General Eligibility Requirements

Under FERS, you must have at least 5 years of creditable civilian service to be eligible for an annuity and be covered by the retirement system on the day of separation.

Immediate Retirement Age Years of Service 62 5 60 20 Minimum Retirement Age (MRA) 30

If you retire voluntarily, your annuity will commence on the first day of the following month following your retirement separation. Refer to the “Minimum Retirement Age (MRA) Schedule” to determine your MRA.

MRA + 10

You can retire as early as age 55 with as little as 10 years of creditable service (see the MRA chart). This allows you to retire at your MRA with 10 to 29 years of service with a possible reduction in annuity. An MRA + 10 retirement is effective the first day of the month following separation from service. However, your annuity will be reduced by 5% for every year under 62. A separating employee can reduce or eliminate the age reduction by postponing the commencing date of the MRA + 10 annuity. A postponed MRA + 10 annuity becomes effective the first day of the month the individual elects to receive payments. (MRA + 10 optional retirement means that you have met the age before separating.)

Early Retirement

Voluntary Early Retirement Authority Age Years of Service 50 20 Any Age 25

Annuity commences the day after the date of separation.

Discontinued Service – Involuntary Age Years of Service 50 20 Any Age 25

Annuity commences the day after the date of the involuntary separation.

Disability Retirement Age Years of Service Any Age 18 months

Annuity will commence the first day in a non-pay status.

Deferred Retirement

Deferred Retirement Age Years of Service 62 5 MRA 10 60 20* MRA 30* * No age reduction because service requirement was met at separation.

If you have taken a refund of your retirement contributions, you have no annuity right. If you have not taken a refund, you should apply to OPM approximately 3 months before eligibility. When you apply, there is no credit for unused sick leave, nor will life and health insurance be reinstated.

The annuity is effective the first day of the month after your 62nd birthday or the first day of the month after you meet the MRA + 10 requirement. (MRA + 10 deferred means that you have 10 years of service at separation but not your MRA. When you reach your MRA, you can apply for the annuity.)

Minimum Retirement Age (MRA) Schedule If You Were Born In Your MRA Is Before 1948 55 years 1948 55 years, 2 months 1949 55 years, 4 months 1950 55 years, 6 months 1951 55 years, 8 months 1952 55 years, 10 months 1953 - 1964 56 years 1965 56 years, 2 months 1966 56 years, 4 months 1967 56 years, 6 months 1968 56 years, 8 months 1969 56 years, 10 months After 1969 57 years

The amount of an annuity is determined by:

• Length of service
• Length of service for annuity computation purposes is based on whole months (30 days). To determine the total length of service for annuity computation purposes, add all creditable civilian and military service; then eliminate any fractional part of the month (remaining days).
• High-3 average basic pay
• The high-3 average pay is the largest annual rate resulting from averaging your rates of basic pay in effect over any period of 3 consecutive years of creditable civilian service, with each rate weighted by the length of time it was in effect. Normally, the highest rate of pay is the last three years prior to retirement.

Basic pay includes locality pay, environmental differential for certain employees, night differential pay for wage grade employees, premium pay for firefighters and law enforcement officers. It does not include bonuses, occasional overtime pay, military pay, cash awards, holiday pay or allowances. The basic pay for employees paid at other than an annual rate is determined by multiplying the basic rate of pay by the appropriate unit (for example; hourly rate of pay x 2087 hours).

For intermittent employees, the basic pay is determined by multiplying the basic rate of pay per day by the actual number of days worked at that rate.

For part-time service the average salary will be computed using the full-time salary of the position. This computation will be reduced by a proration factor that reflects only the part-time service.

The FERS retirement system is a three-tiered retirement plan, therefore your retirement income includes three components:

• Basic Benefit Plan, (FERS annuity income)
• Social Security Benefits, and
• Thrift Savings Plan Benefits

The Basic Benefit portion is financed by a very small contribution from the employee and from the Government. Generally, the FERS basic benefit formula is 1% of the high-3 average salary x the total years and months of service under FERS. Note: If you are at least 62 with 20 years of service use the benefit formula is 1.1% times the average salary x years of service.

