In late December of each year federal retirees receive a Notice of Annuity Adjustment that provides abundant information for annuitants and their survivors. Any time your annuity payment is modified, for whatever reasons, OPM sends out a new notice outlining the change and the impact on your annuity. If a COLA is pending, health care premiums change, or your long-term insurance premium increases you will receive a Notice of Annuity Adjustment.

This document provides annuity and benefit information for you and your family. It includes the annuitant’s Claim number, the amount withheld for each item deducted from your annuity payment, and your gross and net payment. This document specifies the monthly survivor annuity currently payable in the event of the annuitant’s death and includes an annual Notice of Survivor Annuity Election Rights. You will also find OPM contact information and they include a recommendation to register and log on to their online services.

This form provides instructions on how to make benefit elections such as how to apply for a survivor election for a spouse you marry after retirement, survivor annuity elections for a former spouse, and others.

I elected a full survivor’s annuity for my wife when I retired as a CSRS employee. My wife will receive 55% of my full annuity when I die. The full FERS survivor’s annuity is 50%. I divided the surviving spousal monthly annuity listed on this document by my gross monthly benefit; my wife will receive 60% of what I was receiving while alive. When I elected a full annuity, my annuity was reduced by 10%. What many don’t realize is that the surviving spouse of a CSRS retiree receives 55% of the unreduced annuity amount or in my case 60% of what I was receiving monthly while alive. Many believe the surviving spouse receives 55% of what the federal annuitant was receiving prior to death. This is good information to have when finalizing your estate plans.

I keep the Notice of Annuity Adjustments that I receive in my retirement folder and include a copy in our estate binder along with OPM’s annuity and FEGLI insurance verification forms that OPM sends out upon request. This is an important document and needs to be readily available if you or your survivor need to contact OPM or require benefit clarifications.

I receive many questions each year from retirees and survivors that misplaced their CSA retirement Claim Number and need to contact OPM. If you file this form in your retirement planning or estate file this information will be readily available when needed.

1099 Tax Forms Coming Soon

Federal annuitants typically don’t receive their 1099R Tax Forms until the end of January or the beginning of February by regular mail. If you are registered to use OPM’s Retirement Services Website your 1099 R is often available by mid-January for download. I generally download a copy of my 1099 R to start my tax return early.

To get a head start on your taxes visit OPM’s web site and download a copy. You must be registered to use the site. If you aren’t registered read the article titled “Connect to OPM’s Online Services” to understand the registration process and sign up. It doesn’t take long however you may have to wait for your password to be sent via regular US mail and that can take several weeks. If you haven’t signed up yet do it now. The site offers retired federal employees many helpful options such as changing your direct deposit information, address changes, 1099 R copies, download annuity and insurance verification documents, and much more.

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.

• Retirement Planning For Federal Employees & Annuitant
• The Ultimate Federal Employee’s Retirement Planning Guide
• Financial Planning Guide
• Budget Work Sheet
• Medicare Guide
• Master Retiree Contact List (Important contact numbers and information)
• 2020 Leave and Schedule Chart (Excel chart tracks all leave balances. Use this chart to set target retirement dates.)
• Annuity Calculator (FREE Excel chart estimates annuity growth)

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.

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Dennis Damp

Dennis V. Damp is an author, retired federal manager, business owner, career counselor and veteran. Damp is the author of 28 books, a recognized benefits expert, and a retired federal manager with 35 years’ service. Dennis has been a guest on hundreds of radio talk shows, CNN’s YOUR MONEY and the Lou Dobbs Cable TV shows, lectured at universities and colleges, produced Internet web sites and training videos, and has written hundreds of articles for national magazines and newspapers. His books have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times and U.S. News & World Report.

Dennis joined the Air Force in 1968 and spent over three years on active duty and an additional seven years with the Air National Guard. He was hired by the Department of Defense (DOD) after leaving active duty and transferred to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 1975. He spent the remainder of his career in various positions with the FAA. His last position was technical operations manager at the Pittsburgh International Airport’s air traffic control tower.