FERS Disability Retirement from OPM: The Fish Story

Over the years, Uncle Ben’s famous catch of the marlin in a skiff off the coast of Maine became suspiciously similar to Hemingway’s famous novel, The Old Man and the Sea.

There were some details which remained somewhat believable — like, the fact that he actually caught something.  But of others, the exaggerated embellishments — of some “unknown sea monster, likely a Great White Shark or a Killer Whale” which gobbled up most of the catch by the time he arrived on shore, the skiff barely seaworthy by that time; of how the townspeople had to “fight off” the sea monster and hit it with various implements; and of the photograph taken — but somehow lost — of the skeletal remains of the large fish caught and lost.

Alcohol on nights gathered seemed to exponentially embellish the story of Uncle Ben and the Sea, when as twilight tended to quiet the lips of nodding heads, it would begin with, “Did I ever tell you about the Big One that almost got away?”  Everyone, of course, had heard the story 10x over and more, but it was more told by tradition than a query for interest or information.

It was like the Hasidic challenge as told by Chaim Potok in The Chosen — where a new and inaccurate twist would be inserted in the narrative, and someone would say, “But Uncle Ben, you never told us about that, before!”  There would be a pause, and everyone would laugh uproariously, knowing that the Fish Story had added to it anther saga that was to ever develop as the years ensued.

That was, in the end, the beauty of The Fish Story — for, the house of words was built upon a memory, with no evidence needed to back it up.  In most other aspects of life, however, that is not the case.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who need to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under the FERS retirement system, facts and evidence matter.  The preparation of an effective application for Federal or Postal Disability Retirement, to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, cannot be like the Fish Story — even if it is well-told like Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea.  Instead, it must be meticulously prepared and detail-oriented.

Contact an OPM Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and consider whether or not you want to rely upon an experienced Federal Disability Retirement Lawyer, or on Uncle Ben’s rendition of The Fish Story.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

FERS Disability Retirement Help: The Quagmire of Past

The balance between times is an important talent to garner, cultivate and help flourish; it is that lack of ability which doesn’t come naturally, but is a necessary tool for living a successful life.  We watch jugglers adeptly perform the feat of seemingly effortless magic — of a dozen balls twirling this way and that, making circles and loops as if in a continuum of timeless fluidity.

We have a past; we live in the present; we look to the future.  The past is based upon our memories and is no more; the present is the existential encounter with Being; the future is based upon our past memories projected into a time anticipated but not yet objectively “real”.

The quagmire of past is the failure to compartmentalize and store away with disciplined severity; the entrapment of the present is when a person allows for the appetitive, lower parts of the soul to dominate; and anxiety about the future comes about when we know that we are wasting our time either by dwelling too much upon the past, or in the manner of our present living.  In the end, the quagmire of past is often a difficulty which cannot be completely controlled, but governed and managed by how we live today.

For those who are employed with the Federal Government or the U.S. Postal Service who are suffering from a health condition but concurrently stuck in the quagmire of past because you cannot believe that you are no longer the same “you” of a decade ago, it may be time to focus upon the present circumstances and plan for a better future by preparing, formulating and filing for Federal or Postal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS, through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Contact a FERS Ret. Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and consider that the quagmire of past needs to be replaced with a hope for the future, and getting a Federal Disability Retirement annuity may be the best first step in the present circumstances to achieve that goal.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

OPM Disability Medical Retirement: Uniqueness Beneath

The “memory legacy” we leave behind — of who we were; how people remember us; of how they speak of the person once known as the “I” who inhabited this world; of the remnants left — is often of great concern to people.

Logically, does it even make sense to be concerned about it?  We will be gone; those who survive will remember us for a time, but they, too, will perish, and the remaining memories will fade like all such pasts have faded throughout history, and the cemeteries long forgotten or the ashes strewn over hills, valleys, rivers and oceans will be merely the collective dust of untold stories.

Yet, for whatever reason, we still want to be remembered — of the uniqueness which was the “I” beneath.  “Remember Harry?  Yes, Harry what’s-his-name…”.  “And Sarah-whatever, who used to read that French newspaper with her cup of coffee…”.

Yet, society throughout never recognizes the uniqueness beneath, but merely the last imprint of a categorized archetype.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition no longer allows you to continue in your Federal or Postal career, contact an OPM Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law.

If you are hanging around thinking that your Federal Agency or the Postal Facility is going to keep you on because of the recognition of the uniqueness beneath, you may want to rethink that.  In the end, they will treat you merely as another cog in the wheel.  For a true expression of the uniqueness beneath, go out on Federal Disability Retirement and begin a new career path where you can make up to 80% of what your former position currently pays.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer specializing exclusively in FERS Disability Retirement Law

 

Federal & Postal Disability Retirement: The Unintended Error

Perhaps it is an unnecessary assumption; for, are any errors intended?  And, if intended, does it not undermine the very concept of being an “error”?  Do we ever deliberately make an error?  Or, is it more likely the case that — if we in fact did intend to make the error — we would merely retrospectively lie about it?

