Westchester, NY Merged Branch 693 National Association of Letter Carriers
RETIREMENT

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gorevich.jpg

 
Angelo "Butch" Gorevich
Director of Retirees
Retired - Ardsley Post Office
Former Shop Steward
National Convention Delegate
NY State Convention Delegate

RETIREES ---- SEE NEW ARTICLE UNDER "LEGISLATION" FOR IMPORTANT BILLS.

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 IN CASE OF THE DEATH OF A RETIREE
  1. Cut # Save  (COMPLETE FORM & PUT IN A SAFE PLACE)

Information About the Decedent:__________________________________________

Full name of deceased: ___________________________________________________

Date of birth: - __________________________________________________________

Social Security number:___________________________________________________

CSA (claim) number:______________________________________________________

Date of death: ___________________________________________________________   

Survivors name:________________________________________________________

Relationship to deceased:__________________________________________________

If spouse:_______________________________________________________________

Social Security number:___________________________________________________

Date of birth:____________________________________________________________

Survivors address:_______________________________________________________

Survivors phone number:__________________________________________________

Minor/Disabled/Student Child(ren):_________________________________________

Name:_________________________________________________________________

SSN:__________________________________________________________________

Date of birth:____________________________________________________________

 

 

There are notifications which need to be made in order for survivor(s) to receive payment of retirement benefits and/or life insurance.~

Notify:

Office of Personnel Management

Retirement Operations Center

Boyers, PA 16017

or call l-888-767-6738.

 

Provide: Full name of deceased; Date of birth; Social Security number; Date of death; CSA claim number; Survivors name, address and relationship to the deceased. 

 

For quicker action instead of notifying the Office of Personnel Management, contact:

NALC Retirement Department, 100 Indiana Avenue, N.W.  Washington, DC 2000l-2144

l-202-393-4695 or call toll free l-800-424-5186 Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday

10am-12noon or 2-4pm (Eastern time)

 

* NALC will alert OPM so that survivor benefits will commence as quickly as possible, and will send you the application for death benefits under the retirement system; and claim for death benefits, Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program. Return any uncashed checks to the address on the accompanying Treasury Department envelope. If payments are being deposited through Electronic Funds Transfer to a bank or other financial institution, contact them with the retirees date of death and advise them to return any future payments to the Treasury Department.  Obtain enough death certificates for your needs from mortuary officials (they may suggest how many).  Other possible notifications:

a. local NALC union office;  b. if veteran, the Veterans Administration local office and/or commanding officer of local military installation;  c. decedents bank or other financial institution:  d. Social Security Administration local office or phone them at: l-800-772- 1213;  e. Other insurance companies regarding life insurance coverage, hospitalization, home, or automobile.  If NALC, Mutual Benefit Association,  100 Indiana Avenue, NW, Room 510,  Washington, DC 20001-2144 or call l-202-638-4318;  or NALC Health Benefit Plan, 20547 Waverly Court, Ashburn, VA 20149 or call l-703-729-4677; f. To start, stop or change monthly federal or state income tax withholding or request a duplicate 1099R, call: l-800-409-6528.  You will need the CSA or CSF number and the last four digits of Social Security number;  g. If retired after 1987, Thrift Savings Plan Service Center, National Finance Center, P 0. Box 61500, New Orleans, LA 70161-1500 or call 1-504-255-6000 (TDD: l-504-255-5 113).

 

NOTE: IF SPOUSE OF A RETIRED CARRIER DIES: CALL NALC RETIREMENT DEPARTMENT FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO:  RESTORE ANNUITY TO FULL AMOUNT; SWITCH HEALTH COVERAGE FROM FAMILY TO SELF (UNLESS DEPENDENT CHILDREN); CHANGE BENEFICIARIES.

 

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BRANCH 693 LIFE MEMBERS   

AS OF  SEPTEMBER 2001

 

CLARENCE BROWN - OSSINING

ROBERT S. BROWN - RYE   (60)

ROBERT A. BROWN - IRVINGTON

FRANK CALABRO - WHITE PLAINS            

JOHN CALLAHAN - WHITE PLAINS   (60)

PETER COCCARO - PLEASANTVILLE

RALPH CONDRO - LARCHMONT   (60)      

GEORGE CRAN - SCARSDALE   (60)

GEORGE CRISTOFALO - PLEASANTVILLE

QUENTIN DELVECCHIO - SCARSDALE

JOSEPH DINAPOLI - WHITE PLAINS

GODFREY EDGERTON - SCARSDALE

EDWARD FIALA - TARRYTOWN

JOHN HARRIGAN - SCARSDALE

JOSEPH HONAN - DOBBS FERRY

LAWRENCE LOMBARDI - YORKTOWN HEIGHTS

ROBERT LOVELETT - WHITE PLAINS

RALPH LUCISANO - WHITE PLAINS

FRANK LUPI - TARRYTOWN   (60)

ROBERT MULLEY - MT. KISCO

AL MUNCK - ARDSLEY

SAL MUSCENTE - SCARSDALE

BRADFORD ODELL - KATONAH

SHELDON ODELL - PEEKSKILL

MICHAEL ORTEGA - PEEKSKILL

EUGENE PAULLI - MT. KISCO

GUIDO POET - PLEASANTVILLE

GEORGE RE - WHITE PLAINS   (60)

RAYMOND REIFF - MT. KISCO

HOWARD ROBBINS - CHAPPAQUA

FRANK SAWIN - HARTSDALE

GEORGE SCAGLIA - CROTON

CRESCENZO SIMONELLI - WHITE PLAINS

RALPH VINSON - YORKTOWN

ALFRED ZAINO - SCARSDALE

 

 

