Q & A
I am a CSRS Offset employee planning to retire at the end of the year. Do you know how much of a percentage (penalty) I’ll have to pay out of my retirement check since I’ll be collecting Social Security? Will I be able to collect on my husband’s Social Security if he dies before me?
Answer: You can estimate the reduction in your CSRS annuity using the following formula: Divide the Social Security benefit amount provided by the Social Security Administration by 40 and multiply the product by your total years of CSRS Offset service rounded to the nearest whole number. Just be aware that this is an academic exercise. The amount you receive will be the same, it will just come from two different places: the Office of Personnel Management and the Social Security Administration. If you have at least 60 months of coverage under CSRS Offset, you’ll be able to collect your husband’s Social Security survivor benefit.
Source: Federal Times, August 23, 2013 (http://blogs.federaltimes.com/federal-retirement/2013/08/23/annuity-reduction-10/)
This posting is presented for informational purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. Any opinions or interpretations presented are either those of the original author or, in the case of articles authored by the AMAC Foundation, are the opinions of AMAC Foundation staff, originally trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA) and certified via the AMAC Foundation. Any links included in the article are valid on the posted date; socialsecurityreport.org cannot guarantee the duration of the links’ validity. NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity. To submit a question, visit our website (https://amacfoundation.org/services/) or email us at ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org. Because we are a non-profit organization, there is no charge for these services.