Retired Postal Worker Fights To Get More than Half Of Pension

OPM backlog affecting recent postal retiree.

 

Mt. Vernon, OH —

A Mt. Vernon veteran who devoted three decades to the U.S. Postal Service as a mail carrier says he is now receiving only about half his pension check from the federal government.

Jon Minard served in Vietnam, losing an eye to a grenade, before returning home and working at the U.S.P.S. delivering mail for thirty years. He worked in Dublin before eventually moving to Mt. Vernon.

When Minard retired last August, he expected his pension check to be there. Instead, he says he is only receiving a little more than half of the $2500 he is owed.

Minard says it is a frustrating chapter to an agency he had always been able to rely on.

source: Veteran Fights Federal Government For Pension Check | NBC 4i.

37 thoughts on “Retired Postal Worker Fights To Get More than Half Of Pension

  1. I retired in june 2011 that was the best thing I did they give you 70% of your money a month have to wait 6 months what I did is call my state senator and got action so dont wait. I am glad I retired the money I get from soical s and my post office money I make more staying home. Good luck everyone go for it you only live once.

  2. Please stop shouting. Turn your caps off. I retired Oct. 2009. First partial check in December, and full check and back pay check in May 2010. Thank the lord I had annual leave to fall back on. A couple of things though, you lose the supplement at age 62, so if you need that additional money you have to apply for your social security. Also if you are FERS and go out before age 62 you receive no COLA until you are 62 years old. A cola for retirees this year and I received nada. I wasn’t aware of this when I retired so now I’m pretty pissed.

  3. I FEEL SORRY FOR ALL FEDERAL EMPLOYEEES WHO VOTE GOP. YOU THINK PAIN AND SUFFERING IS BAD NOW CONTINUE YOU WAY S OF 2010 AND YOU WILL FEEL ALL THE PAIN COME DOWN ON YOU.GOP HAS SHOWN YOU WHAT THEY HAVE PLAN. SMALLER PENSIONS (NO FERS AFTER 2013) MORE CONTRIBUTIONS TO HEALTH AND RETIREMENT AND IF THE GOP CONGRESS DECIDE LAYOFFS!!! THEY ARE THE ONLY ONE’S WHO CAN CHANGE THE LAYOFF CLAUSE . YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE OBAMA BUT HE IS THE ONLY ONE STANDING BETWEEN YOU AND THE WELFARE LINE.

  4. i retired on 1 july 2010. started receiving full retired pay from opm on 1 sep 2010. two months – not bad. the power of the vest.

  5. Now come on you guys you are being hard on OPM…what you’re NOT telling the other readers is that you get an “interim” check until your retirement is finalized. Took OPM 9 months to finalize my retirement and they paid me back $2,200…not bad for 9 months of “interim” checks…so quit your bitching and be glad OPM is there…and don’t forget to let everyone know how everything is online so you don’t have to sit on the phone all day waiting for an answer. Now enjoy your retirement…I sure am!

  6. Hope and Change most idiots voted into office in 2008. I wouldn’t put Nobama in charge of anything, as he would screw it up !!!!!!!!

  7. I retired Oct. 2, 2011 with 33yrs., plus 4yrs. in USMC, and 1yr. saved sick leave under CSRS. My application was pretty “clean” as far as complexity goes. No survivor aspects, no court ordered payments etc., just my service time and some higher level pay. I received interim pay for Nov., Dec., and Jan. Also received final statement from OPM with back pay for the 3 mos. in addition to Jan. interim pay. Starting Feb. I will be getting full retirement pay. It only took 3 months!! I was expecting this process to take 6mos. – to – 1 year. I can’t explain why my case went so smoothly, however, there are some things one should do to ease the wait. Make sure your application is completed perfectly, no spelling errors, no incorrect dates, all forms included, all beneficiary forms submitted with no corrections, and typed. Save as much annual leave as your mental side can spare, and save as much money as you can. Then, just retire already, its the best decision you’ll ever make. Wait for the process to play out. If you wait because you make excuses for staying, then your not ready to retire. I was going to retire on January 2, 2012 and I experienced that “last straw” moment and just walked out. I recommend retirement to everyone. Don’t wait, DO IT.

