Prior military service may earn federal employees retirement credits, which can calculate retirement eligibility and annuities. However, the qualifying conditions for CSRS and FERS personnel are not the same. Here is a full breakdown of the regulations that govern the two systems.
Eligibility Rules for Civil Service Retirement System Employees
Before October 1, 1982, civilians who worked for the federal government after 1956 but didn’t put in a deposit will be able to retire under the CSRS. Therefore, it will be subject to Catch-62, which is used for computing the annuity of employees with prior military service but who have not paid the required deposit to have the military years added to their civilian years. They should also have the necessary credits to be eligible for Social Security benefits at 62.
Their Social Security benefits will not reflect their prior military service, but their initial retirement computation will. Their annuity will be computed twice, the first computation with the military years and the second computation for Social Security without the military years.
This program doesn’t apply if a federal worker won’t be eligible for Social Security benefits when they turn 62. CSRS employees hired after October 1, 1982, who have not made the required deposit, will only be able to retire.
Eligibility Rules for FERS Employees
The rules that apply to FERS employees are more straightforward for FERS employees with post-1956 military service who have made the required deposit will receive neither retirement eligibility nor annuity computation. However, it should be noted that those who pay the deposit under FERS and CSRS will receive both.
Military Deposit
The military deposit for active-duty military service took care of the period of your employment history when you did not make any retirement contributions to the FERS or CSRS from your salary. However, the deposit is not compulsory. You could decide to forgo it, but there will be some effects, as stated above. It may stop your years of military service from counting towards your retirement eligibility or annuity computation.
If you want to make the deposit, you have to do that before retirement. If you hold off depositing until separation for retirement, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will not adjudicate your annuity. However, if you deposit retirement, you will receive retirement credits that would count towards your annuity computation.
But that would mean you must forgo your retired military pay in most cases. Different rules apply for separated employees, and they do not have to make the military deposit.
Make a request that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) not pay you for retired military service. It will help you figure out how much you will get in pension benefits because you served in the military. People who want to write the Retired Pay Operations Center at least two months (60 days) before they plan to retire from the government must also make do so early.
Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 9568933225
Bio:
Rick Viader is a Federal Retirement Consultant that uses proven strategies to help federal employees achieve their financial goals and make sure they receive all the benefits they worked so hard to achieve.
In helping federal employees, Rick has seen the need to offer retirement plan coaching where Human Resources departments either could not or were not able to assist. For almost 14 years, Rick has specialized in using federal government benefits and retirement systems to maximize retirement incomes.
His goals are to guide federal employees to achieve their financial goals while maximizing their retirement incomes.
