THE REAL RETIREMENT ESTIMATE.
Not the one they try to "encourage you" to pull
yourself�."oh, you can do that yourself�.." Some
annuity estimates that employees have brought me,
that they ordered themselves, or received from
HRSSC look like a "screen print". There is one
that is truly jacked up with wack'ed information
is the "Benefits Estimate Report". If it were me,
I would be very specific about what I would accept
as a PROPER ANNUITY ESTIMATE�OKAY�..I HAVE TOLD
YOU - AND AS THE PO SAYS "YOU'VE NOW BEEN
INFORMED"
Q. 1 - Hi Roseanne, I recently
retired during the early out for Postmasters. I am
66 years old and retired with 29 years of service.
I have heard that if I was to make a withdrawal
from my TSP Account I would not be charged the 10%
penalty by the government due to the age I retired
at. I also have heard that you can transfer your
IRA�s to the TSP Account. Would you have to pay
taxes first on any Traditional IRA transfer to the
TSP. Thank you for any information you can give me
on this subject and you have been a great source
of Postal information throughout the years. JTS
A. 1 - Hi JTS, If you are 66 now, to be
honest, you could have taken your money out long
ago and without a penalty; taxes (well depending
on how you decide to withdraw your money) yes�.
but a penalty no. And to respond to your second
question, that flat out is NO!! You can NEVER EVER
put money into the TSP account. That is "monitored
& guarded" money�.because no taxes have ever been
paid on that money. You didn't when you
contributed to TSP, (when it was withdrawn from
your paycheck) the agency didn't when they
deposited the 1% for each FERS employee OR, the
matching funds of your contribution. Nor has any
taxes been paid on the interest earned on that
money. So this money is in a place all by itself.
After you retire (or leave federal service) you
can withdraw your funds from TSP. After separation
from the Postal Service, if you rolled that money
into another 401K, you wouldn't pay taxes on that
transaction either. An easy way to say this�.you
pay taxes on TSP money is when it is "spendable"
and at the "rate" in which you receive it. When it
is in your bank, or in your hand, you now owe
taxes on it because you can spend it. And you are
very welcome�.now lets go get your money!! You
will need to fill out a TSP-70. Go to tsp.gov,
once you get to that page, at the top right hand
corner, you will see Forms & Publications, click
on that and then go to the forms, you will see it
as one of the top 5 most requested forms. You can
also call TSP at 1-877-968-3778. The TSP-70 is the
form required to do ANYTHING AT ALL with your TSP
funds. Roseanne
Q. 2 - Good Evening
Roseanne, My question is I am with CSRS and was
wondering how many hours of sick leave, count as a
month more toward your retirement. I have heard
two different 174 and 160 ? Is either right?
Thanks for the great service you do for us. My
thoughts and prayers go out to you and your
family! GL
A. 2 - Thank you, we truly
appreciate the prayers!! Sincerely. First
understand that all sick time is credited�.too a
point!!! (AND in 2014 that will be the exact same
message for both CSRS and FERS employees). What is
far more relevant, is what will you have as a sick
leave balance on the day you plan to retire. So
instead of looking to see how many hours
calculates as an additional month, you should be
looking at an annuity estimate, because your
credible time and sick leave is combined together
for retirement calculations, and it shows that on
the annuity estimate. At least it does on the
NARCES annuity estimate. As an example, let's say
you were looking to retire December 31, and have
an annuity estimate dated for January (which is
correct), and you ordered it in July, (6 months in
advance of your retirement date). The sick leave
should not be advanced (to you ) to match up with
what you would have on Dec 31st, simply because
the annuity estimate is calculated to end your
employment on Dec 31. That annuity estimate should
be just as what your sick leave is on the day you
ordered it. So trying to calculate what adds to a
month is almost meaningless, if trying to add to
years of service. As I said the only way is to
have an annuity estimate to have the absolute
answer. But to answer your question according the
"Sick Leave Chart - 2080 hours, 173 equals a
month. Roseanne
Q 3. - Hi Roseanne- I was
wondering if you could clarify my annuity
calculation if I left (just resigning) the po. I
am FERS 5-9-87 start date, clerk, level 7 with 26
and a half yrs in.. Waiting for the next early out
but what if I decided to leave before an early out
and defer my retirement. I am currently 49 yrs of
age, my MRA is 56. I heard you can defer to age
60. Is that true? Would I start receiving a
monthly check at age 60? What penalties would be
taken out of my annuity? Any clarification would
help, Thank You ER
A 3. - Hi ER, First we
need to clear up a few things. Yes, if you resign,
based on YOUR age and years of service you can
defer your retirement until you reach age 60.
(Because you already have 26.5). However, you
don't get the FULL value of your retirement, which
includes the Special Supplement, which can be
considered one penalty. You must be in a very
specific situation for this to be a great move.
One would be if you were going on to other
employment that has great benefits. Because you
won't be getting health insurance or life
insurance at the rates you currently pay as a
postal employee. When you turn 60, you will need
to initiate contact with OPM to begin to collect
your annuity. As a second penalty, your
"retirement" with OPM will not include federal
life insurance or federal health benefits. If you
are resigning, and don't take your FERS
contributions out, then below is the information
you really need. It's important enough to quote.
