Does my time in the US Army role over into a government job?

Question

In the U.S. you can retire from a government job at 20 years.
I severed 4 years in the Army (active duty), if I were to go out and get a government job today, would my time in the army role over to the new job. So in 16 years I would be able to retire?

Answer 1

Yes, it will roll over, but no you cannot retire from a civil service job after 20 years.

Well, you can retire, but you won't collect retirement pay.

You have to be 57 years old before you can start collecting either federal employee or civil service employee retirement pay.

Answer 2

I was going to answer this but the Sarge guy pretty much hit the nail on the head. It applies.

He is correct as to the fact you "buy back" the years. But it won't be much and depending on the agency and what program you pick it can be 3 or 7 % of what your military was. And you can spread it out so you won't even notice. Plus factor in the benefits. Leave time is a biggie.

Even if you hit everything right your probably would not want to retire at 20. At that point you will realize that every year past that will mean way more money later. You will have money in your thrift plan (like a 401k).

The age that you can retire at varies but say in your case it is 55 (could be later though). So if you are younger when eligible (but get the money later) point it will mean balancing your age and goals. Stay a few more years and then work for a contractor making way more or go now and switch.

Regardless you can't really go wrong by going government.

Answer 3

No it doesn't just roll over. You have to buy it back. Its around $400 per year that you served in the Armed Forces. I was also in the Army for 4 years. I now work for VA. I bought my time back a few years ago. It cost me $400 per year of service, so I have to pay $1600. It was no big deal, only $50 per paycheck ($100 a month for 16 months) I hardly missed the money. I now have nearly 10 years of federal service. It doesn't change the amount of money you make, but it does go toward how much leave time you get. You also can't retire at 20 years, unless you can live on $500 a month. I hope this helps.

Answer 4

yes, You can get credit for your military time, if you choose to buy that time. As stated before about 3% of your income while on active duty.
Under the FERS retirement system, you need 25 years of service or age 55 which every comes first. More years means more retirement.
You will be able to contribute to your Thrift Savings Plan, to add to your retirement, along with SSI, and any other retirement plans you have. Such as an IRA or Insurance anuity.

Answer 5

Yes and no. The four years in the Army counts for retirement from civil service but retirement from civil service and military have different criteria. Civil service retirement, if it hasn't change lately, is 20 or more years total service (including your military service) at age 60. Less than 20 years of service at age 65. In your case, you are eligible to retire in 16 years only if you will be over 60 years old.

Answer 6

Yes. The Federal Goverment has a FERS (Federal Employees Retirement System) program that makes your military service creditable toward you federal service. You will pay 3% of military taxable earnings in order to get credit for civilian retirement purposes.

Get with the HRO (Human Resources Office) and collect & fill out the appropriate forms. You will need your DD214. After you fill out the documentation, it will be sent to your Branch of services main office and certified. After, the HRO receives all appropriate documentation, you will receive an option to pay for this either through payroll or writing a personal check.

This will count toward your retirement at federal services. Federal retirement is not necessarily 20 years of service under the FERS system. It is a plan where you contribute and the government matches your contribution. There are many factors that make up your retirement. I would check to see which agency you are going to and then check with their HRO. Hope this helps.

Answer 7

Sort of. This is how it works: You can "buy back" your military time and apply it toward your government job retirement. It won't cost you much to buy back four years (cost me over $5,000.00 to buy back 11 years) and you can have them allot as little as $50.00 out of your pay every two weeks to pay that off. However, your military time automatically counts for the purpose of accruing personal leave. All you have to do is give your HR department a copy of your DD Form 214 and you get credit for the four years you were in the Army. That works out good for you because that means you'll start earning six hours of personal leave every two weeks instead of four. One minor problem though: You won't be able to retire after 16 years. The magic number for retirement is 85, but don't panic -- you add your age to the number of years you have worked for the government, and once you hit 85 you're retirement eligible. Remember, if you buy back your military time, those four years count.

Answer 8

Just to be sure, check with HR at rthe govt job.

With the state of PA, you have to "buy back" your military time. in other words, you have to pay into the state pension fund what you would have paid in had you worked there during the 4 years.
THEN, 16 years will count as 20.But even then, your seniority is retro to the day you joined the army.
The proces is complicated, but definately to your advantage.
Even if you chose not to, you still get veterans's preference in applyingfor the govt job.

Answer 9

all good advice, but I think it is 30 years. I also work for the government, DoD. Just b/c you served in the the Army does not make you a shoe in for a government job. A lot of veterans are competing for jobs also. Disabled veterans will surely bump a 5 point veteran. NE ways good luck. DFAS is hiring!

Answer 10

Yes. Your time in service counts toward and federal job retirement. If you get a state job, like Active National Guard, State Trooper etc... there is also a program that allows you to purchase your federal service time for a fee and convert it to state service time.