Confirmation of Special Supplement After 30 Years of Service

I’m retiring with 30 years of government service with the military and as a firefighter. Can you confirm my percentage of special supplement?

Q: Retiring in Oct 2015, at age 50, with 30 years government service: 23.5 years firefighter, and 6.5 years military (bought back). Would you please confirm my percentage of special supplement at the above point? For example, my scheduled social security is at $1500.00 at age 62.

I had calculated 30/40 and derived 75%, but others suggest it would only be 23.5 /40 ( the amount of just civil service years, and not military, although bought back.

A: In your situation your supplement would be 23/40 of your estimated age 62 Social Security benefit. In calculating the supplement, only full years of civilian service count. Your military service and the half year of civilian service would not count.

Agencies can request to have John Grobe, or another of Federal Career Experts' qualified instructors, deliver a retirement or transition seminar to their employees. FCE instructors are not financial advisers and will not sell or recommend financial products to class participants. Agency Benefits Officers can contact John Grobe at johnfgrobe@comcast.net to discuss schedules and costs.

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.