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Return to Article: Delayed Gratification

• 55353
  

  I retired April 3, 2008 and am still on "interim" pay four months later. My OPM case worker will not return my phone calls (left numerous voice messages asking for status). It is extremely frustrating trying to get any info from OPM as to whether my file is sitting in someone's in-box waiting for someone to open it, or whether it is in some stage of processing. The OPM website says the retiree should get 85% of anticipated annunity as interim pay but in my case it is 50%. Apparently OPM can take its sweet time in processing retirees annunity. After working 31 years for the federal government I expect that OPM could at least talk to me and give me the status of my final annunity. I did not plan on being in interim pay limbo indefinitely.

  S. Snyder Posted July 30, 2008 10:49 PM
• 49498
  

  Tammy- Thanks for all of the wisdom in your columns over the years. As a result of your advice and the very knowledgeable and helpful people at DHS/CBP my retirement on 1/3/2008, under CSRS LE and Firefighter, went like clockwork. I have no complaints. I received my payments (interim annuity, A/L, last paychecks) on time and with no delays. One small snafu was that OPM received wrong information from the Dept of Agriculture, our pay processor, and my first interim payment was sent to a closed bank account. Retirees need to monitor the process and call OPM as soon as they notice a problem. I called OPM when my first interim payment was a few days late and they corrected the error right away. I have had no problems since. Future retirees need to educate themselves on the process. You will need living expense money for the first couple of months, so be prepared. Thanks to DHS/CPB and OPM for a painless process.

  Jim McIntyre Posted April 26, 2008 12:49 PM
• 48455
  

  I retired 11/3/07 and am still on intrim payments. I have called numerous times and only one time has OPM called me back in 02/07. I was told I was missing a form that OPM has sent me regarding a "rollover". I know the importance of sending back forms, so this form must have been lost. I asked for OPM to resent and to date have not seen it. I am still calling every other day and to no avail. I was given the phone number and name of a supervisor at OPM and I have left numerous messages.

  It appears that this form is the one delaying all my paperwork.

  Does anyone know who else to contact at OPM?

  gleija Posted April 12, 2008 3:55 PM
• 48412
  

  The story suggests the new retiree "take a partial withdrawl from your TSP account."

  It is my understanding that TSP only allows two partial payments after retirement--and the second one has to be the entire remaining balance. Thus if you need to get payments from TSP for living, you probably should transfer the entire amount to a private sector IRA. That will avoid the "second payment" that will clobber you with Federal and many State income taxes. Many private sector IRAs allow multiple dips into the funds.

  Arthur Smith Posted April 11, 2008 9:17 AM
• 48392
  

  Tammy - with regard to your "Small Checks" scenario. You mention in your explanation of the individuals monthly retirement payout that "With reductions because he is older than 62 and the fact that he's provided a survivor annuity, his adjusted benefit would be between $2,000 and $2,200 per month.". What exactly are these age related reductions? I an currently still working,63, and CSRS eligible and plan to retire 1/3/09. I used the EBIS calculator to get an idea of my monthly check and did not see a age related reduction mentioned.

  Ed Stroh Posted April 11, 2008 6:37 AM
• 48003
  

  I am glad to hear about other January 2008 retirement experiences! It is good to hear that some of the situations have had happy endings with no surprises... which is not unusual. I wanted to let employees know that this isn't true 100% of the time, however. Rick... I did mean to say "older than 62" because this employee retired under CSRS Offset and he is over age 62 so that his "offset" to his CSRS benefit will apply immediately upon the final adjudication of his retirement.

  Tammy Flanagan Posted April 6, 2008 3:50 PM
• 47995
  

  Thanks for the informative articles & comments. Having worked for the Government a mere 20+ years, I have learned not to be too optimitistic when it comes to promises. I retired on 31 Dec 07 under FERS, with uninterrupted service, same agency, very simple. My estimate arrived quickly, however, I have not heard since, no interim pay - nothing. I do have the annual leave check to live on plus Social Security, which I had applied for when I turned 65+. I have been in touch with the Human Resources Specialist and OPM sent a claim number - but no payment. Am I to assume that I will not receive interest on the monthly payments, which I've not received thus far? Any suggestions - other than a note to my Congressman? By the way: I loved my Government job - it was the best ever. HHJackson