Perhaps in circumstances where much is at stake, or a person is threatened — as in gambling, where “throwing” a game will result in greater profit, or making an accounting “error” will limit financial devastation, etc.  Otherwise, in most instances, an error is presumed to be unintended.  And it is precisely because it is unintended that an error becomes exaggerated in its unintended consequences.  “We didn’t know”; “If only I had known”; “How could I have known?”; “I didn’t mean to…”, etc.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, preparing a Federal Disability Retirement application to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in as error-free state of formulation is obviously the preferred state of submission.

Errors can — and will — come back to haunt you, whether unintended or not.  Consult with a Federal Disability Retirement Lawyer and limit the extent and consequences of errors unintended.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire
OPM Disability Retirement Attorney

 

FERS Disability Retirement from the OPM: Coils of Hardship

That is often how it feels; of the coils, whether of a spring, of wires, or copper, or even of a rattlesnake that coils; it is the bundling up, the tightening, of energy or anxiousness curling upon itself until the release becomes inevitable.  Hardships and difficult times feel like that; like coils that keep circling upon itself until — like a spring that is compressed together and suddenly let go, the energy released is of an unfathomable force that cannot be mitigated.

Life is difficult and challenging as it is, without the outer world concomitantly crumbling around us.  Whether of financial difficulties, of career problems, of medical conditions that intervene and interrupt — the coils of hardship come upon us without warning or predictability.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition impacts one’s ability and capacity to perform the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, the coils of hardships tend to wrap around tighter and tighter: From dealing with the medical condition itself, then with the unreasonable demands of the Federal Agency or the Postal Service; to the profound fatigue felt by the end of each week because of the conflict between the medical condition and the demands of the job, etc.

It may be time to consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS.

Consult with an OPM Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and consider the options available.  It may unfurl the coils of hardship and allow for the release of energies otherwise needing to be relieved.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement: The Disjunctive of Life

How often is it “either/or”?  It is the famous work of Kierkegaard, is it not?  Faith often requires it; happiness, somewhat so; but generally, the disjunctive of life is merely when we force the issue, or when circumstances dictate that a choice between only 2 alternatives seemingly presents itself as the only ones viable.

Marriage is often a series of compromises throughout a lifetime, if it is to remain successful and long lasting; careers, too, hit various roadblocks and must often allow for concessions, until something better comes along; and friendships — well, if you are going to have any, you must allow for the foibles of unattractive excesses to be ignored in order to maintain or retain any friends.

But the ultimate disjunctive of life is often where circumstances become so unbearable as to dictate a choice between two unattractive alternatives, and for Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition and need to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, the disjunctive of life comes to this: Can I continue in this job until regular retirement, or will my medical condition continue to remain chronic and even worsen, such that I will ultimately be terminated or be forced to resign?

If your circumstances echo the truth of such a choice, then it is time to consult with a FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and begin the process of proceeding with the disjunctive of life that you may never have thought would present itself.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement for Federal & Postal Workers: Lost Paradise

We all have a notion of it; for some, it may just be a memory of a day at the beach; for others, somewhere in the recesses of a childhood memory; and for others still, the reality of a time before an illness, the rise of a medical condition or even of that moment when a doctor declared a diagnosis.

Paradise itself is a relative term; it engenders images of perfection and pleasure; of endless joy and a state of eternal mirth; or even of a negation of sorts.  For, if a person lives in constant agony, doesn’t it stand to reason that the negation of that agony would represent a paradise of sorts, and the loss of that state of happiness occurred because of the existence of whatever created that state of agony?

One who burns in hell would consider a momentary cessation of the agony of eternal torture to be a slice of paradise, and the lost paradise no more than regretting the sins committed.  We rarely consider the greater good as that which we take for granted, and that is why when we are confronted with the hypothetical proposition of “3 wishes to be granted by a genie”, we jump to material goods or conditions of physical pleasure, unlimited wealth or a time of perpetual joy.

Rarely do we include the wish for good health when we already enjoy it, precisely because the paradise one lives in, until lost, is assumed as eternally granted.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the lost paradise of good health no longer allows for continuation in one’s Federal or Postal career, it may be time to consult with a FERS Attorney who specializes exclusively in Federal Disability Retirement Law in order to prepare, formulate and file an effective Federal Disability Retirement application.

Don’t let the lost paradise of former days extinguish a future of hope and betterment; for, the mythological state of a paradise lost need not be a perpetual state of dread and dismay.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Postal & Federal Employee Disability Retirement: The Social Security Requirement

There is often confusion.  In fact, some Federal and Postal employees think that the “Prerequisite requirement” of filing for Social Security Disability benefits means that you have to wait to get it approved before you can file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits.

The unforeseen consequences resulting from such a misunderstanding is that some Federal or Postal employees wait, and wait, and become separated, and continue to wait and allow for the 1-year rule (of having to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits within 1 year of being separated from Federal Service) to expire, then try and file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits.  Or, others confuse the two and somehow believe that filing for Social Security Disability benefits is the same as filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits.

Such confusion is often based upon either misinformation or misinterpretation; either way, the consequences of acting upon, or failing to act as a result of, can result in irreversible damage.

If you are considering filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, consult with a FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in OPM Disability Retirement Law before trying to maneuver through the maze of confusing requirements, prerequisites and bureaucratic language.

Federal Disability Retirement is a benefit earned; to obtain it, however, it must be fought for and granted, and in order to do that, representation by an experienced attorney is often the best in making your way through the legal maze of confusion.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire