Stoplight's Retirement Story (FERS, Gap in Service, Military Buy-Back)

[Stoplight]

Well, based on the advice of others on this thread, I sent off 2 emails today...one to the off-site HR person who is handling the nitty-gritty stuff like my SF-52, and 1 to the off-site retirement counselor, who is handling my retirement application package.

The HR Person responded immediately, with a copy to my supervisor, and a copy of the check-out list...contains the usual one would expect, like equipment and book return, cell phone turn-in, etc etc. That form gets returned after being signed by me and my supervisor...

I didn't get a response from the retirement Person, but that doesn't worry me (yet).

Then, I received another personal email from the HR Person, thanking me for sending the note, and "reminding" her she hadn't sent me the check-out form !!! Nice touch on her part

The moral of the story is : Follow the advice of the good people here , and be sure to check on your retirement paperwork status ! Be polite, too, because these people working on your retirement are Feds, like us, and they have a job I would NEVER want !

Stoplight...

 

[nasa1974]

Glad things are starting to move forward.

 

[Stoplight]

Okay, I've got one that I've NEVER seen discussed here...it's totally irrelevant to the boring stuff about retirement paperwork, but I'm curious to see what other people's thoughts and experiences are !

What Is Your Agency Doing/What Did They Do For Your Retirement Celebration ?


I have my thoughts/opinions on the subject, but I'd like to get some feedback before I put mine out there !

So what stories can you share ?

Stoplight...

Well, times have changed since the days when I was in the Air Force, or first started as a Fed. I'm glad to see that Nasa1974 appears to be getting the respect he deserves, after his years with the Agency, and that his Agency still has their "traditions".

I've felt strongly that anyone who makes it to 20 (military), 30, 40 or more years deserves some respect, even if I thought the guy was a jerk ! However, it seems like about the late 90's, that the "attitude" started changing....hanging in there for a long time, and "retiring", just didn't seem to have the same "honor from your peers" that it did before. I think it's a broader comment on how "society" has changed, too...early in my career, it was normal for co-workers to meet after work on Fridays for "Happy Hour", whether you were a drinker or not... You "socialized" more with your co-workers, too...now days, every one has their own little world outside of their "job", and the lines are rarely crossed. Teleworking, "virtual teams", and the internet has taken away a lot of the face-to-face interaction that I liked. I'm not making a judgement call, just saying it's "different", and I personally don't like it as much as the "Good Old Days"...

In my case...I was offered a retirement luncheon, but I chose not to go that route...they usually make some poor young employee responsible for doing the logistics, and everyone grumbles about the cost, etc. Also, I've only been with this Agency 3 years, and to me, that hardly qualifies as a big Agency retirement ! Instead, they lumped me and another retiring guy into the monthly staff meeting, where we got our certificates and a plaque, 1 month before I am actually out the door !!! Granted, I said I didn't WANT a special luncheon, but I thought there'd be something a little more "specific" for the other guy and I...maybe a cake and coffee get-together at lunch time on my last work day ! Oh well...as I noted, "times have changed" !

Stoplight...

 

[Stoplight]

Well, based on the advice of others on this thread, I sent off 2 emails today...one to the off-site HR person who is handling the nitty-gritty stuff like my SF-52, and 1 to the off-site retirement counselor, who is handling my retirement application package.

The HR Person responded immediately, with a copy to my supervisor, and a copy of the check-out list...contains the usual one would expect, like equipment and book return, cell phone turn-in, etc etc. That form gets returned after being signed by me and my supervisor...

I didn't get a response from the retirement Person, but that doesn't worry me (yet).

Yesterday, I did hear from the retirement person...she said my retirement was on track, and that I'd get my "retirement package" the week of 11 May. Sounds like I've fed the paperwork gods enough, and everything is good to go !

9 work days and a wake up !!!

Stoplight...

 

[nasa1974]

Well, times have changed since the days when I was in the Air Force, or first started as a Fed. I'm glad to see that Nasa1974 appears to be getting the respect he deserves, after his years with the Agency, and that his Agency still has their "traditions".

