Am I Eligible for the Special Retirement Supplement?

I am a VA employee under FERS retirement. I meet the MRA. Does this mean I would not be eligible for the special retirement supplement?

FedSmith.com author John GrobeBy Categories Federal Employee Retirement, Q&A Leave a comment

Q: With regards to your article, What is the Special Retirement Supplement and Why Is it Important?, you state, “It is designed to replace the portion of an age 62 Social Security benefit that is due to civilian employment under the FERS system (military time that has been bought for FERS retirement does not count in computing the special retirement supplement (SRS)). ”

I am a VA employee under FERS retirement. I plan to retire with 29 years VA service with an additional 4 years military time that I bought for FERS for a total of 33 years. I meet the MRA. Does this mean I would not be eligible for SRS?

A: No. All it means is that your supplement will be based on your civilian time, making it slightly smaller than if military time were counted..

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About the Author

John Grobe is President of Federal Career Experts, a firm that provides pre-retirement training and seminars to a wide variety of federal agencies. FCE’s instructors are all retired federal retirement specialists who educate class participants on the ins and outs of federal retirement and benefits; there is never an attempt to influence participants to invest a certain way, or to purchase any financial products. John and FCE specialize in retirement for special category employees, such as law enforcement officers.

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