Posted on Friday, 24th January 2020 by

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New retirees are subject to interim annuity payments and many don’t know what to expect when they first leave federal service. Federal employees must have sufficient cash available and be financially prepared when retiring to allow OPM to complete a final adjudication of their claim.

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

OPM processed retirement applications in 62 days on average in November of 2019, the latest data we have available. However, they can take up to a year to process a retirement application if information is missing or problems are encountered. From December of 2018 through November of 2019 OPM processed 102,929 retirements. Retirement application submissions typically increase January through March of each year. Last January OPM received 13,264 applications

Many are receiving interim payments for less than they anticipated due to a number of factors. OPM states that annuitants will receive approximately 90% of their expected NET monthly payment, less federal income tax withholdings. NET payments equal what is remaining after deducting health care and life insurance premiums from the gross amount. My interim monthly payment was 30% less than what I eventually received after my application was processed. It took OPM 90 days to process my application when I retired over a decade ago. Some have reported receiving much less due to extenuating circumstances.

FERS retirees need to be aware of the fact that OPM doesn’t include the FERS Supplement in the interim payment because they don’t have the data available until the retirement is completely processed. OPM reported that a number of factors cause reduced interim payments or prevent OPM from initiating interim payments. These factors include:

  • Court orders that are on file at OPM. Court orders can contribute to as much as a 50% reduction in interim payments. Check out our Divorce Forum for clarifications and informative articles on this subject.
  • Part time service
  • Unpaid military deposits
  • When a redeposit wasn’t paid for refunded service creditable towards disability retirement
  • Employees entitled to special retirements for LEO, FF, ATC or other special retirement programs
  • CSRS offset applicants
  • Non-deduction service performed after 10/1/1982 creditable under CSRS where the deposit has not been paid in full
  • Deposits have not been paid for FERS creditable non-deduction service
  • VA part time direct medical solutions (DMS)physicians, including doctors, scientists, and surgeons
  • Refunded service creditable towards CSRS non-disability retirement ending on or after 3/1/1991 where the deposit has not been paid
  • Excess LWOP
  • Service that is unverified or missing
  • Where an insurable interest survivor election is made
  • When no survivor election is made
  • Receipt of military retired pay

Here are a few things to consider when you are planning to retire:

  • Caution- Do This Before You Retire
  • Thoroughly complete and review your retirement forms. OPM previously reported that 23 percent of all claims received are missing one or more records and 11 percent are not received during the first 30 days. FERS employees must complete the SF-3107 form, CSRS employees must use the SF-2801 form.
  • Send in your paperwork, if at all possible, 3 to 6 months in advance of your planned departure date. This isn’t possible with VERAs because they typically have a much shorter window of opportunity to apply. (Keep a complete copy of your application for reference)
  • Thoroughly review the package that your personnel office sends you. Check your SCD date, military time, and other pertinent data and make needed corrections.
  • Review What to Expect the First Three Months After I Leave.  If anticipated actions in this normal time line don’t correlate with your situation contact your personnel office and OPM immediately. This step can keep your personnel office and OPM on track.
  • Set aside sufficient funds, six months minimum, for bills and emergencies and have other savings and investments that you can tap if processing delays are extreme. Read How to Be Financially Prepared When You Retire.
  • If you have a divorce decree make sure OPM received a copy at the time of the divorce. Visit our Divorce Forum For more information on this issue. An improperly processed divorce decree can dramatically decrease interim and full annuity payments.
  • When contacting OPM about your retirement payments before you receive your claim number, contact your former payroll office first for the date your records were transferred to OPM. Your payroll office should provide you with the number and date of the Register of Separations and Transfers. You will also need your Payroll Identification Number.

Use our “Federal Employees Retirement Guide” to help you through the process. It takes time to compile your application and review all of the options available to you.  Once you elect an option and your application is adjudicated, many of your benefit elections are irrevocable.

Scheduling A Retirement Benefits Seminar

Federal Employee Benefits Advocates (FEBA) provides comprehensive benefit briefings for Federal employees so they can make informed retirement decisions. Briefings include information on CSRS or FERS Retirement Annuities and all insurance programs including Medicare, the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), Social Security, disability and other relevant retirement planning topics.

Schedule A Seminar in Your Area

Federal Employee Benefits Advocates (FEBA) provides comprehensive benefit briefings for Federal employees so they can make informed retirement decisions. Briefings include information on CSRS or FERS Retirement Annuities and all insurance programs including Medicare, the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), Social Security, disability and other relevant retirement planning topics.

Helpful Retirement Planning Tools / Resources

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

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, FINANCE / TIP, RETIREMENT CONCERNS, SOCIAL SECURITY / MEDICARE, SURVIVOR INFORMATION | Comments (0)


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