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1. Did you go to your account at OPM Services on line?
2. Did you serve in the military? Did you make your Post 56 military pay back?
I cannot get into the OPM account. Reason being its blocks me for not having used it in 15 months. At least that is what it told me when I tried to access it. I had to request a new password. As of yet I have not heard back from them.
Yes I was in the Air Force but I didn't retire from the military. So there was only a few years there. No I did not make a military payback. Perhaps that is the reason for all of this mess. With that said. I'm still at a loss how OPM gets away, with reducing a pension by such a huge amount of money. Yet doesn't have the obligation to notify the person before hand. Yet only weeks before I received the notification of the COL increase in my pension with the new pension amount. You would think at that moment. I would have been notified of a pending reduction. Especially since it was a huge one.
I will be just fine somehow, but I am concerned by this method OPM seems to have adopted. Of no prior notification. I don't feel I am the only one that finds out such a catastrophe, when they go to their bank account. I'm concerned for the person that can't take such a shock, and the aftermath of no help from the OPM with an explanation. I think that fact is bothering me right now as much as this huge loss of monthly income. I think it is inhumane and should be addressed how OPM handles this especially considering the age of the person they are doing it to. Since the impact on their remaining years will be devastating.
Thank you for the information. Perhaps the military business is the reason why this happened.
Its got experts in just about anything related to Federal employment. I'm sorry to hear that you're having a problem.
My experience with OPM has been excellent, so far (in my 7th year of retirement, but am strictly CSRS with no SS). The folks on FedSoup seem to know everything you may need to know.
A new password/account setup does take a few weeks to get to you. Please report back if you're still having problems in a bit. Contacting your representative or senator also has a way of getting things resolved.
Last edited by Pilgrim21784; 05-03-2013 at 09:51 AM..
I cannot get into the OPM account. Reason being its blocks me for not having used it in 15 months. At least that is what it told me when I tried to access it. I had to request a new password. As of yet I have not heard back from them.
Yes I was in the Air Force but I didn't retire from the military. So there was only a few years there. No I did not make a military payback. Perhaps that is the reason for all of this mess. With that said. I'm still at a loss how OPM gets away, with reducing a pension by such a huge amount of money. Yet doesn't have the obligation to notify the person before hand. Yet only weeks before I received the notification of the COL increase in my pension with the new pension amount. You would think at that moment. I would have been notified of a pending reduction. Especially since it was a huge one.
I will be just fine somehow, but I am concerned by this method OPM seems to have adopted. Of no prior notification. I don't feel I am the only one that finds out such a catastrophe, when they go to their bank account. I'm concerned for the person that can't take such a shock, and the aftermath of no help from the OPM with an explanation. I think that fact is bothering me right now as much as this huge loss of monthly income. I think it is inhumane and should be addressed how OPM handles this especially considering the age of the person they are doing it to. Since the impact on their remaining years will be devastating.
Thank you for the information. Perhaps the military business is the reason why this happened.
I too had an issue getting in to site just 2 days ago also since I had not entered the site in ages. They immediately sent me an email with a temporary password which enabled me to get in and create my own password. So you might try again and you will be able to get in right away and see if you can research your statement.
Also when u retired your personnel office should have informed you of whether your military service would impact your annuity.
Yes I was in the Air Force but I didn't retire from the military. So there was only a few years there. No I did not make a military payback. Perhaps that is the reason for all of this mess. With that said. I'm still at a loss how OPM gets away, with reducing a pension by such a huge amount of money. Yet doesn't have the obligation to notify the person before hand. Yet only weeks before I received the notification of the COL increase in my pension with the new pension amount. You would think at that moment. I would have been notified of a pending reduction. Especially since it was a huge one.
I'm not sure how it works in your case CSRS/FERS, but since I am CSRS I did make the deposit for my 4 years USMC active duty time; best investment I've ever made. If I hadn't made the deposit, my pension would have been reduced 8% (2% X 4 years) when I hit 62 and began to collect SS.
You can Google "Post 56 Deposit" and read all bout how it could be affecting you.
