Federal Employee's CSRS & FERS Federal Civil Service Retirement
& Financial Planning Resources
FERS Annuity Menu
Annuity Basics
Your basic annuity is computed based on your length of service and "high-3"
average pay. The high-3 average pay includes locality pay and annual premiums
for standby duty and availability if applicable. Other pay such as
differentials, overtime, allowances and others are not included.
Generally, your benefit is calculated according to this formula:
1% of your high-3 average pay
times
years of creditable service
High Three Adjustment
If you retire at age 62 or later with at least 20 years of service, a factor
of 1.1% is used rather than 1%.
To determine your length of service for computation, add all of your periods
of creditable service, then eliminate from the total any fractional part of a
month (less than 30 days).
Depending on the category of retirement benefits you receive, your benefit may
be reduced as described in the Retirement Options section. For example, the
total could be reduced if you elect to retire at the minimum retirement age
before completing 30 years of service.
Special Retirement
Supplement
If you meet certain requirements, you will receive a Special Retirement
Supplement which is paid as an annuity until you reach age 62. This supplement
approximates the Social Security benefit earned while you were employed by the
Federal government. You may be eligible for a Special Retirement Supplement if
you retire:
- After the Minimum Retirement Age
(MRA) with 30 years of service;
- At age 60 with 20 years of service; or
- Upon involuntary or early voluntary retirement (age 50 with 20 years of
service, or at any age with 25 years of service) after the U.S. Office of
Personnel Management determines that your agency is undergoing a major
reorganization, reduction-in-force (RIF) or transfer of function. You will
not receive the Special Retirement Supplement until you reach your MRA.
If you transfer to the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) from the
Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), you must have at least one full calendar
year of FERS-covered service to qualify for the supplement.
If you have earnings from wages or self-employment that exceed the Social
Security annual exempt amount ($9,120 in 1998), your Special Retirement
Supplement will be reduced or stopped.
You can
calculate your Social Security Offset through one of several calculators
that we offer on this site.
UPDATE
Effective immediately, HR is accepting the current
FERS Application to Make a Deposit, SF 3108,
from employees wanting to make a FERS redeposit. The individual
must indicate on the application that the period of service was
refunded. Please do not submit a payment with the application. If
a payment is sent to OPM before the deposit amount is calculated and the
account established, they will have no way of identifying the payment
and applying it correctly. The Service Credit System is in the
process of being modified to include a FERS Redeposit module. Once
testing is completed and the new version is ready for production, opm
will begin processing FERS redeposits.
Since FERS was enacted, the law has provided that individuals who took
refunds of their FERS employee contributions irrevocably lost service credit for
the period of service covered by the refund. Section 1904 of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 permits individuals who are
subsequently reemployed to make a redeposit of the amount refunded, plus
interest, and to have credit for the service reinstated. For the purpose of
survivor annuities, redeposit may also be made by survivors.
Interest will be based upon the same basic rules applicable to CSRS. OPM will
issue new regulations and revised forms prior to the redeposits being accepted.
Section 1904 applies to individuals who are employed under FERS on or
after October 28, 2009. Individuals retiring on or after October
28, 2009, and employed under FERS will be given the opportunity to make the
redeposit upon the adjudication of their benefit.
Resource:
BAL 10-101 issued January 12, 2010, (http://www.opm.gov/retire/pubs/bals/2010/10-101.pdf)
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