US Office of Personnel Management   

PO Box 45     

Retirement Operations Center     Boyers, Pa.  16017-0045  

1-888-767-6738     www.opm.gov/retire/

____________________________________________________________

US Senate          Washington, DC 20510            www.senate.gov

____________________________________________________________

                   Hon Charles E. Schumer                      

US Senate

Washington DC 20510

1-202-224-6542

Schumer's Web site

email- senator@schumer.senate.gov

____________________________________________________________

Hon Hillary Rodham Clinton

US Senate

Washington DC 20510

1-202-224-4451

Hlllary's Web site

____________________________________________________________

 Hon Nita Lowey                       Hon Elliot Engel             Hon Sue Kelly

       2329 Rayburn HOB            2303 Rayburn HOB      1127 Longworth HOB

     Washington, DC 20515       Washington, DC 20515     Washington, DC 20515

             1-202-225-6506                 1-202-225-2464            1-202-225-5441

           914-779-9766             718-796-9700 MWF           914-962-0761

     www.house.gov/lowey            www.house.gov/engel     www.house.gov/suekelly

____________________________________________________________________________________

Government Reform Committee          Subcommittee on the Postal Service

2157 Rayburn HOB                                  US House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515                            B-349-C Rayburn HOB                      

1-202-225-5074                                        Washington, DC 20515

                                                                          1-202-225-3741

 

 

 

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HEALTH BENEFIT CAUTIONS 

If you want to carry your Health Plan into retirement, you must be in the Federal Health Plan System for the five years previous to your retirement. This does not mean that you have to be in the same plan for the last five years but that you had to have been in the Health Plan System for the preceding five years (you could have been in a different plan every year). If you do not satisfy this five-year rule, you will lose your Federal Health Plan the day you retire. If you retire and your spouse decides not to take the survivor's annuity. Be aware that this means if you (the retired postal employee) die, your spouse is no longer entitled to be a member of your health plan.  If your plan is the only health plan coverage your spouse has, you had better take the survivor's annuity or make Other arrangements because if you die, that is the end of the spouse's health coverage; there is no appeal, reconsideration, retroactive sign-up, etc.  

 

If you are planning to drop your Health Plan, (perhaps you're carried by your spouse's plan) you can only do it during the Open Season, which occurs every November.  The reason that you cannot drop out whenever you wish is that your premiums are pre-tax payments and are under more stringent regulations.   There are some exceptions listed in the Employee's Labor Manual Section 524, but they are not that many and not that common.

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Best Date to Retire

According to OPM, most federal and postal service employees retire at, or near, the end of the calendar year.  In FY1999, January was the most popular month to retire (9,792).  September had 7,919 retirements and July  had the third most at 5,216.  The least number of retirements occurred in November, 1999 (1,953).

 

Statistics over a longer period of time, FY1990-1999, show the most popular months to retire:

 

January...76,817

September...63,722

December...50,726

 

The least popular month to retire always seems to be February, which came in at 24,356 for the period from 1990 to 1999.

Source:  U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

 

 

CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM (CSRS)

 

JANUARY 3 (CSRS).  Yes, of course you can use your "crystal ball" but all other things being equal, for most federal employees under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) the best date to retire may just be January 3, 2003.  Here's why:

 

CSRS employees can retire by the 3rd day of the month and still receive payment in February for the month of January; (FERS employees do not enjoy this option).

 

For most CSRS employees (GS-types) the January 3rd date maximizes any general increase they got back in January 2002; by January 3rd the 2002 pay increase will have been in effect for almost a full year and will have eliminated the 1999 pay rate from the high-3 computation.

 

A January 3rd date also maximizes annual leave accrual prior to the end of the leave year--in this case the leave year ends on January 11th, the end of pay period #26.  If you carried over the maximum (for most employees the maximum carryover is 240 hours) annual leave from 2001, you can then accrue another 200 (assuming 8 hours per pay period for 25 pay periods), for a total of about 440 hours of annual leave. Note:  You cannot accrue leave for a pay period (pay period #26 in this case) which you did not complete.

 

Most employees plan their annual leave so as to carryover the maximum the year prior to their actual retirement, and then accrue the maximum through the next 25 pay periods.  Most employees are looking to maximize their annual leave lump sum payment.  This is a wise move for a couple of reasons: (1) this money can be your financial bridge until your regular monthly retirement annuity kicks in from OPM; (2) the lump sum payment is paid to you in the next tax year, thus reducing any taxes due on this lump sum payment.  Generally speaking, your annual leave lump sum payment is taxed at a flat rate of 27% -- so temporarily changing your withholdings won't have any effect.

 

Assuming that you have 440 hours of annual leave to cash in as of January 3, and assuming you are a GS employee anticipating a pay increase effective on January 12, 2003, then here's how your actual annual leave lump sum payment will work out...

40 hours (5 days) of your 440 hours will be paid at your old 2002 hourly pay rate;

the remaining 400 hours will be paid to you at the new, and higher, January 12, 2003 hourly pay rate that you would have received had you not retired.  This is because the annual leave is paid at the salary the employee would have earned if he/she would have remained employed until the leave was exhausted.  Learn more from OPM.

 

The obvious "negative" about retiring at the end of the year is that it also happens to be when most federal and postal employees retire, which slows the process down.

 

If you choose to retire on January 4 through the 31st, your annuity will not commence (begin accruing) until the first day of the following month; in other words, February for payment in March.

 

We always suggest maximizing your annual leave lump sum payment, so that you can use those funds to carry you through the transitional period when your final paychecks stop coming from your agency, and when your new payroll office, OPM, starts your monthly annuity payments.

Please remember, you can always retire on any day you wish.