The retirement processing saga continues...
To re-cap: My last day in the office was officially AUGUST 31.2020.
In our last episode, the young lady at OPM had rejected our man's retirement application, because he has SIGNED ELECTRONICALLY DURING COVID, and our hero's Agency had instructed all employees to start using ONLY digital signatures on all formal Agency documents earlier in the summer. OPM had not gotten with that program, and, after delaying for a month, had notified our man that his application had to be re-signed in BLUE INK in order to make it valid. James promptly SIGNED AGAIN, THIS TIME IN BLUE INK, and expedited the package BACK to OPM in Pennsylvania, in hopes that it it would be rapidly considered and finalized.
THAT WAS OCTOBER 24.
Skip forward to
November 23.
A Monday.
Having NOT heard anything back yet, after a full month, our hero once again contacted OPM's Young Lady to confirm that she had received the signed package, overnighted to her on October 24, which had been signed for on Tuesday, October 27th, in Pennsylvania. (SO much for overnighting, eh?) This time, he sent anther email, return receipt, asking for the young lady to confirm receipt, and asking if there was anything else needed, because we had not heard anything yet, a month later.
A few hours later a quick reply came. YES, she said, she had received my package, and had done her thing, and had forwarded it to the next person in the retirement processing line, for their calculation. That was a few weeks ago, so I should be hearing soon, she says.
Hmmmm.
The next day, ANOTHER email comes back from the same young lady at OPM.
It seems there is ANOTHER HITCH, she says.
Says the next person down the line has sent the package BACK to her, because I had checked the box saying I was receiving military retired pay, AND I had made a deposit for military service. I can't do that, she says- I have to give up my military retired pay if I want to count that time as FERS time.
"NO- I don't," I explain to her, slowly. "My military retirement pay comes from Army National Guard M-day drilling reservist, with 20 years of service, and it's the one type of military retirement pay you get to keep when you are a Guard/Reservist and serve 20 years, AND do 31 years Federal employee time. " I explain to the OPM retirement specialist.
"Oh, well your package doesn't say that", she says.
Well, of course not, I think to myself. The forms don't give you a place to explain, I figured the fact that the 20-years of retirement points paperwork that I sent along in the FIRST TWO PACKAGES I SENT would suffice to explain it. There isn't a box to check on the regular FERS retirement form to ask what authority your military retirement pay is authorized under. It just says "are you getting military retired pay", and that's it.
So I tell her I am getting 20 years of Guard retirement, about $1200 a month, under Chapter 12 of Title 10, for Army Guard Service. She says "DO you have your orders saying that?"
"Of course", I say .
I SENT A COPY OF THOSE ORDERS AND THE LETTER WITH THE FIRST RETIREMENT PACKAGE I SENT IN BACK IN AUGUST.
Apparently the AGENCY person who processed my package removed my orders as being unnecessary, and they weren't in the package that eventually went to OPM.
SO I scanned, and emailed, RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED a copy of my military retirement orders, authorized under 10 USC 12731 (Reserve components retirement after 20 years).
https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/fers-information/military-retired-pay/
- Under the provisions of Chapter 1223, Title 10, U.S.C. (pertaining to retirement from a reserve component of the Armed Forces).
That was Tuesday, November 24th.
Today was November 30th, and my file on-line at
Services Online still does not show any further activity from OPM in the processing of my retirement. I still got today, the roughly 40% of my final FERS retirement "interim pay".
Got my fingers crossed that DECEMBER will be the month they come through with my full retirement pay, and FERS supplement.
As that 40% interim retirement pay alone is about to be a heavy lift- I am out of reserve cash that I had figured I would need after retiring on AUGUST 31, 2020, and still no final pension on December 1. I have not yet touched any of my TSP, and won't need to, IF my regular FERS pension and supplement comes through in the next week or two.
If not, it's going to either require tapping the TSP, or just having a quiet Christmas at home.
Lesson for all- save TWICE as much cash as you think you are going to need for the interim period when you retire, because OPM isn't necessarily the quickest agency out there.
I'm now officially at 92 days since my last dayof work,
and 169 days since I formally sent my retirement package to my agency specialist to begin the process, because they wanted 60 days advance notice/submittal of package before retirement,
and I don't yet have the end in sight.
(sigh)
Tune in NEXT MONTH, and find out-
will JAMES still not be receiving his FERS pension and supplement?
Will he be eating peanut butter and jelly?
Or will OPM come through- and the pension, the supplement, and the four months back pay of difference come through and James will be eating steaks and lobster -just in time to share with Santa and the elves.
TUNE IN AGAIN NEXT MONTH- .
SAME BAT TIME.
SAME BAT CHANNEL.
️
![thumbnail[10].jpg](https://forum.tsptalk.com/data/attachments/5/5916-b3bbcf1a771ae66d89c2654add52fa7d.jpg?hash=-a3OwvLWMC "thumbnail[10].jpg")