  8. Sharon, your FERS retirement is not bad at all. In addition to the basic FERS annuity, you will probably get the FERS annuity supplement from age 56 to 62, when you become eligible for Social Security. With 30 years of postal service the FERS supplement is about $1,050/month extra. Your TSP money can be withdrawn as an annuity (note: I said annuity) without an IRS penalty at any age once you have retired. Unlike CSRS people, you don’t lose a penny due to WEP and GPO.

  9. I am concerned about the waiting period, and would LOVE to hang on to my annual leave so I could count on that money, but fear I would go absolutely bonkers without my leave out of there. With the hostile work environment, (though it just got better with my manager working at a different place now—-thank god for that)…anyway I do have some savings to lean on during that time….but hate to spend it for that kind of expenses (bills). I have been waiting for an early out, but do fear about the waiting period. Its sad that we have to wait so long for it. I am glad that this man is fighting for his money. If you get a statement saying you are getting a certain amount of money for retirement, then thats what it should be…no matter what. I hope this sends a message to the postal service that we just arent going to take it anymore!!! Our retirement sucks if you are with FERS. Unless you have something to fall back on, you cant live on that amount, thats for sure. My house is pd for, cars paid for….still what they give you is peanuts. I have a good bit in the TSP and hope you all do too!!! I for one will be glad to be out of there!

  10. UNIONS SUCK!!! THERE WAS A TIME WHEN UNIONS WERE NEEDED & GREAT. THAT , FOR MOST OF US WAS A LIFETIME AGO. UNION STAFF ARE ONLY IN BUSINESS TO BENEFIT THEMSELVES, NOT THE PAYINF MASSES! I’D RATHER BE A SCAB BECAUSE A SCAB SHOW SIGNS OF HEALING UNLIKE THE OPEN, STINKING OOZING SORES WE REFER TO AS THE APWU OR NALC OR ANY OTHER “AMERICAN” UNION. THEY DON’T KNOW THE TRUE MEANING OF THE WORD. THEY ARE SOLEY MOTIVATED BY THE MONEY THEY GET FROM PAYING MEMBERS WHILE SITTING BACK & TELLING YOU , “MANAGEMENT CAN DO THAT”. FUCK ALL UNIONS & THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON! PEOPLE WAKE UP. GET OUT, GET OUT , GET OUT. LET THEM FALL ON THEIR FACES. THEY DON’T DO SHIT FOR YOU ANYWAY UNLES YOU ARE A SHOP STEARD OR HIGHTER UP! FUCK ALL UNIONS, MAY YOU ALL BURN IN HELL & may the fleas of 100,000 camels infest your armpits & crthces for eternity!!!!!!!!! FUCK U

  11. This Buyout thing should be between Congrees and the USPS employees.

    You can only find so many cockroaches to make a good size plate these days.

    Using a straw to eat ants an termites like the anteaters, sloths an aarvark would be to hard to do while waiting for OPM.

    Congress releases the funds to the USPS (cash only) only going to be $25K? taxes waivered (A $25K CASH SIGNATURE BUYOUT.)

    Back up the ArmorTruck, set up a table by the time clock with your ($25K CASH SIGNATURE BUYOUT) sign, have plenty of blue books on hand to hand out. As they come rolling in to sign? Tear up their time cards. End of story.

    Instead of hiring more OPM employees this could work and from the month you retire would be retro… whenever OPM gets to you is another story.

  12. My question to all of you that had & have to wait for your checks,once after the 11 months have gone by,& you actually started receiving your checks,did you start receiving anything for the missed months?

  13. Spoken like a true selfish jerkoff scab a**hole. Without collective bargaining you would be making 6 bucks an hour, you dumbsh*t. Or do you think management would be paying you what you make now because they are all so nice?

  14. enufisenuf your dedication, determination and hard work made it possible to reach this goal of 1 million signatures. The voices of Americans from every corner of this country have been heard because of the efforts of the brothers and sisters of the NALC and the NRLCA.

    More than 1 million signatures were collected, processed and sent to Congress in just 12 weeks. Thanks 🙂

  15. You should start NOW by giving yourself a well deserved raise by keeping those union dues that are paying for 30 second time slots on TV that no one gives a damn about. PS Form 1188 should do it. Screw APWU, NALC, NPMHU and NLRCA. Do the math fools…take your monthly dues, multiply by 12, add to your yearly take home. Looks good right? Bottom line…its what the APWU was unable to get you….OR, keep paying dem dues bruthas and sistas!

