Retiring under MRA +10 – Question 1: What happens to FEHB when I turn 62?

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I have 15 years of service, and have reached my MRA (age 56). If I decided to leave federal service and do NOT take an annuity until I am 62, and have my FEHB benefits frozen as a result – will those be reinstated when I turn 62 and begin taking retirement benefits?

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Posted by (Questions: 2, Answers: 1)
Asked on May 30, 2018 8:06 pm
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If you resign federal service and postpone your retirement, as long as you had your FEHB for the five year prior to resigning, your FEHB will be reinstated when your annuity commences. And if you decide, you can take it prior to age 62, it will just be with the age penalty. For example, taking at age 60 would be with a 10% age penalty, at age 61, a 5% penalty, at age 62, no penalty. In each case, the FEHB will be reinstated when the annuity commences.

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Posted by (Questions: 0, Answers: 380)
Answered on May 31, 2018 1:39 am
<p>So, you HAVE met your MRA? So you are not retiring under MRA? Is that right? Just trying to understand if we&#8217;re in the same boat. </p> <p>I have NOT my MRA, but would like to retire and defer annuity until age 62. Would Elaine&#8217;s answer about FEHB (as well as for question #2 re: spouse) be the same for someone not yet at their MRA? </p> <p>And this may be a silly question, but what does the retiree pay for FEHB? Do they continue their contribution at the same level? </p>
( at June 5, 2018 3:27 pm)
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Private answer

pepper12, you are not in the same boat because ghk1962 is leaving at his/her MRA with 10 or more years of service which allows an immediate but age reduced annuity. In that case, he/she is electing to postpone collecting to reduce or eliminate in the age penalty. In your situation, you do not indicate how many years of service you will have when you resign but the fact that you will not be your Minimum Retirement Age (MRA) means if you leave your retirement contributions in the retirement fund, you will be eligible to collect a pension in the future, providing that you are vested in FERS, meaning you have paid into the retirement fund for five or more years. With a deferred retirement option, you only get an annuity for work in the past. There will be no credit for your unused sick leave, there will be no reinstatement of your FEHB or FEGLI. For those three benefits you must be eligible to retire on an immediate annuity, even if you elect to postpone it. The cost of FEHB in retirement is whatever current employees pay except in retirement we pay monthly versus bi-weekly. With respect to survivor benefits, for ghk1962, if they die before electing their annuity to commence, the Office of Personnel Management deems them to have filed on the date of death and survivor benefits are payable to all eligible survivors. In your case, that rule also does not apply. If you die before meeting the eligibility requirement, which includes have filed a retirement application, no survivor benefits are payable. OPM will just refund the contributions you have paid into the retirement fund according to your designation of beneficiary form or the statutory order of precedence if no designation is on file.

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Posted by (Questions: 0, Answers: 380)
Answered on June 5, 2018 3:55 pm