This is what regulations say about Deferred
Retirement: "If you separate from service before
you are eligible for an immediate annuity and you
do not take a refund of your retirement
contributions, you will be eligible for a deferred
retirement benefits as soon as you attain the age
that corresponds with the age and service
combinations shown below. You will not be
permitted to continue Federal Employees Health
Benefits or Federal Employees Group Life
Insurance. You are not eligible for the special
retirement supplement"
Age Service
MRA
30
60 20
62 5
MRA 10 (reduced)
So
that is the criteria, and it is the same criteria
as regular retirement. Providing you are a full
time employee and have been for some time, then
you can simply use your high 3 average salary, and
then times it by 1%. That figure is used times the
number of years of service. Then that figure is
divided by 12 for the gross monthly annuity. That
first figure is without spousal benefits (and of
course no life or health insurance�which REALLY is
the biggest benefit of retirement. SO to add a bit
to this�.you don't have to wait until age 60, in
your case, when you reach your MRA of 56, you will
have more than the 30 years. It will take you 3.5
years to reach 30 years of service. It will take
you 11 years to reach age 60, but only 7 years to
reach your MRA. Roseanne
Q 4. - Hi
Roseanne, Thanks for being so helpful to so many
people. My question is this: I'd like to retire
March 1, 2014. In order to be eligible (30 yrs) I
need to buy back some of my work time at the IRS.
I have my retirement papers ready to fill out
including the buyback papers. My retirement
counseling is at the end of November. Is that
really enough time to retire? I was told I would
have to pay the money back while I was still
employed at the Post Office. I am a FERS employee
and I am 59 years old. Thanking you in advance for
your help to so many. J
A 4. - Hi J, NOT
sure if you understand your retirement plan, but
if you are 59, you don't need 30 years to retire.
You have your eligibility when you have 20 years
and are 60, so I am going to assume that you are
not wanting to wait until you turn 60 and want to
retire. In your case, being 59 and not yet 60 &
not wanting to wait until you turn 60, then yes
you do need 30 years to retire. When you retire,
there should be (in the big blue retirement
booklet) a form that has "military buy back"
information, which has to be paid back before
retirement (but I have seen and have been told by
many employees, that they have put the check for
military buy back in with their retirement papers.
But that is with the understanding that they have
already sent off for the information and know the
precise amount of money that needs to be paid
back. However, there is no form in the retirement
booklet for buy back prior federal service. I
guess one question I would have for you, before
you start to get twisted over this...because I can
see you confusing the folks over at HRSSC! First
off, your IRS service�.."should I buy back some of
my work time" confuses me. What do you mean by
buying back "some time"? As if you could buy back
only a part of it?? There are "trigger dates" that
federal time can be bought back, if your IRS time
was non-career. If you were a career employee at
the IRS and resigned, then pulled your money out
of retirement, well that would be one case where
you can buy it back. Generally IRS time (unless a
census taker) is career time. I would suggest that
you look in your eOPF (OR on the back of one of
the sheets that was sent to you with your annuity
estimate). On the annuity estimate (if NARCES), it
outlines all military service, paid or unpaid and
all federal service career or non-career. If you
go into your eOPF, look for Form 50's that show
your IRS time. When you were hired, did you list
your employment at the IRS on your employment
application for the Post Office? The application
specifically asks if you EVER had another federal
job. And if all that was done correctly when you
were hired, your "federal OPF" from your IRS
employment, (which would have been ordered from
the National Civilian records repository in St.
Louis, MO), would have been "married up" (or
co-mingled) with your postal OPF. So this
information should already be in there, again if
done correctly. When was your employment at the
IRS, and how long was it? Roseanne
R 4.-
The IRS time was back in the early 80's. HR had
sent me the form to buy back the old work credit
in a separate envelope. It said if you are within
8 months of retirement, file it with your
retirement papers. It was career time but the
civil service contributions were refunded to me
many years ago. Thanks, J
A4-. - Hi J,
Yes, you can pay this back with your retirement
paperwork, since HRSSC has sent you the form. DID
you look on your eOPF history to SEE If the IRS is
a part of your federal history? YOU MUST do that!!
If you are now FERS and this IRS time is CSRS, the
first thing I would do is look in my eOPF for an
RTR report. I would be calling HRSSC and ask
(immediately when they answer the phone) to speak
to someone that can answer a PRECISE
question�(because this is NOT going to be in a
book that they can just flip a page to find the
answer)�.about FERCA�Using that term pronounced
fer-ca. The reason is because if you are FERS and
you are buying back OLD CSRS time, it may be an
issue as it relates to the retirement system you
are in. This is why I am saying look in your eOPF
history to see if it's there. This may be a bigger
issue than you know. Roseanne
Q 5. - Hi
Roseanne, I have a quick question for you, my
birthday is Jan. 9 and I reach MRA in 2015, I'm
FERS and will have 34 total years with Military,
and SL combined. My question is, does it really
matter if I go on that date or wait till the end
of that month. I heard for CSRS it's good to
retire at the beginning of a month, and for FERS
to retire at the end of a month? What would happen
if I left on Jan. 9, 2015 ? Thank you, in advance,
Sincerely, JJ
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