  16. I think were going to be tearing down some walls to make room for somemore machines.

    Just lets us know where to send you guys checks in thailands som young boy YMCA.

    Not all of us have to leave the job…are choise to come or go as we please.

    Let us know when you get caught up OPM, we wouldnt want to make things worst.

  17. You cannot blame the post office for the painfully slow retirement payments. The post office provides the retirement documents to the OPM every pay period. The problem is with OPM, they have a huge back log of federal retirements to process. Last I read, the backlog was 60,000 and rising. They claim they handle the paperwork in the order it is received. My co-worker’s paper work took 8 months.

    They also do not pay the supplement during the “interim” payment process.

  18. I retired on July 1, 2010 had worked 31 years. I am recieving about 70% and it shows as of Feb still no full pay. If they have a buy out with a lot of people leaving at once I can not guess how long it would take for them to get there money.

  19. That is what I am afraid of before I decide to retire from P.O. I may have to wait even longer to get my first pay check. If the PO really want people to leave, they have to speed up the process for retirement pay check. Lots of people can not afford to survive during waiting for their pay check.

  20. Go get the state unemployment check like every body else who had to leave the job because of the hostile work environment. It’s $450. per week. Every one that has properly applied for unemployment has been approved. All you have to do is tell them the truth about the hostile work environment at the post office. They will let you get the retirement benefits and an unemployment check at the same time. It’s no to late, go apply .

  21. “THE PO WANTS TO DOWNSIZE BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE CAN’T BECAUSE OF THE MESS AT OPM”

    Cash for the people taking any buyouts should they ever come.

    Otherwise take the risk of losing everything? Waiting? for your money?

    Alot of employees are now getting by paycheck to paycheck, they cant wait months.

    With the cost of gas going up again and will really go up if we war with Iran bringing

    food and everything else up and your waiting on OPM?

    No Thanks, Better to be working.

  22. Took OPM 11 mths to get me a check, called my congress women and 6 days later paided in full

  23. Is VERY good to be retired (Oct. ’10) and it took me 6 months to get my first “complete” check – not bad from what I’d heard about OPM.

  24. I JUST RETIRED FROM THE PO IN JUNE AND FINALLY RECEIVED A FULL CHECK IN DEC. I WAS INFORMED THAT BEFORE RETIRING I TALKED TO OTHER RETIREES AND THEY TOLD ME TO SAVE MY ANNUAL LEAVE BECAUSE OF THE DELAY IN GETTING FULL CHECK. WHEN I CALLED TO RETIRES THE PERSON I SPOOK TO SAID THE SAME THING. NOW I TALKED TO RECENT RETIREE AND THEY WERE TOLD IT MIGHT TAKE UP TO 8 MONTHS. AS FOR EVERY OTHER AGENCY IN THE GOVERMENT OPM IS SHORT HANDED AND OVER WORKED. YEARS AGO OPM PUT IN A NEWER COMPUTER SYSTEM TO SPEED UP THE PROCESS BUT IT WAS A BUST WASTE OF MONEY. WHEN OTHER AGENCY DOWNSIZED THEY SHOULD SEND THEM TO OPM. I BET THE BIG BOSSES DON’T WAIT THAT LONG. YOU WORK 32 YEARS AND STILL GET TREATED LIKE DIRT. THE PO WANTS TO DOWNSIZE BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE CAN’T BECAUSE OF THE MESS AT OPM.GOOD LUCK TO JON HE WILL GET HIS FULL CHECK. WAIT TILL HE GETS THAT CHECK TO PAY HIM ALL THE BACK PAY ISN’T GOING TO BE AS BIG AS YOU THINK, THEY DON’T TAKE OUT FOR HEALTH INSUR, OTHER DEDUCTION MY CHECK WAS TO BE ABOUT 6 GRAND BUT ENDING OUT TO BE 2.GOOD LUCK TO ALL STILL BETTER TO BE RETIRED.

  25. 90 days retirement notice should be enough notice dont you think people.

    This is not right not right at all.

    What it shows speaks volumes.

  26. Woops – meant 2011 – I was told by OMP that the average wait time for full payment was 8 months.

  27. I retired from the USPS March 1, 2010 – received my first “complete” check in November – took 8 months.

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