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A: In accordance with Public Law 97-253, employees
covered under the Federal Employee's Retirement System (FERS) will
receive credit for their Post-56 military service if a deposit is made
under FERS. For FERS employees, the deposit is 3% of basic military
pay. An interest-free grace period will extend for three years after
the date of the career appointment. At the end of the three year grace
period, interest will accrue on the unpaid balance. All military
service must be honorable in order to complete a buy back.
How to "buy
back" your military time:
1. Call the USPS HR Shared Service Center at 1-877-477-3273, Option 5.
Tell the representative that you wish to buy back your military time.
2. The USPS will send you a packet which includes a form for obtaining
your estimated earnings during military service. Follow the
instructions in the packet for obtaining your estimated earnings and
also your DD 214 (Report of Separation). An official copy of your DD 214 must accompany your request for
estimated earnings. The DD 214 must be a "Member 4" copy or one which
contains character of service and time lost information. If you are
unable to locate a copy of your DD 214, you will need to order an
Undeleted copy at
http://vetrecs.archives.gov or complete and mail the SF180 form
enclosed in the packet. More info:
How to obtain your DD 214.
3. After obtaining your estimated earnings from the U.S. Military,
send the completed forms back to the Postal Service's HR Shared
Service Center. Use the return mailing label included in the packet.
4. If you wish to make payment for your military service, you will
need to complete Section 12, Election of Payment, on PS Form 2805,
Military Deposit Worksheet and SF 3108, Application to Make
Service Credit Payment (instructions and forms included in
packet). You may make a lump sum payment by check or money order,
installment payments ($50.00 minimum) also by check or money order, or
payroll deductions (in $5.00 increments).
5. When the deposit has been paid in full, your retirement computation
date will be adjusted to include your military service.
Should you buy back your military time?
The choice of course is up to you, depending on the amount of deposit
and time added to retirement. The general consensus is that if
you retired from the military then you shouldn't buy back your
military time and combine your military retirement and postal
retirement. If you did not retire from the military (for example you
served one or two enlistments like many people do) then the general
consensus is that you should buy back your military time and have that
time added to your postal retirement.
Example
PostalMag.com owner Tom Wakefield recently bought back his military
time. Tom served in the military from August 1985 to January 1990 for
a period of about 4 years and 5 months. (He extended his 4-year
enlistment by 5 months for an additional overseas tour.) Tom's
basic military earnings for those 4 years and 5 months was $45,153.21.
Based on these earnings, Tom's amount due for buying back his time was
$1,354.60. However, Tom wasn't very smart and waited until 2008 to buy
back his time, and $1,844.03 interest had accrued, making the total
amount $3,198.63. Nevertheless, Tom decided that this amount was worth
having 4 years and 5 months added to his postal retirement, and he
sent a check for $3,198.63 to HR. Tom is very satisfied with his buy
back. Instead of having 18 years of service in the Postal Service, having
joined the USPS on June 2, 1990, Tom now has 22 years and 5 months
counted towards his postal retirement, as of June 2, 2008. |