Temporary service (service covered by social security only) after December 31, 1988 is not creditable towards a FERS annuity. Employees who meet the criteria also receive a "Special Retirement Supplement" which is paid as a monthly benefit until the employee reaches age 62. This supplement approximates the Social Security benefit earned by the employee while employed by the Federal government.

The second component to your FERS benefit is Social Security. It provides monthly payments if you are retired and have reached at least age 62, monthly benefits if you become disabled, monthly benefits for your eligible survivors, and a lump sum benefit upon your death.

The third component of the FERS benefit is the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). It is essential that FERS employees contribute to the Thrift Savings Plan because it is an integral part of the FERS system.

FERS is a flexible plan for a flexible work force - a work force that is more likely to work for several different employers during the course of a career. It allows for the fact that many employees may not retire from the Federal government. It also builds on the Social Security credits that employees already have or may earn in the future from non-Federal work.

FERS annuitants receive cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) beginning at age 62. COLAs apply December 1, the year after your annuity begins if you retire on a disability (disability annuitants receiving 60% of average salary do not receive COLAs), you are a Military reserve technicians whose separation is the result of loss of military affiliation after attaining age 50 & 25 years of service, retiring under special provision retirement.

The Office of Personnel Management and the Social Security Administration have teamed up to develop the Federal Employees Retirement Calculator. This model gives a very accurate estimate of benefits. HOWEVER, if you have temporary or military service, or took a refund of your retirement contributions that you have not repaid, the estimate may be higher than your actual benefits. Talk to your Servicing Personnel Office to learn how such service may affect your benefits.

Deposit service or Non-deduction Service is the period of service during which retirement contributions were not withheld from your salary, i.e.; temporary appointments.

Generally, as a FERS employee, in order for your FERS service to be creditable toward meeting retirement eligibility or to be creditable in the annuity computation, all service before January 1, 1989, must be covered by a deposit.

Deposit service performed on or after January 1, 1989, is not creditable nor can you make a deposit for the service to receive credit.

Redeposit service (often referred to as refunded service) is any period of FERS creditable service (including deposits made for military service) for which retirement deductions were taken and later refunded upon your separation from service.

Generally, FERS refunded service cannot be repaid and is not creditable toward meeting retirement eligibility or in the annuity computation.

As a general rule, military service in the Armed Forces of the United States is creditable for retirement purposes if it was active service terminated under honorable conditions and performed prior to your separation from civilian service. Military service performed on or after January 1, 1957 is normally creditable for Social Security benefits at age 62.

As a FERS employee, you must make a deposit for all post-1956 military service to receive credit for any purpose.

A FERS disability annuitant for the first year of disability retirement receives the higher of: (1) the amount obtained under the Basic Benefit formula for computing the basic annual annuity (the “earned annuity”); or (2) 60 percent of the average salary minus 100% of any Social Security Disability Insurance Benefit.

The second year and thereafter until you reach age 62, the annuity is the greater of the earned annuity or 40 percent of the average salary minus 60 percent of any Social Security Disability Insurance Benefit.

At age 62, OPM your annuity will be recomputed to an amount that represents the annuity you would have received if you had continued working until the day before your 62nd birthday and then retired under FERS non-disability provisions.

The total service used in the computation is increased by the amount of time you received a disability annuity. The high-3 average salary is increased by all FERS COLAs that were effective during the time you received a disability.

If you die while in a position covered by FERS retirement and after completing at least 18 months of creditable civilian service your widow(er) will get an annuity, provided you were married for at least 9 months. The 9-month requirement does not apply if your death is accidental or there is a child of the marriage.

If you have less than 18 months of civilian service and no eligible survivor annuitant at the time of death, a lump-sum payment of your retirement contributions is payable to your designated beneficiary or in the absence of a designated beneficiary, in the order of precedence established under Federal statue.

