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FERS Coverage

Any employee hired after January 1, 1984 and any CSRS employee who switched to the system are covered under FERS.

Purpose of FERS

• The government created FERS in order to save money and address the financial problms of Social Security.

Benefits of FERS

• FERS provides lifetime income through three pieces: Pension (30% of pay), Social Security (25-30% of pay), and TSP (Thrift Savings Plan).
• Employees earn 1% per year of service and 1.1% after 20 years of service (and 62 years or older).
• To be eligible for retirement under FERS, you must meet one of the following requirements:
  1. Reach minimum retirement age with 30 years of service
  2. Reach age 60 with 20 years of service
  3. Reach age 62 with 5 years of service

FERS Pension Calculation

• The calculation for FERS is based on the employee’s highest 3 salary years, similar to CSRS.

FERS Special Supplement

• A few FERS employees may be eligible for the FERS Special Supplement, which bridges the gap between their minimum retirement age and age 62, when they become eligible for Social Security.
• To be eligible for the supplement, you must meet one of the following requirements:
  1. Reach minimum retirement age with 30 years of service
  2. Reach age 60 with 20 years of service

Note: If you are retiring under an early out, the two requirements are waived, but this only applies to FERS time and not military time.

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