Not affiliated with The United States Office of Personnel Management or any government agency

Not affiliated with The United States Office of Personnel Management or any government agency

The Role of Your Agency in Your Retirement Application – Mark Heinrich

It is important to prepare in time for your retirement. Ideally, it would be best if you started planning a year ahead of when you wish to retire from your work. If you don’t have much time left to retire from service, then you’ll have to work within your constraints.

A cautionary note to those who believe this next step will be painless and that your application will be sent to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for adjudication and immediate commencement of your annuity: That’s not how it works.

The length of the process within your agency will be determined by several factors, including the workload in your personnel and payroll departments. It may take longer if they are understaffed due to COVID-19 and/or buried behind a mountain of retirement applications.

After receiving your retirement application, your personnel office will decide if:

1. You fulfill the age and service requirements to retire on the date you have specified, and 

2. You will be able to keep your Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) and/or Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) coverage even after you retire.

If there are no issues, your personnel office will prepare a Certified Summary of Federal Service, which will detail your federal civilian service as well as any military service you may have. You will need to examine it for correctness and make any necessary adjustments when they provide you a copy.

When you’re close to retiring, your personnel office will: 

• authenticate your FEGLI coverage to OPM if you’re eligible to do so; 

• transfer your FEHB enlistment to OPM if you’re eligible to do so; 

• forward any current beneficiary designations in your OPF; 

• process an SF 50 (Notification of Personnel Action) to detach you from the service; and

• complete and authenticate the personnel office portion of your retirement.

Following these stages, your payroll office will:

• approve the payment of your last wage once you’ve separated for retirement. It will also allow any lump-sum payment for unused yearly leave that you are due. It will also allow payment if you have been offered a “buyout.”

• validate and close your Individual Retirement Record (IRR), which is an official record of your current service, pay rates, and unused sick leave credit for retirement reasons, among other things. The IRR can’t be closed until your last paycheck is received since it includes a list of your retirement deductions for your last term of work.

• confirm your yearly basic salary for FEGLI life insurance reasons, if you have any, and

• send your retirement package to the OPM.

When your file is forwarded to OPM, your agency payroll office will normally tell you. The registration number, transmittal and mailing dates, and your payroll office number will all be included in that notification. If you need to check on the progress of your case after it has been forwarded to OPM, then you’ll need that information sent earlier. You’ll have to contact your agency if they don’t inform you.

Your OPM case will be given a new registration number once it is received. You won’t have to contact your agency’s payroll office if anything happens on the case, and you won’t have to. Keep in mind that OPM typically takes 30 days to complete a retirement package from the date of receipt, although this time limit might vary.

OPM will notify you when it has completed processing your retirement application, which is normally seven to ten working days after receiving it from the agency.

If all goes well, this entire process will take approximately six to nine months. But if there are problems with your pay records, medical coverage records or other items, it could take longer. Also, suppose you are eligible for both retired military pay and federal retirement benefits. In that case, you’ll need to complete the application process for both retirement systems before either agency can act on your case.

If you have questions about this or any other personnel-related issue, please call your agency’s human resources office and ask for a list of their federal human resources specialists. They are the people who regularly work with OPM on retirement-related issues, so they should be able to answer your questions.

Every federal agency has at least one person assigned as the agency’s representative for this hotline. They are the points of contact for anyone who wants to ask any retirement questions. If you don’t know who your agency’s rep is, call your personnel office or human resources office and ask them to connect you with that person.

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 9187441333

Bio:
Mark, a lifelong Tulsan graduated from Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri with a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting. Mark served in the United States Army as a Captain in the 486th Civil Affairs BN. Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and retired in 1996. Mark is married to his high school sweetheart Jenny and has four beautiful children. Mark’s passion for his work, which includes over 20 years in the Financial Industry started as an Oklahoma State Bank Examiner. Mark examined banks throughout Oklahoma gaining a vast knowledge and experience on bank investments, small business and family investments. Mark’s experiences include being formally trained by UBS Wealth Management, a global investment firm where he served as a Financial Consultant specializing in Wealth Management for individuals & families. Mark is a licensed Series 24 and 28 General Securities Principal and an Introducing Broker Dealer Financial Operations Principal. Additionally, Mark is a Series 7 and 66 stockbroker and Investment Advisor focusing on market driven investments for individuals, businesses and their families.

Mark specializes in providing financial knowledge, ideas, and solutions for federal employees, individuals, families and businesses. We serve as your advocate, and assist you in the design and implementation of financial strategies while providing the ideas to maximize your security and wealth. Our goal is to give you maximum control of your financial future. We provide the expertise to help you with personal issues such as: practical tax Ideas, risk management, investment solutions, and estate preservation.

Additionally, we’ve counseled hundreds of employees on their transitions from careers in federal government, and private industry to their next life stage, whether that is retirement or a second career. We specialize in devising strategies that roll your TSP, 401(k), pension plan, to a suitable IRA to meet your objectives.

Disclosure:
Securities offered through GRF Capital Investors, Inc., 6506 South Lewis Avenue, Suite 160 Tulsa, OK 74136 Phone: 918-744-1333 Fax: 918-744-1564

Securities cleared through RBC Capital Markets, LLC. 60 South 6th St., Minneapolis, MN 55402

Member FINRA www.finra.org / SIPC www.sipc.org

Broker Check http://brokercheck.finra.org/

Contact mark heinrich

Search for Public Sector Retirement Expert.

Receive the Best advice.

PSR Experts can help you determine if Public Sector Retirement is right for you or if you should look for alternatives.

The Best Advice creates
the best results.

Recent Articles

More Articles by mark heinrich

FERS OPM Disability Retirement: The Mixed Case

It is easily argued that every case is "mixed," which means that the topic must always consider case law and...

3 Strategies You Should Know for Early Retirement

A multitude of novel approaches have been proposed by advocates of the "financial independence, retire early" (or "FIRE") movement. The...

4 Social Security Benefits for Seniors

Millions of retirees have benefited from Social Security retirement benefits, and many workers eagerly await receiving monthly payments from the...

Search For Public Sector Retirement Expert

Receive the Best advice.

PSR Experts can help you determine if
Public Sector Retirement is right for you or if you should
look for alternatives.

The Best Advice creates

the best results.

Subscribe to our Newsletter

"*" indicates required fields

Our Readers Deserve The Best PSHB and USPS Health Benefits Guidance

Licensed insurance agents who understand PSHB, Medicare, and USPS Health Benefits Plan are encouraged to apply for a free listing.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Book Phone Consultation

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Get In Touch

Stay up to date on the latest information about Public Sector Retirement.

The Best Advice Creates The Best