Just for your information, 25+ employees retired from HRSSC on May 31, 2011. So what.... So what... what that means is 25+ employees who had the knowledge and were employees PRIOR to the invention of HRSSC, have left and so too, their knowledge has gone right out the door with them!! Everyone at Shared Services (HRSSC) are not stupid, there are very intelligent, dedicated & great employees who are willing to help....but really, too few that fall into that category. And I can say this because I know them very well, many I myself have trained ! OK - I am done, since I had a ahh commenter stating on the blog that I was ranting and raving and could not understand what I was saying. If you read the blog, I was polite.

Q 1 - Hi Roseanne,

I have inquired with USPS about my retirement. I am still a little confused. I am eligible for a voluntary FERS retirement however I am uncertain what the heck to do.They have not offered but I am ready anyway-- Now do I understand this correctly that if I defer my annuity I take no penalty. And will the USPS pick back up my Medical and life upon retirement age if I defer? Is there a hidden agenda I should know about or is this clean cut. And is my annuity available at regular retirement age or later? And also thanks for being there to help.

A 1 - Hi *****Based on our follow up email to validate your age and years, you should call HRSSC back, be sure and ask for an "H" ticket number because I am sure they will deny they told you wrong information. Ask them to tell you where in the ELM or the EL-312, (manuals that will show information relative to retirement etc)...where the LANGUAGE is for information about Deferred Annuity. Because what you have stated in your email that they told you is incorrect. Information in the FERS Retirement Information Booklet states"

"Deferred Retirement: if you separate from before you are eligible for an immediate annuity, and you do not take a refund of your retirement contributions, you will be eligible for 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"
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AGE SERVICE
MRA 30 (yrs)
60 20 (yrs)
62 5 (yrs)
MRA 10 (Reduced)

So what you asked, and the answer given to you, again is not correct. However, there is another type of FERS retirement, called MRA+10 Retirement Postponed Benefits. This may be where some confusion lies regarding their answer. The information in the FERS retirement Information Booklet it states for this type is:

"You may postpone receipt of the MRA+10 benefit to a later age to lessen the reduction. Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) coverage and Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) coverage may be reinstated when the annuity commences.

Q 2 I am a postal employee (csrs), with 39 years of service. I am having trouble finding out how much federal tax and health benefits would be deducted from my monthly income. I would currently receive 3,269.00 a month before taxes. Thanks for any help in advance.

A 2 In order to find some of this information, the easiest way would be to order your annuity printout from oing from an employee to retirement. As far as the federal taxes are concerned, take the amount of monthly annuity on your statement ordered from HRSSC, then go to opm.gov and click on retirement information. You will find the federal tax annuity calculator right there on line. You just input the monthly amount and check married or single and the number of deductions, hit enter and it give you the federal tax amount.

Q 3 Hi Roseanne, Thanks for your help. My question is about health insurance. My husband retired from USPS (CRS) and carries the insurance for both of us. I retired (FERS) and am 2 years older than him. Can I just stay on his insurance when I turn 62 (1yr) or am I required to join medicare? Because I will be eligible to receive social security, am I mandated to collect s.s. at 62 or lose my supplemental income from FERS? Thanks again for your help.

A 3 Hi, As a postal couple, only one of you can carry family coverage, whether your working or retired. (You both can carry single coverage...but one cannot take single and the other take family) I know why you are asking because of the medicare. But just hear me out

You and your husband can (during open season Nov-Dec) change to single coverage each. That I am sure would lessen the financial burden because 2 single coverages is typically much less than 1 family coverage per month. As far as your question, with him being a CSRS and you being a FERS, has NO bearing on you staying on his insurance, if you decide to do that.

When you turn 65 (not 62) medicare kicks in.. for all of us. Your husband's primary hospital insurance when he reaches age 65 will be medicare (yes I know he is CSRS, so am I but at 65 medicare will be my primary...and no I am not going to receive social security. Like you my husband who is also CSRS will also receive a reduced social security and he will have medicare as his primary at 65....all of us in USA will have medicare as their primary insurance at age 65...regardless. As far as your ss supplement, regulations provided that supplement be paid until your first opportunity to collect social security, which is age 62. You can choose to NOT collect social security until age 65 or older to increase the amount, but the supplement paid by OPM is still going to stop at age 62.

Additionally, When turning 65 and medicare becomes your primary...it's only your primary for hospitalization. You will still need coverage for doctor visits, as well as the paying the "hospital doctor"..medicare only pays the hospital. Additionally you will need coverage for prescriptions. Your FEHB will be an appropriate gap coverage for medicare. People who have FEHB don't need to sign up for medicare part B or D, provided they continue with the FEHB coverage. When one does do the MATH of medicare part a,b, and d, FEHB is still a viable affordable option. Till we talk again.... - Roseanne