Generally, your widow(er) is entitled to a Lump Sum of $15,000, increased by CSRS cost of living allowances plus a Lump Sum of the higher of: (1) the higher of 50 percent of your full-time final salary, using the basic pay as of the date of death, or (2) 50 percent of your high-3 average salary, plus (3) any Social Security benefits payable.

In addition, if you have more than 10 years of service and die while subject to FERS deductions, your surviving spouse will receive an annuity equal to 50 percent of your earned basic annuity as of the date of death. This earned annuity is computed in the same manner as if you had retired, but without any age reduction.

Your unmarried dependent children will also be entitled to annuities if you die in service. Their annuities will continue until they reach age 18--or age 22 if they remain in school full-time. The annuity of a child who is incapable of self support because of a disability incurred before age 18 will continue indefinitely unless the child becomes capable of self support.

If you are married when you retire, your annuity will be reduced to provide a full survivor annuity for your spouse (unless he or she consents to a lesser benefit).

The full FERS survivor annuity is 50 percent of your annual annuity before it is reduced by the cost of the survivor benefits. With spousal consent you may elect a survivor annuity of 25 percent of your annual annuity.

Note: If you have a former spouse who is entitled to receive a survivor payment based upon a valid court, and you have a current spouse the former spouse may receive all or part of the survivor annuity that your current spouse would otherwise get. You can also elect a survivor annuity for a former spouse (but if you are married, you must get your spouse's consent).

If you are not retiring for disability, and are in reasonably good health, you can provide a survivor annuity for a person who has an "insurable interest" in you such as a relative who is in your care, or a current spouse who would not otherwise get a survivor annuity because of a court-ordered award to a former spouse. To provide this benefit, your annuity would be reduced from 10 to 40 percent depending on the difference in your age and the age of the person named. This reduction would be added to any reduction required to provide a survivor annuity for a spouse or former spouse.

If you were provided an opportunity to elect FERS and did so, you may have a CSRS component. A CSRS component is a period of at least five years of creditable civilian service which was performed under CSRS. For annuity computation purposes the years of service creditable under CSRS will be treated as CSRS service and will follow CSRS rules for deposit and redeposit purposes. Military service that was performed before or during the CSRS component will also follow the rules for credit under CSRS.

Your annuity will consist of 2 formulas. The CSRS formula will be applied to the CSRS component of your annuity and the FERS formula will be applied to all FERS service. The two formulas are combined to equal your FERS annuity benefit.

If you transferred to FERS please contact your PCR or servicing PMT for additional information regarding retirement benefits.

If you retire as a FERS employee before age 62, you may receive a supplement to your FERS annuity. The general purpose of the supplement is to provide a level of income before age 62 similar to what you will receive at age 62 as part of a Social Security benefit, if eligible for Social Security at that age.

The supplement is computed by estimating a full career Social Security benefit and then approximating the portion of that full career benefit that represents your service under FERS. The more years of FERS coverage you have, the greater the supplement will be. The supplement ends at age 62, even if you are not eligible for such benefits.

Eligibility Requirements For The Special Retirement Supplement

1. Must retire on a non-disability, immediate annuity (not deferred).
2. Must be eligible for one of the following retirements:
   
   

   a.	Voluntary Retirement without Reduction for Age.
   b.	Involuntary or "Early-Out" Retirement (upon attaining MRA).
   c.	Law Enforcement Officer/Firefighter Retirement.
   d.	Air Traffic Controller Retirement.
   e.	Military Reserve Technician Early Retirement who are age 50 with 25 years service and lose military status.
   f.	Certain Senior Officials.

   
   
3. Must be under age 62 during time you receive supplement.
4. The service credited under the FERS component must include at least one full calendar year of civilian service beginning January and ending December 31.
5. If your earnings from wages or self-employment exceed the Social Security annual exempt amount, your Special Retirement Supplement will be reduced or stopped. Exceptions may apply.