Posted on Friday, 11th January 2019 by

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OPM sent out a notice of annuity adjustment in late December to all annuitants and survivor annuitants. I received mine on December 22. This document, the first for 2019, includes your new monthly payment resulting from our recent 2.8% COLA Adjustment. There’s a lot of important information included on this form and I keep them in my retirement folder for future reference, along with all correspondence received from OPM.

Request a  Federal Retirement Report™  today to review your projected annuity payments, income verses expenses, FEGLI, and TSP projections.

This document is a wealth of information, it lists your previous and new year’s gross annuity with all deductions and so much more. First, you should know that your 2019 deductions may change shortly due to health care premium changes resulting from the recent FEHB Open Season. You may receive a new Notice of Annuity Adjustment in February listing federal dental and vision care premium increases. The current notice does list your primary FEHB plan increase in a statement under the Notice of Annuity Adjustment Chart. Also, anytime you initiate a change to your checking/savings allotments, state or federal tax withholdings, or anyone of 89 deductions or additions listed on the back of this notice, you will receive a new annuity adjustment in the mail.

The first adjustment that we receive each year also includes the monthly survivor annuity currently payable in the event of your death to your spouse. It actually lists the gross monthly amount payable to your named spouse. This is listed just below the Adjustment table on the form. This form also includes your retirement claim number and suggests having this number available when contacting OPM about your retirement benefits. 

I typically highlight the key information on this form and place a copy with my estate plan. You will also find valuable information about your survivor elections on the back of the form along with OPM contact information and a list of the codes used for deductions and additions.

Enter your new 2019 annuity values provided on this notice in our updated Projected Annuity Calculator. My annuity has increase over 33% since I retired in 2005. This calculator lets you project annuity growth through 2059!

Those who elect a survivor’s benefit can calculate their total value without the survivor election using the data provided by this notice. For example, if your spouse’s monthly survivor annuity currently payable in the event of your death is $2,750, multiply that number by 12 to determine the spouse’s annual benefit, $33,000 a year in this example.

If you elected a full survivor’s benefit your spouse receives either 55% for CSRS or 50% for FERS annuitants full annuity amount for life.  To elect a full survivor annuity for your spouse your annuity is decreased by 10% for FERS and just under 10% for CSRS annuitants.

To determine your full CSRS annuity amount, without the spousal election deduction, divide $33,000 in this example by .55 (CSRS) which equals $60,000 a year.  Use 50% for a full FERS survivor’s benefit. Many annuitants assume their spouse will receive 50% or 55% of what they are currently receiving yearly. The surviving CSRS spouse receives 55% and the FERS spouse receives 50% of what your total annuity would be without a survivor annuity election. This is also the amount a federal annuitant would receive if their spouse dies while the annuitant is retired.

Another way to look at this is that the surviving spouse for a CSRS annuitant will receive approximately 60% of what the couple receives prior to the annuitant’s death when the annuitant selected full survivor benefits.  A surviving spouse for a FERS annuitant will receive about 55% of what the couple receives prior to the annuitant’s death when the annuitant selected full survivor benefits.

Request a  Federal Retirement Report™  today to review your projected annuity payments, income verses expenses, FEGLI, and TSP projections.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed herein by the author are not an investment or benefit recommendation and are not meant to be relied upon in investment or benefit decisions. The author is not acting in an investment, tax, legal, benefit, or any other advisory capacity. This is not an investment or benefit research report. The author’s opinions expressed herein address only select aspects of various federal benefits and potential investment in securities of the TSP and companies mentioned and cannot be a substitute for comprehensive investment analysis. Any analysis presented herein is illustrative in nature, limited in scope, based on an incomplete set of information, and has limitations to its accuracy. The author recommends that retirees, potential and existing investors conduct thorough investment and benefit research of their own, including detailed review of OPM guidance for benefit issues and for investments the companies’ SEC filings, and consult a qualified investment adviser. The information upon which this material is based was obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but has not been independently verified. Therefore, the author cannot guarantee its accuracy. Any opinions or estimates constitute the author’s best judgment as of the date of publication, and are subject to change without notice. The author explicitly disclaims any liability that may arise from the use of this material.

Last 5 posts by Dennis Damp

Posted in ANNUITIES / ELIGIBILITY, BENEFITS / INSURANCE, ESTATE PLANNING, RETIREMENT CONCERNS, SURVIVOR INFORMATION | Comments (0)


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