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This page can be found on the web at the following url:
http://www.opm.gov/Blogs/Retire/index.aspx

Welcome to the Retirement Info Center. We want to share information about retirement benefits for new, prospective, and current Federal employees, as well as Federal retirees and their survivors and benefits officers. Here you will find the most up-to-date information on changes, events, and other issues that may affect your Federal retirement benefits.

Often, we will link to other pages on the official Website so that you can easily find updated information.

25
SEP
Posted 2:49 PM by Ken Zawodny

We have recently started to receive a large number of questions regarding phased retirement.

 On July 6, 2012, Public Law 112-141 was approved.  This Law includes a phased retirement option which will allow retirement eligible Federal employees to partially retire while working part-time.  This practice will encourage the most experienced Federal employees to extend their contributions to the Nation; and, help agencies improve continuity of operations by bolstering mentoring and knowledge retention programs. 

Participation is entirely voluntary, and requires the mutual consent of both the employee and employing agency.  In order to participate, an individual must have been employed on a full-time basis for the preceding three years.  Under CSRS, the individual must be eligible for immediate retirement with at least 30 years of service at age 55, or with 20 years of service at age 60.  Under FERS, the individual must be eligible for immediate retirement with at least 30 years of service at MRA (minimum retirement age 55-57 depending on year of birth), or with 20 years of service at age 60.

The FAQs, we posted in August 2012 provide the general outline on how the program will work.  You can review those FAQs by clicking on this link.  We continue to work with human resources and benefits officers from various agencies, along with our legal department here at OPM, to craft the regulation in support of PL 112-141.  Implementation of the program is an important goal of OPM, and this will be accomplished as soon as possible. 

We are committed to providing you information on our progress.  Be sure and Follow us on Twitter for updates.   


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23
DEC
Posted 6:05 PM by Ken Zawodny

Let me begin by wishing you and your families a very happy and joyful holiday. 

We’ve just completed a very successful Benefits Open Season and are moving on with other scheduled events for you.  Right now we’re working on completing your “Statement of Annuity Paid” forms.   These are the 1099Rs that you receive every year that you use to file your tax returns.  This year we’re trying to have your 1099Rs posted and available by the last week of January.  The 1099Rs will be available on our Services OnLine (SOL) site.  We encourage you to pull those directly from the website.  In the future, we would like to move to a completely automated process so you can retrieve the forms without us having to mail them.  But in the meantime, we will still be sending out these notifications to you by mail the last week in January.   

In the next couple weeks you‘ll receive your “Notice of Annuity Adjustment” by mail.  This year’s notice contains information about the cost of living adjustment (COLA) and any changes that will affect the amount of your monthly annuity. And remember, it’s very important for you to keep your mailing address current.  Although you may have direct deposit, we still mail information to you.  To be sure you receive this and other mailings, we need to have your correct mailing address.

As we continue to develop more services for you, I encourage all of you to log on to our retirement website at www.opm.gov/retire for current information about retirement issues.  There’s a treasure chest of great information that may be of value to you.  If there are particular business transactions you need to take care of, log on to our Services OnLine (SOL) site at www.servicesonline.opm.gov/ where you can quickly and easily change or update your mailing address, set up allotments, change your Federal tax withholding, sign up for direct deposit, change your password and view your annuity statement.  You can now take advantage of our SOL site when you’re in interim payment status.

As we move into the New Year, we will be focusing on improving and expanding our services for you so you can continue to enjoy your retirement.  Be sure to keep abreast of the latest retirement issues that may affect you by logging on to www.opm.gov/retire.  Manage your own account on www.servicesonline.opm.gov/. Be sure to follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/fedretireinfo.

Again, best wishes for this holiday season and the New Year.


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I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself as the new Associate Director for Retirement Services at OPM.   My name is Ken Zawodny and assumed my current duties in August of this year.   I have been with OPM for almost 3 years, my most recent assignment was with Federal Investigations Service (FIS).  Prior to OPM, I was with the Department of Homeland Security.  I am both honored and excited to be part of such an important organization.  I plan to send brief messages to you on a regular basis, informing you of major events and issues that may affect you as retirees and survivors.

We work hard every day to honor the service of Federal employees by trying to make the transition to retirement easier.  As you may know, there have been a lot of comments about the services we are providing.  I can assure you, we are working with all agency partners, others involved in retirement operations and most importantly, with annuitants, to be more successful.  Please remember to visit the Retirement Services Information website  at http://www.opm.gov/retire/index.aspx for the most up to date information. 

And remember, we need your most current postal address and email addresses so we can keep the lines of communication going.  You can send this information to us through https://www.servicesonline.opm.gov/.  Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter on our website or your Smart Phone.  Thanks and have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.


Kenneth J. Zawodny Jr.

Associate Director, Retirement Services

Office of Personnel Management

 


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24
JUN
Posted 11:24 AM by Bill Zielinski

The United States Postal Service recently announced that it will immediately suspend payment of the employer portion of the contributions for all Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) retirements.  The Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) was not included in the announcement and will not be affected.  The situation is still developing and we will continue to update the OPM website as information becomes available.

 Current USPS retirees and employees who retired before June 3, 2011, will not be impacted by this announcement and there will be no negative impact on future postal employees’ retirement.  While the matter is under consideration, it is our hope that the issue will be resolved as quickly as the law allows. 

 OPM has issued a statement regarding this issue which can be found on our web-site.  The link to the statement is: http://www.opm.gov/news/statement-by-us-office-of-personnel-management-on-postal-services-decision-to-suspend-fers-annuity-contributions,1674.aspx


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22
JUN
Posted 12:39 PM by Bill Zielinski

Due to the devastating fires and floods in the west, OPM has dedicated a telephone line to receive calls so our retirees and their families who are affected can get instant assistance for reissuing checks, changing addresses, and in cases of death, adjustments to annuity payments. If you are one of our clients and are affected by the natural disasters, please call 202-606-8142 so the appropriate arrangements can be made to handle your situation as quickly as possible.   You may also contact us via email at retire@opm.gov or via phone at 888-767-6738.


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