Recent OPM decision and annuity adjustment for LEO

I received an email from my agency that I retired from stating that OPM would recalculate my retirement based on a recent federal court case.

Has anyone had this recalculation done? How or will it affect my monthly annuity? I retired on FERS disabililty as an 1811, in June 2008.

Any help would be appreciated.

Due to changes in interpretation of the applicable statutes that have evolved over time, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced this week that it needs to perform a recalculation for many who are receiving a disability annuity or a survivor annuity.

There is a reference article at www.MyFederalRetiremen... It states:  "OPM is looking for anyone receiving a disability annuity or a survivor annuity based wholly or in part on service in any of the following positions under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS):

• Law Enforcement Officer
• Firefighter
• Nuclear Materials Courier performed with the Department of Energy on or after October 1, 1977
• Customs and Border Protection Officer on or after July 6, 2008
• Member of the Capitol Police
• Member of the Supreme Court Police
• Congressional Employee

If the recalculation does not result in a higher annuity, no changes would be effectuated.  It further states:

Sorry for the messy previous post, but I was trying to "cut and paste" the information.  In any event, I think you get the idea & the essence of the information.

Sincerely, Robert R. McGill, Esquire

p.s. I am doing some further research on the issue in the next couple of weeks, and will likely report to everyone about it in the near future.

Mr. McGill,

Good evening.  This brings on another, but related question.  I  heard a "rumor" a short time back that if you have more the 15 years, but not 20 years 6C, and you had to retire under disability, you would be considered to have done "20" years LEO (covered) when you are retired at 62.  Is this indeed true?  I know on the annuity statement I was sent for estimated annuity at 62, it doesn't seem to bare that.  I.e., will it be recalculated as:

20 x 1.7% =

xx x 1.1% from 20 to whatever time you have past that to 62?  Or is it going to be a flat 1.1% from your EOD to 62?

I know our LEAP/AUO is calculated as part of our high three, so that isn't in question.  It would be a substantial change in the "regular" retirement at 62 if indeed this is the case.  If you heard either way, do you have a reference so I (we) can read it?  Thanks in advance.

I don't have an answer to that, but will look into that also in the next couple of weeks.

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Excellent, thanks very much, appreciate!!  Have a good night Mr. McGill.  :-)  Thanks again!

Thanks for the reply. I will wait until I find more info on this issue before I contact OPM.  My biggest concern is OPM doing a recalculation and finding they "made a mistake" on my original calculation thus requesting an overpayment or something terrible like that.  I still don't see how a "recalculation" will change my current monthly amount since it was based on my high-three (unless I am missing something).  I can see where the 1.7 % would be greater when I reach MRA though.

I wonder if this ruling will change the minimum retirement age to reflect our LEO service (I could have retired at 51 years old with 20 years LEO service).

Again, thanks for your responses and dedication.

Bump....any updates on this issue?

I sent an e-mail to them and asked for a review.  This is the response I received today:

Thank you for your inquiry regarding your benefits under the Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS).

Your claim appears to qualify for consideration under the court rulings on enhanced benefits for disability annuitants and deceased employees who had service in positions that are usually tied to higher retirement deduction rates and to higher annuity accrual rates.  We have referred your case for a final determination of whether your claim would qualify for the enhanced benefit and if so, if your benefits would be higher with the enhanced calculation.  

If your recomputed benefit with the enhanced service is higher than your current benefit, we will make the adjustment retroactively to your retirement date (your spouse’s retirement date) and begin paying the enhanced rate.  We will send you a more detailed notice concerning these adjustments when they are finalized. 

If your current benefit is higher than the benefit you would have received with the enhanced service, we will continue to pay you at the same rate and send you a notice with a computation of both benefits.

We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your inquiry and hope this information is helpful to you.  If you have further questions, you may write to us at:

U.S. Office of Personnel Management

Retirement Operations Center, PO Box 45

Boyers, PA  16017-0045

Attn. EDSA

Sincerely,

Retirement Operations- EDSA

AF Cop: Terrific. Please keep us posted. I believe I am going to go ahead and call OPM as well and proceed with the adjustment, if any.

Again thanks.

Bump!  Any update(s) on this topic?

I am still in a holding pattern. No new information. Knowing how quickly the Fed Govt works, I anticipate at least six month to a year before an answer comes back. When my final pay came back saying I was overpaid I disputed it with my own calculations showing I was owed more. Their final calculations seemed to leave out LEAP. I didn't hear anything back about the amount they claimed I was overpaid and continued to receive the amount they said equaled 40%.  I am very interested in what their findings are and if they will fulfill their promise not to alter the pay if it shown to be less.

Still holding my breath.

Yeah, it really scares me that OPM will look at my annuity and do the old "Wow, we have been over-paying you for months!", and reduce my annuity.  I have not made a decision as to contact them or not regarding this issue...Thanks for the reply and keep us posted please.

Good luck~

Just wanted to throw a nice, smooth, BUMP in so this thread would not get lost. Any updates? 

OPM did come out with a recent Benefits Administration Letter (BAL) on this subject.

I would imagine, however, that OPM has hundreds of cases to review.  OPM also has been pretty swamped with the recent Postal buyout and retirements related to that event. It may take awhile before they get around to your own particular LEO case.