Question 1:
How does Social Security Spousal benefits work for feds?
Question 2:
I work for VA. My first year of employment was as an intermittent Nurse. Does this count as part of my years of service! Also, if I have 10 years of service and my MRA, I retire without collecting TSP. At 62, I start my TSP benefit, do I also qualify to start health care benefits?
Answers:
Social Security Spousal Benefit Question
Social Security Spousal benefits can be a great benefit in retirement. But one thing to remember is that for a spouse to draw spousal benefits (or benefits based on their spouse’s record) then their spouse needs to also be receiving benefits.
If the higher earner has not yet started Social Security then the other spouse can’t start spousal benefits until they do.
But the lower earning spouse can start their Social Security benefits based on their own record and then switch to spousal benefits (if it is higher) when their spouse files as well.
Intermittent Time and FEHB Question
The main thing to know when thinking about temporary time or intermittent time for a FERS retirement is it generally all comes down to if you were contributing in the retirement system during that time.
If you were contributing to the retirement system then the time will most likely count towards your retirement. If you were not contributing into the system then the time will not count.
If you had any non-contributory time before 1989 then you may be able to make a deposit for that time and make it count towards your retirement.
For the FEHB question, the thing to know is that with the MRA+10 retirement, you stay in FEHB continuously and don’t have to wait until 62 to get back on it.
Now if you postpone your pension that you will have to wait until age 60 or 62 (whenever you can restart your pension) to be on FEHB again.