I've felt strongly that anyone who makes it to 20 (military), 30, 40 or more years deserves some respect, even if I thought the guy was a jerk ! However, it seems like about the late 90's, that the "attitude" started changing....hanging in there for a long time, and "retiring", just didn't seem to have the same "honor from your peers" that it did before. I think it's a broader comment on how "society" has changed, too...early in my career, it was normal for co-workers to meet after work on Fridays for "Happy Hour", whether you were a drinker or not... You "socialized" more with your co-workers, too...now days, every one has their own little world outside of their "job", and the lines are rarely crossed. Teleworking, "virtual teams", and the internet has taken away a lot of the face-to-face interaction that I liked. I'm not making a judgement call, just saying it's "different", and I personally don't like it as much as the "Good Old Days"...

In my case...I was offered a retirement luncheon, but I chose not to go that route...they usually make some poor young employee responsible for doing the logistics, and everyone grumbles about the cost, etc. Also, I've only been with this Agency 3 years, and to me, that hardly qualifies as a big Agency retirement ! Instead, they lumped me and another retiring guy into the monthly staff meeting, where we got our certificates and a plaque, 1 month before I am actually out the door !!! Granted, I said I didn't WANT a special luncheon, but I thought there'd be something a little more "specific" for the other guy and I...maybe a cake and coffee get-together at lunch time on my last work day ! Oh well...as I noted, "times have changed" !

Stoplight...

Sorry Stoplight. Don't give up hope. There might still be a cake and coffee.

WOW!! So it is 8 and a wake up today. They will go by fast. I'm 14 working days and a wake up but I have 3 days to take off so that makes it 11 days and a wake up.
Nice to hear all your paperwork is in order.

 

[Stoplight]

My retirement story update : I received an MS Outlook appointment scheduler request from a woman in JAX for a call to do my "exit interview". She was kind enough to include the list of questions to discuss, and it's very similar to what Nasa1974 has posted in his thread. We'll do that next Thursday, my last "planned" work day

I also received my renewal Govt Travel Card in the mail, since mine expires the end of April (the day I retire !). I emailed the travel card Guru and asked if I should "activate" it, or just cut it up...he said just cut it up, and he'd take care of deactivating both the card and my DTS travel account when I retired. He thanked me for the "head's up", so I assume he hadn't gotten the word yet that I was outta here shortly...

Here's another "curious" development...I mentioned in a previous post about having to come up with proof of my military buy-back, which I did, by finding an old LES from my previous Agency in 2005. Today, I was browsing our on-line system where we can call up all our current Agency's SF-50's, the "Notification of Personnel Action". Lo and behold, there is now one there, dated 9/2009, that corrects my original appointment -50 from 1/2009 to reflect my 4 years military credit ! I SWEAR it was never there before, so I suspect that someone dug back in my OPF and found this -50 that was never uploaded to the system. No big deal...I now have 2 forms of proof that I did the buy-back !

....and here's a bit of what I consider REALLY GOOD NEWS ! My Brother, who retired as FERS at the end of 2011, emailed me that he got his final OPM numbers...that means OPM cleared him in 4 months, rather than the 8 or more I was expecting ! I hope my package goes through as quickly as his did !

Stoplight...

 

[Stoplight]

It's getting REAL hard to get "motivated", now that I'm 1 week from my last work day !

I've been cleaning up my computer files, and trying to figure out a way to copy my various project emails for my personal records. In the construction biz, it's not unusual to be subpoenaed if a contractor files a claim sometime down the road, even if you're retired ! I'd like to have my "original" emails with attachments, because I don't trust my memory, and I don't want a file cabinet full of paper copies

BTW...another "tip"...don't know if all of us Feds gets the same "deal" : Our Agency has a program with Microsoft that allows you to buy a copy of the software programs used by the Agency, for use at home. Even though we are still running MS Office 2007 on our work machines (haven't been upgraded yet), I was able to purchase a license for the full MS Office 2010 suite (Word, Excel, Power Point, Access, etc) for $10 (downloaded) ! Now that's a pretty sweet deal, compared to buying it at the local Best Buy ! Yes, there are license restrictions, codes, and red tape hoops to jump through, but it's pretty painless...check it out and see your Agency's program, if you have one !

Stoplight...

 

[nasa1974]

Stoplight, congrats on proof of your miitary buy back. Do you use Outlook as your E-mail? We use Outlook and I talked to our IT folks and they told me how to save my E-mails. Let me know and I can can post the process. It is really easy.

