Just What Is Your Pay, Anyway
Ever been faced with that question? Well I certainly have, looking down the wrong end of a judge’s gavel in a contested divorce case. I was a GS-12 CSRS Civil Servant and I had just returned from an overseas assignment where I had been a temporary GS-13 and was thus allowed to keep receiving my GS-13 pay. On my pay statements it called me a GS-12 Step 0 (zero) and boy did that seem to make my divorcing wife’s attorney mad.
She complained bitterly, time and again, to my attorney that “our side” wasn’t being forthright and how she had searched many places and couldn’t find a listing anywhere for a “Step Zero” … ergo, since we were on opposite sides of the case, one could hardly lame her for having her suspicions aroused.
I stammered and fumbled my way through an explanation to the judge, taking him step by step through the various lines on my pay statement, but eventually I don’t think he was very convinced either, and as far as I’m concerned his final judgement on spousal support (alimony to some) reflected his feelings … Ouch.
Hopefully very few others are going to have to go through that scenario, but all Federal Employees who live long enough are going to have to get down to the basics of their retirement pay, and believe me, it’s better to get your own mind around all the numbers sooner rather than later.
The most important part of the money that makes up your bi-weekly pay statement is your Basic Pay.
Basic Pay:
According to public law your basic pay includes basic annual pay adjustments, locality rates, promotions and step increases. It does not include most overtime pay, bonuses or cash awards. There’s an official definition in the Civil Service retirement System (CSRS) and Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) Handbook, Chapter 30. usually figuring out your basic pay is not difficult but the very simple way to check is to take the bi-weekly amount you think is correct and multiply it by .07 (7 percent) if you are a CSRS employee or .08 (8 percent) if your are under FERS. The amount you get should equal exactly the amount on your pay statement reflecting your bi-weekly retirement contribution. If there’s any appreciable difference then you need to find out now, rather than later where the difference might be.
This is as important a calculation as you can make because everything involving the money side of your retirement is going to revolve around two basic facts, your “top three” years of basic pay and your length of service. It’s amazing how many employees don’t really have those two key figures “nailed down”.
I tend to run long on these complex posts so I’ll close up shop for the day here … it may sound trivial to some but believe me there may be times when that all important “Just what is your pay, anyway”? may become very, very important to you.
Tomorrow, length of service .. another term that sounds simple but maybe is not quite as simple as you think.
Disclaimer
As always remember that this site, although written by a retiree with substantial experience in the school of hard knocks, it is for personal, lay opinions and informational purposes only. If you have a legal question you should seek help from a legal professional. If you have questions involving current or future values of pensions you need an actuary or competent pension valuation expert. If your questions are tax-related, seek a competent tax advisor. In other cases, I recommend the base chaplain.
You can comment on this post, you can email me at: davestarr (at) gmail (dot) com or you can call me at: 1-719-423-8872
If you really need an accurate reading on a case involving these issues, I’d suggest you call Bill — 719-475-7529
Related posts:
- Why You Don’t Need A Pension Valuation
- Why You Don’t Need A Pension Valuation
- Just How Long Have You Been In Civil Service?
- Will You Have Enough After The IRS Takes Their "Bite"?
- Catch 62 and Valuation and Division of Assets
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