Q & A
I am eligible to retire under FERS now that I am 56 years old and have 28 years of service with the Veterans Affairs Department. If I were to retire under FERS disability instead, would I still receive the special retirement supplement that accompanies regular FERS retirement? Also, would my five years of military service be taken into account for FERS disability if I have paid my military deposit into the system?
Answer: If you applied for regular retirement, you’d be retiring under the MRA+10 provision, and your FERS annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year you were under age 62. If you were approved for disability retirement, for the first 12 months, you’d receive 60 percent of your high-3, minus 100 percent of any Social Security benefit for which you qualified. After the first 12 months and until age 62, you’d receive 40 percent of your high-3, minus 60 percent of any Social Security disability benefit. You wouldn’t be entitled to the special retirement supplement, nor would your active-duty service for which you made a deposit. At age 62, your disability annuity would be converted to a regular annuity, at which point that active-duty service would be included in the computation.
Source: Reg Jones, FederalTimes.com – January 9, 2014