Bringing Over Military Years to FLE

[FutureLEO]

Does anyone know the formula for brining over military active duty time to federal law enforcement? I believe one would have to pay 7% of their basic military pay per year plus interest for military service after 1956. Is this correct and does anyone know how to find the interest rates?

[1depd]

It's actually 3% of your basic military pay. If you are in a 6c position you military time does not reduce the amount of time you must serve. If you are in a non 6c position it all counts the same. As far as the interest rate, I have no idea, but one day I did figure out how much it would cost me for 10 years and it only came out to about $6000. If it were me I'd save me butt off for the first couple of years to try and hit that mark then pay for the time outright.

On a personal note I noticed the Reserve technicians receive the 6c coverage. I always thought if the reservists, who are doing the same job as the active military, receive 6c then why can't the military purchase their time as 6c. Even if they have to pay a higher rate than the normal retirement. Or be given credit for time so they could hire into a 6c position at an older age.

[jvale00]

I think I paid 3% too. It was basically $1500.00 or so for four years E1-E4. With Post 56, I think you get maybe 2-3 years to pay it without interest. It behooves you to pay it back upfront in your federal career rather than wait towards your retirement! We have a few guys close to retiring from federal serivce and never bought their time back. Now, they can't afford to its way expensive.

I was also able to prorate that $1500 by payroll deduction!

[SSA1811]

Mid-way through the following link about "Military Buyback Deposit (FERS) Post-56" is a section titled, "How Do I Compute My Military Deposit?"

https://www.abc.army.mil/Information...FERSPost56.htm

I excerpted this from that section:

"The earliest that interest begins to accrue is 1-1-89 or two years from the date you were first subject to FERS. ..... No interest is charged if you make the deposit, paid in full, before the first interest accrual date."

..... so, it would appear that if you pay your Post-56 deposit in full within two years of getting hired/covered under FERS there is no interest. (I would recommend double-checking with your Personnel Office because there are some circumstances for people covered under the old CSRS system where it would NOT be advantageous to buy back your military time - there never are simple answers with the government!)