Last month PMG Patrick Donahoe mentioned that early out retirements and RIFs were coming by March 2011. The following is unverified information floating around the internet:
from a NAPS AVP:
OPM approved United States Postal Service VERA and Retirement Processing for 80,000 eligible Civil Service and Federal Employee Retirement Service employees. With roll out of Area EAS 8% staff reductions and later District EAS 8% staff reductions, VERA will be available for applying on or after March 2011. Effective drop date of VERA is July 2011, August 2011, September 2011, and October 2011. The drop month is determined by your work location and reduction in force notification. VERA will be available for PCES, EAS and Craft employees in “targeted” areas. No “buy out” authorized for USPS.
– Third round of Station, Branch, Finance Station closures due out in FY 2011.
– First announcement of Associate Post Office closures due out in FY 2011.
– First announcement of Processing and Distribution Center closures due out in FY 2011.
– Four Districts will be consolidated in FY 2011.
– Congressional opposition is expected due to loss of local tax base; contract jobs (many in maintenance), and local constituents.
via Federal Soup
In case many ,or perhap’s, “ALL” of you have forgotten or weren’t aware the fact…that the p.o. doesn’t pay your annuity after your retirement, it is the O.P.M. that does that, they also decide whether or not the p.o. can even offer an early out. That is why the c.s.r.s employee’s get stuck in a job they may or maynot like until they are damn near used up, because the o.p.m. (a.k.a. The federal gov’t/Washington) has to pay for their pricier retirment annuity’s. More power to all of you fine soul’s that have the ability to “hang in there” and eat that load of “S” for more year’s. I took the 2009 VER at age 45 with 25 years of service, and the the prior poster on this site ( STEVE ) was right…the loss of STRESS was more than worth the supposed loss of income!! I had a few month’s there that i actually woke up and got ready to go to the “hell-hole” and then realized ” I AM FREEEEE”, thank you lord!.Also, for those of you that are really worried about the loss of income, do yourself a favor and start going to TSPTALK.COM and following the daily market commentary, and the AUTO TRACKER link’s (preferably the SENTIMENT SURVEY SYSTEM post), they are all tsp participants and for FREE you get to follow what interfund transfers (IFT’S) thnat they make in real time. The system got me 35 + (%) return on my tsp in 2010!!! Cost me zippy. So i made 10 monthly withdrawal’s of $1600.00 in 2010, and even after the tax & 10% penalty on each payment that i will owe this year, i am still ahead in my tsp account by $5000 from where it was at this time last year! Stayed home, relaxed, did what i wanted when i wanted, and lived off of wall-street’s interest and the o.p.m’s dime….SWEET!!!! But you must really pay attention to CNBC channel as well as TSPTALK.COM, and make any IFT’S by noon Eastern Standard Time…And, the “S” fund is the go to…Beat’s the hell out of a forklift and an ignorrant self serving supervisor (that is younger & less stressed than you)…;-). well, i hope this help’s ANY of you, remember, like a previous poster stated, do the math!! Taxe’s(medicaire/Social Security, ect..), gas, take-out food at work, car payments/upkeep/ repair’s. they add up to you working hard for not alot of xtra take home! Also, in case you are not aware, even if you take a VER/early retirement, you can go back and get a job with the p.o. again after 2 year’s and it doesn’t effect any incentive cash you MAY get. It will effect your o.p.m annuity amount, unless it is not FULL-TIME, that’s the kicker, and i found it so funny i almost didn,t laugh!! I was offerred an assistant/part time “releif ” postmaster’s job at my local p.o. for 12-36 hour’s per week , wouldn’t have effected my annuity or buy-out money in any way…and i was a mailhandler for 25 year’s!! HAHAHAHAHA , go figure. Good luck to you all.
The Postal Service are always starting rumors, about early out to get employees worried about nothing. Management knows for a fact that the only people that take those early outs are the ones that going to retire anyway. I wonder when craft personnel are going to wake and smell the coffee. Management never talks about all the bonus money that are paid to upper level personnel, or all the mismangement that goes on in the service. All they do is blame the craft employees for their incompentence, which is rampant in the Postal Service. You must remember, that Management calls all the shots; and when they realize that if they would stop trying to screw us over so much things would be better of for the whole. My plan is to work until the cows come home.
SHOW IS some CASH . GM and other major corp. do it when they want to get rid of personnel .Dont wast your time and money printing up all that VERA paper work
It’s the thought of miss calculating whether to wait and hold out for incentives and by doing so staying and waiting for this other offer, that might not ever come. I risk the opportunity and wind up getting trapped, with the threat of social security increasing the retirement age to 69 or 70 years old, not having a contract, not knowing if we will be still using a high 3 or a high 5 calculation and if we will continue to increase our salaries based on the unions or cola over the next couple of years I’m not taking any chances one way or the other. c u all in retirement at some point eventually.)
To Bad Boy you are correct FERS pension isn’t much but if you take early out you are able to take out TSP money before 591/2 WITHOUT PENALTIES if you separate from govt service after 55 or you receive your account balance in monthly payments based on your life expectancy Read IRS Publication 721 and IRS Publication 575 Also at your MRA you are eligible for special annuity supplement I pray for early out, just let me go even if there is no incentive I’m 56 with 23 years and just want to get out
If under FERS one cant afford to go. 48 and 25 years here , so elligible if things are as usual ( 50 with 20 years or any age with 25 years ) , but only recieve 800.00 per month under FERS and cant use TSP until 59 1/2 .
I’m welling to bet that there will be a buy out for C.S.R.S. employee’s only.It makes sense, get rid of the old timers. If you don’t have the time to retired ? you are going no where. You are still young the P.O. want to keep you . CSRS are the people the P.O. want to say good-bye to. I bet you. Spoke to my Union president , he said to me, N.A.L.C. and management are working on a buy out package for ?? he didn’t say. But i bet you that is for C.S.R.S. carriers. He said relax and wait for news in the next month or 2 . January–March. $ 25,000 and 3 years ? will get all CSRS carriers out.. . 5 years to your time only ? will get me out. 5 years and $ 25,000 ? all CSRS will go for sure. C.S.R.S. carriers lets hope and pray for a buy out. I personally ? don’t care to be on the street for 7 hours, but if no buy out ? i’m staying for 4 more years. I have 34 years with the post office–3 years with in the Marines 37 years. Would like to retired with 41 years.
he held her hand and the truth is a defense
yeah….i’m here…..are you trying to be funny, Mr. Fossetta?
does anybody know cris carwash
way to go Cliff: SHOW ME THE $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Thank you Dave Kahlmorgan, Good luck in your retirement im 53 yrs old CSRS letter carrier with 33 yrs service ,Ive had enough, however im not taking a penalty no WAY! show us the $$$ and yrs with no Penalty and im outta here or i will stay to the bitter end collect my 440 hrs AL at the end good luck to all P.S. Its true the union pushes MDA FOOD DRIVE CUSTOMER CONNECT all important causes dont get me wrong however how about doing what they are paid to do represent LETTER CARRIERS and the quality and working conditions of our jobs
I was making plans to go. Then it hit me. Quadruple by-pass surgery. Out of pocket expenses & a son who’s starting college, house note. I’ve got 40 yrs and unlike some, the Gateway District isn’t that bad. Yes, we’ve all seen the clowns, the yes men/women, the incompetent kids who are running the show, who in fact could be ours. When you get to that Golden Age of retirement, you hear nothing the supervisor says. You’ve earned that right. Am I going, yep but on my own terms. Can we live off retirement alone, no. I don’t have a green thumb, so I’ll probably get a 3 days a week job to keep active. Because it’s what I want to do, not because I have to. A buyout of substance and I’m gone. $15,000.000? Chump change. $25,000.00? After taxes what is it, $16,000.00 or a new car. Everyone needs to leave on their own terms, as CRSR employee’s, we’ve earned that right. Pay me. As the movie goes “Show me the money”.
I’m a carrier in Paramus ,NJ …CSRS..59 years old and will have 30 years in October….I’m leaving no matter what…a few years and some money would be nice..but if that is not the case I’m still leaving..too much work and not enough time to do it in…I think the Postal Service is gonna destroy itself from the inside..FSS is the worst thing i’ve seen in 30 years…good luck to everybody
I was worried I might have made a mistake getting out with over 40 yrs. I kept hearing all the rumors about $$$$$ being offered in March. I was thinking of trying to recind my retirement of Feb. 1. But after reading all this I think I made the right choice to go. 3 days and I’m out the door. Good luck to all my fellow Postal workers, you are all a great bunch of people.