Q & A
I have been on disability retirement from the Postal Service since October 1988. I am 56 years old (57 in March) and would like to inquire as to my options to retire under MRA. Also, can I receive a ballpark estimate of how much I would get (monthly/yearly) and all other pertinent information? I believe that I read on the Office of Personnel Management’s Web page that it would be 1 percent of my high-3 income while at the post office, but I am not sure how to do this calculation. If this is an option for me to retire now, what would be the necessary steps to get this accomplished?
Answer: As a rule, there are only three ways that your disability retirement could end: if you were re-employed by the federal government; if you were found to have recovered from your disability; or when you reach age 62. In the first two situations, you would be eligible for discontinued service retirement. In the latter case, your disability annuity would be converted to a regular annuity and you would then receive the annuity you would have received on the day you went on disability retirement, increased by any cost-of-living adjustments that were applied to retiree annuities since then.
Your basic annuity would be computed using the following formula:.01 x your highest three consecutive years of average basic pay x your years and full months of service. For more information on the subject, go to www.opm.gov/retirement-services/publications-forms/csrsfers-handbook/c060.pdf and scroll to Part 60B.
Source: Reg Jones, FederalTimes.com – January 8, 2013