left the PO in 99 went to ford motor have 10 solid years so far had 23 yrs PO plus 4 yrs navy bought my time long time ago . not 62 yet only 58 1/2 need to find out whats the best way for me to go without getting screwed to much because of double dipping thanks Chuck

O.K. brothers and sisters-
I need help and ASAP
I wanted to go out this April when I turn 62, I would have 19 years in FERS of course.Originally wanted to go to 2011.
I had a neck fusion surgery in 2005. On my way to work the other day, I was re-ended on the freeway, and really messed up my neck. I am out a week, for now.
If I attempt to go back to work, I could injure myself even more. I just don't want to risk it.
I asked for fmla, sick leave, and they want me to use my annual, or LWOP. So they are already posturing to come after me.If I do go back it would be with so many restrictions, I know they would not want to accommodate, and I would be a prime target for NRP.

My knee-jerk reaction is to put the form in for disability retirement, and go out with what I have.

Any sugestions would be greatly appreciated. I am on so many meds. right now it is hard to even think straight.

Jim-W, you are putting too much thought into retirement. Your wife can claim some of your SS if and when you die. Do more thinking about living and prepare for it. Put no thoughts on dieing. You are making life more miserable thinking about what happens if I die first. Also, retiring on Jan. 1 of any year can be better for a person if they are selling alot of annual leave back. Retirement is way better than I thought and you will feel the same. Just do it when you are ready. All else will take care of itself. And the carriers getting little $$ will not do anything to your retirement benefits since what they get now won't factor into your high 3.

jim-w, sept 2010 might be too far in advance to put in retirement. 90 days prior is the norm. Be sure with the date. If you change it alot, personnel will just mess up the whole process and you will be the loser in the end. Just be firm with your retirement date. As to the answers to insurance and pension, those answers will come when you do the paperwork on retirement.

thinking about getting out!! was told that if i put in my paperwork now with adate in the future (say sept 2010 )that i can change my retire date any time i want ,say sooner ,or later, botton line on this is if i have my papers in does my wife get my full pension and my full life ins ??

Ready1, definitely get your 40 quarters. Even if it isn't much money per month, it will be at least the amount to pay your medicare each month and that would be a big help to you when you turn 65. So go out there and get
the remaining quarters for your SS benefits.

BTW, that $198/mo I get is after the effect of the WEP. It would have been $495/mo.

Anyway, back when I began planning for retirement conventional wisdom was that there would be no SS by the time I retired. Even if the system was still in existence, people like me who were planning for their own financial security in retirement would have, by doing do, forfeited their benefits through means testing or some other mechanism.

Of course, that was just as much malarkey then as it is now. But it did mean I didn't include SS benefits in my retirement planning, mine or my wife's, so now that we're getting them they're a windfall. What ever shall we do with that money?

We're paying our income tax with it. SS sends it to us, we turn it around and send it to the IRS. That makes all our other income effectively "tax free".

Ready1 Absolutely for sure, you want to have your 40 credits of SS on the books. I retired at 53 under VERA, took a few months off, and then got the remaining 11 credits that I needed to be eligible for SS when I turn 62. It's easy to get the credits, $1090. equals 1 credit for this year. You can get no more than 4 credits each year, and can do this working part-time. You will be subject to the Windfall Elimination Provision, NOT the GPO. Go to www.ssa.gov for more info. Now, my SS yearly statements show the amount I would get at 62, but I have to figure on only about 40% of that amount, because of the WEP.

There are so many factors involved I don't know if this will help, but I paid into SS from 1965-1978. My earnings over that period averaged $3917/yr. That's about $21,000/yr today, based on the midpoint 1971's dollars.

I recently signed up for SS to begin at age 62 and my benefit, after the WEP reduction, will be $198/mo.

Probably twelve of those 14 years count for quarters, as the first couple were pretty low and may not have qualified. So I may have 48 quarters of credit. That would bump the annual income that counted up to $24,250/yr today.

Very roughly and broadly speaking, I could guess that if you worked for three more years to get 40 quarters and made at least $11.50/hr, you might get maybe a $165/mo SS benefit, plus annual COLA, for the rest of your life.

Sounds like a prison sentence to me. Compare that added income to your PS pension and see if you really need that SS benefit.

Hello all and happy retirement! I do not have enough Social Security quarters to collect a monthly check as I have only have 28 now. There was a chance for a part time job for me with an interview this week. I love retirement and do not want to work yet wondered with the offset and all if getting 40 quarters is worth it. So I called SS and spoke to a customer service person. She was no absolutely no help in determining if I got the absolute minimum amount of a SS monthly check minus the GPO what this amount would be. Do any of you have the answer? My amount would be based on 40 quarters of minimum amounts of money earned minus GPO collecting at age 62. Thanks and good health to all!

I didn't remember the answer they gave and that issue has already been recycled.

You have a nice day, too.

Ya know, why didn't you just answer the fellows question, ret'd 2/29/o4, instead of giving a pitch for NARFE's magazine? He would have to join NARFE, wait till his membership went thru, wait a couple of months for a magazine to arrive and MAYBE the answer MIGHT be in it. A minimum of 2 months.. I am a member of NARFE and the magazine is nice every month for only 1 reason, the q&a's. I think it is a money grubbing organization just like every other lobby group. But it is all that federal employees have. Much better and faster info can be found on the internet.

I would answer his question for him, but it has never come up in my life.