 

[Stoplight]

Stoplight, congrats on proof of your miitary buy back. Do you use Outlook as your E-mail? We use Outlook and I talked to our IT folks and they told me how to save my E-mails. Let me know and I can can post the process. It is really easy.

Nasa,

Yes, we use Outlook, too. I think I found the problem...I copied a couple of my *.pst folders to a DVD and tried opening them at home...no luck...Outlook said I was not "authorized access" to the files...I figured they were encrypted, and tied into my CAC card certificate ! HOWEVER...once I copied the files from the DVD to my local hard disk, Outlook had no problems importing the folders into my home machine...go figure ! Is that the method your IT people recommended ?

Stoplight...

 

[nasa1974]

Nasa,

Yes, we use Outlook, too. I think I found the problem...I copied a couple of my *.pst folders to a DVD and tried opening them at home...no luck...Outlook said I was not "authorized access" to the files...I figured they were encrypted, and tied into my CAC card certificate ! HOWEVER...once I copied the files from the DVD to my local hard disk, Outlook had no problems importing the folders into my home machine...go figure ! Is that the method your IT people recommended ?

Stoplight...

Yep!! I used a thumb drive (memory stick).

 

[Stoplight]

How's This For Timing ?

(Patting self on the back) I have 1 work day left (30 April) until I hit the retirement rolls...as of today, with my last full paycheck contribution, and the Agency match, my TSP balance broke the half million dollar mark !!

Yeah, many have a lot more, many have a lot less...yeah, I "coulda-shoulda-woulda" had more, if I made better decisions along the way...but our "goal" was to retire better off than our Parents, and we're doing that !

Dang, if I and the Wife can't live on our fixed pensions, retirement accounts, and Social Security, then there is something wrong with us !


Stoplight...

 

[Talan150]

Best of luck stoplight

 

[OBGibby]

.....my TSP balance broke the half million dollar mark !!.....

Congratulations, Stoplight! Awesome nest egg and a great example for the rest of us...

 

[Frixxxx]

Dang, if I and the Wife can't live on our fixed pensions, retirement accounts, and Social Security, then there is something wrong with us !


Stoplight...

GratZ Stoplight, may you and your wife only want for more time together. Good Job! Good Luck! & Thank you for your service!

 

[nasa1974]

Excellent news Stoplight. 3 days and a wakeup for me. Now we can start comparing notes. Good luck.

 

[KevinD]

Congrats Stoplight!

 

[Stoplight]

Many Thanks, Talan150, OBGibby, Frixxx, Nasa1974, and KevinD !!! Your notes are meaningful to me, since I don't know you from Adam, yet you took the time to post your congrats !

So today was "it" for me...I ended up going in to work today...the intent was to spend about 2 hours there, on the payroll, making copies of important email and contract files (in case I get called to testify on some future contract claim !), and then saying "good bye" to the co-workers, and turning in my building key and hard hat <g> I ended up being there until 5 PM, because the computer system was running so slow, and I had a stream of well-wishers stop by to "chat" ! That's okay...I need the additional payroll on my last paycheck vs. the annual leave lump sum to carry me through the rest of this year ! I'll be curious to see what, if any, deductions are made from my last (incomplete) paycheck towards health care insurance and TSP...I'm SURE I'll pay Fed tax and SS :embarrest:

Anyway, I'm home now, and looking forward to retirement...gotta admit, it's kinda a weird feeling ! I listened to Jimmy Buffett's song "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" on the way home...pretty darn appropriate !!!

I don't think the retirement has sunk in yet, but the Wife says she's going to cook me breakfast tomorrow morning...something we've NEVER done when we were both working, except on weekends ! We'll see if she lives up to her promise

Stoplight...

 

[nasa1974]

Stoplight, What was it like waking up this morning being a retired FED? Looking forward to mine. 1 day and a wake up. How long is the "honey do" list? Good luck and looking forward to comparing retirement notes.

 

[Frixxxx]

I don't think the retirement has sunk in yet, but the Wife says she's going to cook me breakfast tomorrow morning...something we've NEVER done when we were both working, except on weekends ! We'll see if she lives up to her promise

Stoplight...

How was breakfast?

 

[Talan150]

I always heard that the sun rise somehow looks different after you retire. How was your's today? Or did you sleep thru it