Federal Worker Disability Retirement: Interruption or Interlude

Life is full of interruptions which push the pause button upon our grand designs for linear progression; how we view such events, whether as something bothersome, or as a respite and opportunity, a platform for the next stage of life, will determine the extent of character-building foundations needed to forge forward.  Taking care of aging parents is now considered a bother, and not a privilege; mentoring a young person just beginning in a chosen career is seen as a predatory challenge, as opposed to a chance to mold for the future; and revealing a fissure in the otherwise impenetrable public face of constancy is a chance to take advantage of the weakness of the opponent.

How one views a particular event; whether it is seen in the best light possible and anticipated for lessons to be learned; or instead, as a crisis point of quashing all hope for the future, never to be spoken about because of the devastation wrought, reflects both upon the present state of one’s character, as well as the potential for the future. Things are merely bothersome to us, now. Perhaps it is the result of a leisure society, where things once earned are now expected as givens; or, of greater probability, that the antiseptic isolation of our society engenders a certain aura of incomprehensible turmoil.

For Federal and Postal Workers who suffer from a medical condition, such that the medical condition prevents one from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s job, Federal Disability Retirement should be considered as a viable option. Filed through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (and available to all eligible Federal and Postal employees who meet the minimum criteria of years of Federal service), it should be considered precisely for two (or more) reasons. First, it allows for a foundational annuity in order for one to move forward with one’s life. Second, it allows for the Federal and Postal employee to embark on a second vocation, and make up to 80% of what one’s former Federal or Postal job currently pays, on top of the base annuity.

As such, there is a built-in mechanism which recognizes that the event of a medical condition is not merely an interruption, but an interlude for the second and subsequent stages of a person’s life.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

OPM Disability Retirement for Mental or Physical Incapacity: Life at the Apex

Life is on a spectrum variable; instead, we tend to view it as a linear progression, as one from birth to youth, middle to old age; death as the ultimate outcome.  The content of life is therefore arranged based upon this organic paradigm projecting towards an apex, then a steady decline thereafter.  Thus are one’s education and school days fashioned, where the traditional pathway is from high school to college, from college to graduate school, medical school, law school, etc., and then onto a career.

Federal Disability Retirement is all about having a second opportunity to be useful and productive with another career or vocation

Whether this linear application of life contains an inherent evolutionary advantage for survivability remains a question mark; the fact is, while lives are experienced along the parallel pathways within the greater population, the more relevant question is the Kantian one: Is this a reflection of reality, or have we created another category of an imposed preconception by which we live? One often hears about having reached the “apex of life”; if that proposition is accepted, then everything beyond will merely be a downward degeneration.

For individuals who suffer from a medical condition, it is often whispered of past times of a better life, as if resignation to fate justifies remorse and regret.  For Federal and Postal Workers who suffer from a medical condition, such that the medical condition prevents him or her from performing all of the essential elements of one’s job, consideration in filing for OPM Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether one is under FERS or CSRS, should always be entertained.

Such a critical juncture in the life of a Federal or Postal employee cannot be ignored. Yet, whether the preparation, formulation and filing of a Federal Disability Retirement application constitutes an admission of progressive decline after an approval of a Federal Disability Retirement annuity, is entirely up to the Federal or Postal Worker who takes such a step.  Medical conditions often necessitate change; but change can be seen as a spectrum variable, and not as an inevitable decline on a linear path.

Happiness, joy, fulfillment and accomplishment; they can be charted on a graph of ups and downs, and sometimes the “ups” can occur long after the apex of one’s linear life, and embrace the Federal or Postal employee long after one has left behind the bureaucratic morass of the Federal government.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Disability Retirement for Federal Government Employees: The Door Left Ajar

The image of the door left ajar is one likened to the metaphor of the tree which falls in a forest without a human around to observe the phenomena; the question of whether the event created a sound is a conundrum, and a double-one at that, for the moment we ponder it, we insert a human perspective into the equation, and any attempt to delete our presence only compounds the puzzlement.

A door left ajar implies that someone or some animal partially opened it, or perhaps in reverse; but in either event, the image of a door neither fully shut nor widely open, leaves an impression of some presence.  Moreover, it is that partial opening which represents lack of complete satisfaction, of something left undone, which stirs the emotions of one’s imagination.

For the Federal employee who is reaching certain milestones of Federal or Postal Service, the “light at the end of the tunnel” is often seen within one’s grasp, as a door left slightly ajar, and inviting one to take hold of the doorknob, open it wide, and exit into the sunset of life.  When the door left ajar is within view and reach, the expectation of exiting becomes a magnified potentiality about to be embraced.

But often, with only a couple of years left, unexpected events can occur.  A medical condition can impact one’s ability to reach that magical age of retirement, or be cut short before accruing the years of service needed.  The door left ajar is suddenly beyond reach, and the winds of life seemingly slams shut the once-inviting entranceway.

Federal Disability Retirement, no matter how close one is to regular retirement, may be the option of choice. Whether under FERS or CSRS, Disability Retirement through the Office of Personnel Management is an option left open for all Federal and Postal employees.

The image of the door left ajar is merely a metaphor of life; how one responds to the reality of each particular situation will determine the consequences of one’s future.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire