Choose from the subcategories below to review the Frequently Asked Questions. Click on a question to expose the answer below.
To return to the main FAQ page, just CLICK HERE.
Choose from the subcategories below to review the Frequently Asked Questions. Click on a question to expose the answer below.
To return to the main FAQ page, just CLICK HERE.
In the instructions on the SF-3107-1, it emphasizes that this document can be used for retirement counseling purposes or to respond to an employee's request for a record of creditable service.
Employees are permitted to submit this document at any time during their career. If you had to wait until the end of your career to do this and you discovered a piece of service that required a deposit, imagine all of the extra interest that would have accrued.
You will use FERS eligibility rules even though part of your pension will be calculated under the CSRS formula.
Regular FERS employees hired before 2013 contribute .8% of their pay each pay period to FERS.
FERS-RAE employees (hired in 2013) contribute 3.1% of their pay each pay period to FERS.
FERS-FRAE employees (hired after 12/31/2013) contribute 4.4% of their pay each pay period to FERS.
Special Provision employees contribute an extra .5% of their pay each pay period to FERS.
Yes. When you contribute to FERS each pay period, the money you contribute is "after tax" money.
Periods of temporary service (along with other types of service) will be identified on the SF-3107-1 Certified Summary of Federal Service. If you had a period of temporary service (where no retirement deductions were withheld from your pay), you will see that this service is labeled as "not funded" or "deposit owed".
Periods of refunded service (along with other types of service) will be identified on the SF-3107-1 Certified Summary of Federal Service. If you had a period of service for which you received a refund upon leaving federal service, you will see that this service is labeled as "refunded service" or "redeposit owed".
FERS employees with military service for which they have NOT yet made a deposit for, follow this step-by-step process below:
Step 1: Completes RI 20-97 Estimated Earnings During Military Service and submit to the appropriate DFAS facility identified in form instructions (each service’s form goes to a different place).
Step 2: RI 20-97 is completed by DFAS and is returned to you. It reports the total amount of military earnings (basic pay, not allowances) received during that period of military service.
Step 3: Complete SF-3108 Application to Make Deposit or Redeposit (FERS) and submits this document to your HR department.
Step 4: Takes the completed forms (RI 20-97 and SF-3108) to your agency to calculate the deposit owed (with interest).
Step 5: Your agency provides a letter to you notifying you of your payment options (either lump-sum or payroll deduction), and election instructions.
This above process will be used to determine the deposit owed so you can decide if it is “worth it” to make the deposit for your military service.
Your FERS pension will increased based on a figure called the CPI-W. The Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) is released in October of a given year by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics and goes into affect the following January.
When CPI-W is greater than 3%, FERS retirees get "CPI-W – 1%"
When CPI-W is 2 - 3%, FERS retirees get 2%
When CPI-W is < 2%, FERS retirees get the CPI-W percentage.
For regular FERS employees, you will not receive a COLA to your FERS pension until you reach the age of 62.
For special provision FERS employees (LEO, ATC and FF) you will receive a COLA to your FERS pension regardless of your age.
Yes. The vast majority of the FERS pension will be taxable at the federal level. There will be a small percentage of your pension that is tax-free to you in retirement and that represents the money you paid into FERS being paid back to you. Since you already paid tax on that money when you contributed it to the FERS program, it is not taxed again when it comes to you in the form of your FERS pension.
Maybe. We encourage you to watch the short video on taxes which includes the states which give special preferential treatment to federal retirees.
Under FERS, use the following forms to update your beneficiaries:
SF-1152 Unpaid Compensation Beneficiary
SF-3102 Designation of Beneficiary (FERS)
See also the FEGLI Designation of Beneficiary and the TSP Designation of Beneficiary.
Your unused sick leave hours are converted into YY/MM/DD and added to the total amount of service creditable in your pension calculation. For instance, if you had 30 years of service and a year of sick leave, your pension would be calculated as if you had 31 years of service. Just remember, unused sick leave does not help you to retire sooner (it just increases the amount paid to you in your pension).
Your annual leave balance will be paid to you in lump sum after leaving federal service. The hours of annual leave are multiplied by your final hourly rate. The lump sum is taxable and typically paid to you with a few weeks of retiring.
As you get closer to retiring, it is typically most advantageous for you to use your sick leave first. The reason is that although sick leave is valuable (as it increases your pension), the annual leave is more valuable since you are paid out this money in lump sum upon retiring from federal service.
The payment of your annual leave is made by your agency and typically arrives within a few weeks of retiring. Some agencies are even able to get it paid in your last pay check.
No. Sick leave cannot be "cashed out" upon retiring. You either use it or it is converted into YY/MM/DD and that time is added in your pension calculation.
All of it. There used to be a time that FERS employees could never use sick leave in the calculation of their pension. That changed with the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010. Now, both CSRS and FERS employees can accumulate an unlimited number of hours of sick leave and apply them to their pension calculation upon retiring.
No. Annual leave balances are always paid out in lump sum upon retiring. You are not permitted to use the annual leave hours to increase your pension. Frankly, it is more advantageous to cash them out and receive the lump sum payout shortly after you retire.
To convert your hours of unused sick leave into months and days, use the 2087 Sick Leave Conversion Chart. If you have more than 2,087 hours of sick leave, that equals one year. Use this chart to calculate parts of a year.
Your FERS Transfer date is the date you either voluntarily elected to transfer to FERS or the date you returned to federal service and began contributing to the FERS program. If you are unclear when you returned, you should submit the SF-3107-1 Certified Summary of Federal Service.