Talk:Federal Employees Retirement System

FERS retirements for Air Reserve Technicians
I am bringing this talk page due to the confusion about FERS Retirements concerning Air Reserve Technicians and General Employees covered under FERS. If you are an Air Reserve Technician FERS employee you can retire with a Basic Annuity and a Social Security Supplement if you have 25 years as a Air Reserve Technician and you are 50 years old. You do not have to wait until you are MRA. Reference, http://www.cpms.osd.mil/assets/faec703237984a09b9f20ad05baabe30/military%20technician%20faqs-dec%202007-1.pdf. Remember if you are non-retained by the Air Force that means they approved your request for retirement and they are non-retaining you. It is there option to retain you for your entire enlistment at their discretion. Furthermore you should understand the CSRS and FERS handbook for personnel and payroll offices chapters 44, 46, and 51. These chapters will outline your retirement rights for Air Reserve Technicians and they are only a few pages long each. Also you can retire at any time during the month if you meet the age and sevice requirements for retirement and your annuity will start the next day. You do not have to wait until the end of the month as general employees do. Reference chapter 44 page 34 of the CSRS and FERS handbook for personnel and payroll offices. Reading chapters 44, 46, and 51 of the CSRS and FERS handbook for personnel and payroll offices which can be found online is key to understanding your retirement rights. Once you decide to retire you must give the Air Force at least 6 months notice and give the Civilian Personnel office on base at least 4 months notice in order to get your annuity started for you on time. Also it is a good idea to submit for a retirement estimate before you retire in case you find an issue with your service computation date once you retire. Your retirement estimate computed by OPM at Randolf AFB TX will show your service computation date and will also show you your retirement estimate. Remember, as an Air Reserve Technician you are entitled to a social security supplement which can not be subject to an earnings test until you are MRA and you can receive this supplement with 25 years as a technician at age 50. If you find a problem with your retirement once you retire you should write a letter to OPM at Boyer's, Pennsylvania with your concerns and attatch all supporting documentation with your letter to include any estimates you have and page and paragraph supporting information you have from the CSRS and FERS handbook for personnel and payroll offices with your letter. Boyer's, Pensylvania will send your records to OPM Washington DC and they will assign a case worker to address your concerns which you can call and talk to also. Good luck and I hope you will not encounter the same problems with your retirement as I did when I retired. Air Reserve Technicians are Special Employees with Special Provisions set forth by the Office of Personnel Management we are not General Employees.

I am suggesting a way to improve the quality of this article (edits in < >):

Eligibility for FERS Most new federal employees hired on or after January 1, 1984  are automatically covered under FERS. Those newly hired and certain employees rehired between January 1, 1984  and December 31, 1986  were automatically converted to coverage under FERS on January 1, 1987. Rehired federal employees who worked prior to December 31, 1983  and had 5 years of civilian service by December 31, 1986  can choose between remaining in CSRS or electing FERS within 6 months of rehire. Once an employee is covered by FERS or elects to switch from CSRS to FERS coverage, the employee remains covered by FERS. Employees of Nonappropriated Fund Instrumentalities of the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security participate in a separate retirement system, except when retaining previous coverage under a different retirement system following a transfer.

Eligibility for annuity In order to qualify for the standard FERS annuity an employee must have reached a minimum retirement age (MRA) and have a specified number of years of "creditable Federal service". Certain levels of military service may be purchased for a specified amount, but such repurchase is optional.

The MRA is based on the employee's birth year as shown on the table below:

Birth Year	MRA	Birth Year	MRA 1947 or earlier 	55 years	1965	56 years, 2 months 1948	55 years, 2 months	1966	56 years, 4 months 1949	55 years, 4 months	1967	56 years, 6 months 1950	55 years, 6 months	1968	56 years, 8 months 1951	55 years, 8 months	1969	56 years, 10 months 1952	55 years, 10 months 	1970 or after 	57 years 1953–1964	56 years For an immediate retirement (which starts 30 days after the employee stops working) or a deferred retirement the employee must meet one of the following combinations of age and years of creditable service:

Age	Years of Service 62	5 years 60	20 years[1] MRA	30 years MRA	10 years [2] Employees in certain cases of either involuntary separation, or voluntary separation during a "reduction in force,  can qualify for early retirement. The employee must either have 25 years of  service at any age, or 20 years of service  and be age 50. Disability retirement is also a potential option for eligible federal employees with at least 18 months of service who no longer can perform their duties due to a medical disability. [3] — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rjc12 (talk • contribs) 23:40, 19 September 2015 (UTC)

--Rjc12 (talk) 06:57, 20 September 2015 (UTC)