  H.H.Jackson Posted April 6, 2008 8:54 AM
• 47970
  

  Tammy, thank you for the explanation regarding interim benefits. I retired under CSRS Offset 1/3/08 and received my first interim payment for two months on 3/11 and the second on 4/1 which is calculated around 40% of my estimate. By the middle of February, I had no word on my retirement application so I had to follow up on it with my HR in DFAS, payroll DFAS (who had it for almost 2 months before they sent it to the Army Benefits Ctr) and with OPM where someone very helpful found it and issued my first interim check. I was concerned about the small amount of my check and I have left several messages to the person in OPM who is working on my application, but she has not bothered to return my calls. The most stressful part of this enitre retirement process has been the people I have had to contact for information who have not had the courtesy to return my phone calls.

  Jean Posted April 5, 2008 9:32 AM
• 47947
  

  My date of retiring was 1/3/08 and I also received interim payments for the month of Jan. and Feb. then regular payment for Mar. received Apr. 1. My lump sum annual (318) took over a month after retirement date which should have been sooner. Now as far as OPM, I believe it took great effort on my part. What I mean by this is that I called OPM retirement on a regular basis checking on the status of my application.I finally ask to speak with the area that handles the application which was the annuity processing section, then things started falling in place. Even though I was told there was over 20,000 application sitting for the month of January 3rd. This is something that I assume happens around this popular date for retirement and they should have had resources in place to handle such a large amount of applicants.

  Barbara Posted April 4, 2008 2:57 PM
• 47917
  

  How very true...2+ months in and am still receiving "interim payments" which are well under 50% much less 85%...have been told same as above "there is no relationship of interim calculation to permanent"...I will indeed hope for the best and expect the worst. If I hadn't had another job waiting I would be SOL.

  george c Posted April 4, 2008 10:10 AM
• 47914
  

  Kind of nice to see the shoe on the other foot a Fed treating another Fed like they treat the average taxpayer

  dan ketter Posted April 4, 2008 9:40 AM
• 47907
  

  Educating yourself about the retirement process is excellent advice. Most agencies offer retirement seminars. People considering retirement should start attending the seminars 5 to 6 years in advance at a minimum and attend at least 3 seminars. You learn something different each time.

  I have nothing but praise for OPM. I received a partial check of about 65% within 30 days; an 85% check the second the month and buy the third check my full annuity.

  Retired Guy Posted April 4, 2008 9:00 AM
• 47901
  

  Tammy--I, like virtually all OPM employees, really like and appreciate your insights. Knowing that your articles are not merely published and used one time, but are often repeated, I am pointing out a minor error in your wording that you should correct before you republish this article. In the first full paragraph in the section SMALL CHECKS, it says "with reductions because he is older than 62..." which of course should be "YOUNGER". Very respectfully, Rick

  Rick Ballard Posted April 4, 2008 8:21 AM
• 47893
  

  I retired on Feb 1, 2008 with 34 years of service at age 58. I had a break in federal service and was rehired into the CSRS-Offset. Before I retired, I paid the redeposit for previous federal service, and paid the deposit for previous military service. When I submitted my retirement paperwork in Jan 2008 to my agency's retirement office, I was told that it would take OPM about 10 weeks to send me my first interim payment - which was a shock to me! I had only 4 days of unused annual leave. I would have saved much more leave if I had known this beforehand. Fortunately, I was able to find a job right away. My first interim check from OPM (65% of my agency's estimate)came exactly 7 weeks after retirement. My second interim check (68%) came 8 weeks after retirement. So I was a little more fortunate than Robert. I am glad that you are warning future retirees about this situation.

  Herb Wong Posted April 4, 2008 7:09 AM
• 47892
  

  I retired 3 Jan. 08 and had no problems with pay issues. I received my lump sum for 568 hrs. A/L in my last regular pay. I received interim retirement payments for Jan. & Feb. and my first regular retirement payment for March on the 1st of April 08. I am under CSRS and worked overseas 3 different times, and CONUS 4 different times with a total of 39 years 9 months service (including 4 mons. S/L). I paid back my military time & 13 months of temp. time. I went over my retirement paper work several times to make sure it was correct & included all necessary attachments before turning it in for processing. It all worked out great for me. I have no complaints. Thanks OPM.

  B. R. Jones III Posted April 4, 2008 5:02 AM