5 U.S.C. § 8440b — Bankruptcy judges and magistrate judges

A bankruptcy judge or magistrate judge who is covered by section 377 of title 28 or section 2(c) of the Retirement and Survivors’ Annuities for Bankruptcy Judges and Magistrates Act of 1988 may elect to contribute an amount of such individual’s basic pay^* to the Thrift Savings Fund^*.

An election may be made under paragraph (1) as provided under section 8432(b) for individuals subject to this chapter.

Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the provisions of this subchapter and subchapter VII shall apply with respect to bankruptcy judges and magistrate judges who make contributions to the Thrift Savings Fund under subsection (a) of this section.

The amount contributed by a bankruptcy judge or magistrate judge for any pay period shall not exceed the maximum percentage of such bankruptcy judge’s or magistrate judge’s basic pay for such pay period allowable under section 8440f.

No contributions shall be made under section 8432(c) of this title for the benefit of a bankruptcy judge or magistrate judge making contributions under subsection (a) of this section.

With respect to bankruptcy judges and magistrate judges to whom this section applies, any of the actions described under paragraph (4)(A), (B), or (C) shall be considered a separation from service^* for purposes of this subchapter and subchapter VII.

For purposes of this section, the terms “retirement” and “retire” include removal from office^* under section 377(d) of title 28 on the sole ground of mental or physical disability.

In the case of a bankruptcy judge or magistrate judge who receives a distribution from the Thrift Savings Plan and who later receives an annuity under section 377 of title 28, that annuity shall be offset by an amount equal to the amount of the distribution which represents the Government’s contribution to that person’s Thrift Savings Account^*, without regard to earnings attributable to that amount. Where such an offset would exceed 50 percent of the annuity to be received in the first year, the offset may be divided equally over the first 2 years in which that person receives the annuity.

Notwithstanding paragraph (4), if any bankruptcy judge or magistrate judge retires under circumstances making such bankruptcy judge or magistrate judge eligible to make an election under subsection (b) of section 8433, and such bankruptcy judge’s or magistrate judge’s nonforfeitable account balance^* is less than an amount that the Executive Director^* prescribes by regulation, the Executive Director^* shall pay the nonforfeitable account balance to the participant in a single payment.