Anybody retire 12/31/2021 ? I did and feel like I'm adrift !

shovelhead

New member
So got a VSIP approved in late November, retirement package into ABC 1 DEC using both GRB online and snail mail. Haven't heard a word. Talked to them last week after 2 1/2 hours on hold and told they are extremely backlogged and dont expect a counselor to be assigned until FEB at the very earliest. Couldn't tell me about my unused AL or the VSIP other than a SF50 needs to be cut and its done at ABC, not our G1 (HR), which explains why I got a LES on mypay showing me AWOL for the first pay period in January and forfeiture of 600 hours of AL !
So it goes without saying, I feel adrift with no one to reassure that all will work out.
Anybody else having the same issues? would be nice if we all shared our experiences, roadblocks, problems or issues. Fear is if something is messed up it will take months to right the ship !

Looking forward to hearing from folks !
 
I retired November 30 and have had no issues so far, though I would like more communications while in this interim period.
 
Congratulations on your retirement shovelhead! Sorry to hear about your situation, I would be extremely frustrated if that was happening to me. It shouldn't take them over a month to get this straightened out, particularly the AL payout. When I retired under VERA/VSIP in 2016 my VSIP payment was the only thing delayed. I called my agency G-1, who dropped the ball with the funding, to get it corrected.

Have you checked with your former supervisor? Retirement may be an exception since they have centralized most things, but I thought the supervisor had to initiate all SF50s.

Good Luck

 
(Left last July)
So, for what it's worth, I have no idea what VSIP, G-1, ABC, GRB, or any of that stuff is. I was with HHS and just walked one day simply because I could afford to and I was sick of being treated like garbage by the new narcissistic regime in Management. So in my case, there was no pre-planning to retire. I don't know if that makes a difference or not.
So anyway, YES....the people that handled all that stuff for me at OPM were extremely overwhelmed and backlogged. I estimated 2 months, and started making phone calls when 3 months had gone by without a single word from anyone. They explained that they were backed up and then put me on an Interim Payment Plan so at least I would have something coming in. It was about 70% of what they estimated I would be getting. They also sent a check for all my accumulated Annual Leave. After about another 6 to 8 weeks they finally crunched all the numbers and had the amounts calculated.
So I guess what I'm saying is "Don't Worry". Be Patient. Everything in the Gov. takes 50 times longer to get done than it does in the Real World. It'll happen, but it's just going to take some time.
Hope that helped !!! :cheesy:
 
Don’t worry, be happy. Everything will work out eventually.

I predict:
1. You will get some money for your leave within the next two to four weeks, and some kind of acknowledgement.
2. Within a month, you should see at least an initial interim partial payment. Coming off Holiday doesn’t help the backlog. But it should come.

3. You should receive a final determination within a short time after that, unless your files are missing paperwork.

I’ve heard it being anywhere from 6 weeks to three times that over the last decade. If something is really screwed up, you’ll have the fun to try and get it fixed, which will take another year. But that’s pretty rare. Most folks have said things worked decent, if you give them enough time.

By the way- congrats on making it to retirement. Do you feel good?


Sent from my iPhone using TSP Talk Forums
 
Don’t worry, be happy. Everything will work out eventually.

I predict:
1. You will get some money for your leave within the next two to four weeks, and some kind of acknowledgement.
2. Within a month, you should see at least an initial interim partial payment. Coming off Holiday doesn’t help the backlog. But it should come.

3. You should receive a final determination within a short time after that, unless your files are missing paperwork.

I’ve heard it being anywhere from 6 weeks to three times that over the last decade. If something is really screwed up, you’ll have the fun to try and get it fixed, which will take another year. But that’s pretty rare. Most folks have said things worked decent, if you give them enough time.

By the way- congrats on making it to retirement. Do you feel good?


Sent from my iPhone using TSP Talk Forums

Thanks for the encouragement and congrats ! I feel like I'm not retired until all this is sorted out and done correctly. I feel like I'm still working since I'm on hold all the time, tracking down the right people, asking why I get an LES that says I'm LWOP, but earning annual leave and sick leave still. Opm told me it would be at least until the end of January, but now we are mid way thru Feb and I still haven't heard from a assigned counselor yet. Our G8 tells me via their hotline to ABC, a SF50 still hasnt been cut yet to pay the AL and the VSIP (btw thats all centralized now at ABC and not done by your local agency).
Funny thing, I applied for social security and got my first check two weeks later. Go figure, you'd think Social security would be more backlogged than the Army Benefits Center !
 
Thanks for the continued follow up! Others will appreciate it down the road when they have to go through this.
 
Just a general comment regarding dealing with federal agencies. Every American citizen has the right to request what's called a 'congressional inquiry' with their congressional FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVE if you've having problems with a FEDERAL (not state) agency. You call your local FED rep, explain your issue and they will route you to the appropriate person in that office to get all the pertinent info and get the ball rolling in solving your issue.
Example: many years ago my mother's Medicare was 'shut off' inexplicably. Also I noticed that her Social Security check had not been deposited for that month either. I called my local FEDERAL REP, I described in detail what was going on and in less than a week her SS check was deposited and her Medicare coverage was 'turned back on'! Federal agencies respond quickly to a 'congressional inquiry' because Congress controls their funding and they want to keep them happy. :D
 
Congrats on the retirement! Fellow 12/31/21 retiree. Still waiting to hear anything from OPM. NFC sent notice they had forwarded my case to OPM 2/1, but silence since then. Did get my AL payout mid-January, so that was good, but would really like to see an interim payment sometime soon...
 
Congrats bman ! congrats on the AL payout. I still have not heard a word on a counselor or anything. Im still getting an LES that basically says I on LWOP.

Not Benefeds is after me to pay for my vision and dental insurance premiums since there is no "paycheck" deduction.
Not fun right now with all the uncertainty.
 
I retired 30 NOV 2021. I got my annual leave payout really quick. My interim checks started soon enough, but they are really, really low—nowhere near 60-80% of what my normal pension check should be.

I’m glad that I had some funds put back.


Scott Harrison
Senatobia, MS
 
I retired 30 NOV 2021. I got my annual leave payout really quick. My interim checks started soon enough, but they are really, really low—nowhere near 60-80% of what my normal pension check should be.

I’m glad that I had some funds put back.


Scott Harrison
Senatobia, MS

RangerRay:

Just curious- it’s now April. Have the sorted everything out properly now?

Inquiring minds want to know.
 
As memory serves, I got a notification before the first of the month that my retirement case has been finalized and I will receive a personalized benefits booklet within 2-3 weeks. I still have not received my packet.

On 4/1 I got money, which I assume is my first full check and back pay, but I still don’t know how that total amount breaks down. There isn’t an entry yet on Retirement Services online. I suppose all will be explained in the booklet that’s coming.

So, about four months or so for mine to settle out, but I still haven’t seen the details yet.


Scott Harrison
Senatobia, MS
 
As memory serves, I got a notification before the first of the month that my retirement case has been finalized and I will receive a personalized benefits booklet within 2-3 weeks. I still have not received my packet.

On 4/1 I got money, which I assume is my first full check and back pay, but I still don’t know how that total amount breaks down. There isn’t an entry yet on Retirement Services online. I suppose all will be explained in the booklet that’s coming.

So, about four months or so for mine to settle out, but I still haven’t seen the details yet.


Scott Harrison
Senatobia, MS

Ok- we’ll, it’s good news that your booklet is enroute and at least you got some money started. Congratulations! You’ve officially joined us retired folks! Great job.


Sent from my iPhone using TSP Talk Forums
 
Ok- we’ll, it’s good news that your booklet is enroute and at least you got some money started. Congratulations! You’ve officially joined us retired folks! Great job.


Sent from my iPhone using TSP Talk Forums

Thanks! My lawn mowing is picking up nicely too, so it’s going to be a great summer!


Scott Harrison
Senatobia, MS
 
Good to see RangerRay get through the process OK. The OPM website is pretty good at providing the detail breakout once you have your CSA number and password to access.

Did shovelhead or bman6945 ever get things straightened out?



Congrats bman ! congrats on the AL payout. I still have not heard a word on a counselor or anything. Im still getting an LES that basically says I on LWOP.

Not Benefeds is after me to pay for my vision and dental insurance premiums since there is no "paycheck" deduction.
Not fun right now with all the uncertainty.

Congrats on the retirement! Fellow 12/31/21 retiree. Still waiting to hear anything from OPM. NFC sent notice they had forwarded my case to OPM 2/1, but silence since then. Did get my AL payout mid-January, so that was good, but would really like to see an interim payment sometime soon...
 
My retirement process started with the Army Benefits Center and the GRB system at the front end has a very logical process for submitting everything required for a seamless application.

I’ve only known of one other Corps of Engineers employee to have a jammed up application and that was due to issues with a previous marriage. I was with that agency for 28 years and retirement problems were rarely heard of.


Scott Harrison
Senatobia, MS
 
So an update. Recall I retired on 31 DEC. Got paid out the VSIP and AL two weeks ago. Still no pension but Friday I got my CSA card but no password. OPM wont answer the phone due to the backlog per the messages. I think the major problem with my case is at the Army Benefits Center since they are the first wicket that cut the SF50 and thus once I got the AL payout, the ball was starting to roll. Will be interesting to see how long it takes to start getting interim payments and then the full amount, but it just doesnt make sense that the Govt does such a poor job and arent accountable at all. I would never want the GOVT to run anything. Sadly where I worked, 10% of the people did 90% of the work. I feel sorry for those who dont have the savings or resources to weather the delay and have all their golden year retirment plans for travel and such on hold because they've depleted their savings to live on.
More to come as I hear more ! Good news is spring is finally here !
 
So an update. Recall I retired on 31 DEC. Got paid out the VSIP and AL two weeks ago. Still no pension but Friday I got my CSA card but no password. OPM wont answer the phone due to the backlog per the messages. I think the major problem with my case is at the Army Benefits Center since they are the first wicket that cut the SF50 and thus once I got the AL payout, the ball was starting to roll. Will be interesting to see how long it takes to start getting interim payments and then the full amount, but it just doesnt make sense that the Govt does such a poor job and arent accountable at all. I would never want the GOVT to run anything. Sadly where I worked, 10% of the people did 90% of the work. I feel sorry for those who dont have the savings or resources to weather the delay and have all their golden year retirment plans for travel and such on hold because they've depleted their savings to live on.
More to come as I hear more ! Good news is spring is finally here !

Sorry you're having such a rough go of it. Hang in there.
 
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