Hubby is at the point where he needs to decide whether to Stay Navy or pursue other avenues. Would you all be able to point me to a site that explains how his active duty time converts? Thanks in advance for your help!
Hubby is at the point where he needs to decide whether to Stay Navy or pursue other avenues. Would you all be able to point me to a site that explains how his active duty time converts? Thanks in advance for your help!
Converts to what? Credit towards US Civil Service (Federal) Retirement? If that is what you are referring to I have an answer for you.
If your husband wants to credit his military time towards his federal retirement (if he becomes a federal employee) he would have to pay 2% of his total base pay earned while he was on active duty. That is base pay only, no BAH BAS etc. and he would have 2 years from the time he secures federal employment to pay the total amount without interest. Interest begins after 2 years. On the other hand if your husband does not "buy back" his time and secures federal employment his prior military time will give him seniority for annual leave purposes and most likely will accumulate 8 hours of annual leave per pay period vice 6 or 4.
Yes. I guess Civil Service is what I'm referring to. So, you buy back your time and then how long do you work until full retirement? I've "heard" lots of things, but I can't seem to actually find the information. I'm sure, though, it's because I don't know where to look. Do you have any websites you could point me to?
The annual leave you're referring to...is that only if he doesn't buy back his time?
I apologize if my questions aren't clear. I don't really know how to word what I'm asking because we are just in the beginning of checking all this out.
9905 I retired from the P.O. under the CSRS. The retirement went something like this. 30 yrs of work, ret. at age 55. Work 20 yrs. ret. at 60. Work at least 5 yrs. and draw a ret check I think 62. During my time you maxed out at 41 yrs for figuring out ret. check. You start out earning 4hrs of leave per pay period that goes on for a # of years than 6hrs. for a # years finally up to 8 hrs per pay period. Which during my time frame it took 15 years to reach the max amount of leave. You also got 4 hrs of sick time that was allowed to be accumalated. You could carry forward your leave without losing it. But there was a max # of weeks you could carry.
Thanks. From what I've found, it looks like hubby would fall under the FERS. He would have to pay 3% of his base pay and could retire at 57 with 30 years.
9905 I forgot to mention the FERS program which came into being about 83. Most people that were in CSRS at the time elected to stay in that program. Fers has different componets to it. I think your D/H can pay that 3% over a certain timeframe.
The FERS is what he would have to participate in since he didn't start service until '99. The 3% is due over 2 years without interest and begins accruing interest at the end of the 3 year.
The time limit to buy back your active duty time is three years from your date of hire, not two. After that, you can still buy the time back, but you will also be assessed interest on the amount of your deposit. Don't recall what the rate is. Visit the OPM site and do a search on military deposit.
What DH has to do is this - when he gets hired, personnel will provide him with a form he will send to DFAS with copies of his discharges and page 4's showing the date of each advancement (E-1 to E-2, etc.). DFAS will in turn send him a form showing what his military earnings were, which he will then send to his personnel office. They will then tell him how much he owes. You have two ways to pay it: lump sum or by allotment.
The annual leave you're referring to...is that only if he doesn't buy back his time?
To answer this, no. He will accrue annual leave at a higher rate based on years of federal service regardless of whether or not he buys back his military time. This should be automatic, with no paperwork involved, or at least that is how it was in my case.
I dunno - while I certainly respect anyone's path after leaving active duty, it seems to me like trading one bureaucracy for another. I have four former enlisted submariners and one target rider working for me at the moment - and they are making out real well without the gov't system. These gents had anywhere from 6 to 9 years in.
As I say, it is just personal preference, but that's my dos pesos.
Coming into federal service you would qualify under FERS program. You can buy back 1 for 1 active duty towards federal retirement. They also let you make installment payments until fully paid. Federal retirement pay computes at 1.025 x total years service times the average of your highest three years of earning.
ahhh...the military deposit. the contribution into the civil service retirement fund for the military time that the government calculates as equivalent service.
you have a period up to 3 years to pay without accruing interest on the unpaid balance. the condition is that the entire balance must be paid off before your retirement date is reached. if not then any remaining monies owed are converted back into time and that time is subtracted from your total civil service. so you may end up without the time or the retirement if you don't pay attention.
now the payment.
it may sound small (3%) but that depends on the total amount of earnings. You are offered a couple different options: bi-weekly, monthly (personnel recommends via payroll deduction) or annual (direct payment via check).
this is what i am doing: i set up a separate allotment into a different bank account. at the end of each year i make a single payment. what this does is allows the amount to accrue interest. it also gives me an emergency fund in the event of a catastrophe.
so my goal wasn't to pay off in 3 year window but prior to my retirement date and create a small emergency fund.