Not sure why you didn't receive an Annunity change notice ahead of time; maybe it got lost in the mail. I know that every time I change any of my deductions I get a notice.
I have found the OPM to be very helpful, and am surprised they couldn't explain what happened. I would have asked for a supervisor.
As Pilgram21784 suggested, go to the federalsoup site. Also go to OPM and read up.
It's your pension, and you need to own it and know what's going on.
Lost in the mail could be a good bet. As often as we receive mail intended for other persons...it makes us wonder how often other people get our mail and simply toss it out.
When I retired, OPM sent me my booklet, and it had my retirement contributions wrong. I figured it had to do with a time about 25 years earlier when the financial services for my agency was changed. I notified OPM and they corrected everything very quickly. So, I have to say, in my case, I have no gripes...except that I would like the option of getting rid of snail mail notices so that the local post office would have fewer "at bats" to deliver to the wrong address.
Jim...I don't think OPM has changed their operating procedure. I believe it's either lost mail or some strange mistake that they should be able to correct. I hope you're able to put this issue to bed quickly.
Well as the saying goes. No news is good news, and I have no news. During my 2 phone calls to OPM over this since 2 days ago. I have been told someone would be calling me about this terrible mess. No one has called and I have had my cell phone with me continuously. I can see how important I am to OPM. I realize they are busy but my time is money also, and I feel pretty slighted by the gov't I worked for all those years. At a VA Medical Center of all places. Definitely not an easy place to work.
As far as a notice of reduction that may have been mailed and got lost in the mail. I can understand that happening in this day and age. However I do feel due to the seriousness of the notice. ( A very large amount of money being eliminated from one's pension) that a return receipt of delivery should have been attached. If they did not receive a return receipt then it should have triggered another notice, a phone call or an email. OPM has all of that information concerning me. Since none of that occurred in my case. I get what I got a pension check that's about equal to a couple of days work at Taco Bell.
So this man has had enough. On Monday AM I am mailing back to Congressman Franks Office here in Metro Phoenix, my authorization for an investigation. Along with papers regarding the amount of my pension. The Windfall Eliimination reduction to my SS. My elimination of my FERS annuity by OPM a year ago. This is what he has asked me to furnish him. Also a statement of how a sudden loss of income from a pension with no warning affects me. Such as does it put me in extreme financial difficulty now or in pending weeks. All of these reductions including this latest one all added up together. That is between pensions and Social Security now total $1600 less monthly income than 15 months ago. Which is when I got my very first SS check. So it most definitely is a financial burden to say the least at this age.
Again thanks for everyone's help. I recommend everyone always check your bank account around the time of a direct deposit. You just never know. I often don't for days after, and it was only because I had cox cable to pay online that day that I noticed this pension deposit reduction.
To future retirees,.......To help preclude issues with your pension please do the following.
1. Three years, two years, and one year prior to retirement- request a retirement estimate from OPM. You can request one per year. Also attend retirement seminars to ensure you fully understand your retirement, and any future reductions for offset, windfall, etc. Ask any and all questions to ensure you understand every detail of your retirement.
2. Develop your own retirement estimate on an excel spread sheet. There are full explanations on how to compute your retitrement on the OPM web site. My spreadsheet was only a few dollars off from the OPM estimate, so I knew things were OK. If it doesn't match, figure out why. It's a little math, but not overly difficult
3. One year prior to retirement- contact your local personnel office, and ask to review your official OPM file. This is an important step, as OPM uses your Official file when computing your annunity. Your local Personnel office will request it from OPM, and call you sit in one of their conference rooms to review it. In my case I was glad I did, as there was no documentation of my Post-56 military deposit in my file. Fortunately I maintained a copy, and I put it in the file.
4. One year prior to retirement- make an appointment at your local SS office and go over your benefits to include WEP.
5. Once you are retired, apply for and maintain your OPM-Services on line. It gives you the flexibility to see what's going on; you can review your monthly annunity statements, but best of all, you can add/change/delete deductions, allotment, taxes, etc.
If you do the above, you should be trouble free, and if a mistake should happen, at least you will know what you have earned; it's your pension so own it!
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