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Return to Article: A Whole Different Kind of Service

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  Here is an answer for you Mike (courtesy of Larry Cochran,PhD, CHRE Portability Project Manager)

  What happens to those employees who had 15-20 years of civil service under FERS or CSRS, and then had their position converted to a NAFI position, and as such, will retire as a NAFI employee? THE ANSWER DEPENDS ON THE SITUATION. IF YOU ARE A FERS/CSRS PARTICIPANT AND ARE "CONVERTED" TO A NAFI POSITION, YOU ARE PROBABLY COVERED BY BAL 02-102 WHICH ALLOWS MANY EMPLOYEES TO CONTINUE THEIR CSRS/FERS PARTICIPATION WHILE WORKING FOR A NAFI. YOU SHOULD DISCUSS THIS WITH YOUR HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICE TO DETERMINE IF YOU QUALIFY TO RETAIN COVERAGE UNDER FERS/CSRS, AND IF THAT IS YOUR BEST OPTION.

  Tammy Flanagan Posted June 7, 2007 5:49 PM
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  I am so glad to see Carol Koenig's post in these comments. I was hoping that someone who knew more about NAFI than I would provide some additional resources. There are very few people who know all of the ins and outs of this complicated service credit issue! The reason for writing about something that I am not totally comfortable with was to find someone who was... Thank you for providing some additional resources and information, Carol!

  Tammy Flanagan Posted June 6, 2007 7:01 AM
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  1. There are some former Army NAF employees who, when converted to GS, elected to stay in the NAF retirement plan, so there is no question of all their service years and retirement plan contributions counting toward retirement. And the Army NAF 401k plan early on allowed an employee to contribute more toward retirement than the TSP plan allowed.

  2. Today, some employees facing BRAC realignments have no choice in the matter; they will go from GS to NAF employment, and the key word here is PORTABILITY - the ability to "port" or carry one's benefits between the systems. This aspect should have been stressed in the article.

  3. An employee subject to RIF may be willing to take the actuarial reduction required by the law in order to get an immediate retirement WITH retiree medical, which is highly valuable. If the choice is a deferred annuity with no medical or a reduced annuity with medical, many employees choose the reduced annuity.

  4. The Army expert on this matter is larry.cochran@fmwrc.army.mil. If he doesn't know the answer, he will get the answer.

  5. The article should have given websites for those with further questions.
  - The Army website is: www.nafbenefits.com.
  - A very readable discussion of portability rules and benefits is available from the DoD Portability Handbook here (http://www.cpms.osd.mil/ASSETS/366EB331E445475F9658464254C61704/PortabilityHandbook.pdf).
  - OPM's guidance on the issue of credit for certain NAFI service under CSRS/FERS) is at BAL 03-102, available here (http://www.opm.gov/asd/htm/2003/03-102.htm).
  - Guidance for employees moving between NAF and civil service is available from OPM at BAL 02-102(http://www.opm.gov/asd/htm/2002/02-102.htm).
  

  Carol Koenig Posted June 5, 2007 12:02 PM
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  I spent 7+ years with the U.S. Courts and participated in their retirement system (JS)prior to beginning work with USMC/NAFI. I left my retirement in place as well as TSP. I have worked with USMC since 1989 approximately 18 years. I am 58 years old. I have been told that my service with the Federal Courts did not port over for retirement purposes, but it did for leave purposes. How will changes in the law affect me? Can I retire now, when is the best time for me to retire?

  Nancy Knowles Posted June 1, 2007 4:54 PM
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  What happens to those employees who had 15-20 years of civil service under FERS or CSRS, and then had their position converted to a NAFI position, and as such, will retire as a NAFI employee?

  Mike McKinnon Posted June 1, 2007 6:08 AM