FERS Retirement Calculator

A FERS retirement calculator turns three numbers - your high-3 average salary, your years and months of creditable service, and your age at retirement - into the federal pension you will receive every month for life. The formula is 1% of the high-3 per year of service, or 1.1% if you retire at 62 or later with 20+ years. A $95,000 high-3 with 30 years at age 62 produces $31,350 a year, or $2,612.50 a month.

This page is the FERS pension calculator for federal civilian employees. For a defined-benefit plan with any multiplier you choose, use the pension calculator; for uniformed service retired pay under High-3 or BRS, use the military retirement calculator; and to check whether your FERS annuity, Thrift Savings Plan and Social Security together cover your retirement budget, run the retirement calculator.

How the FERS basic annuity is calculated

The Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) covers civilian employees hired since 1984 and has three parts: the basic annuity (the pension this calculator estimates), Social Security, and the Thrift Savings Plan. OPM computes the basic annuity with one formula:

The factor becomes 1.1% when you retire at age 62 or later and have at least 20 years of creditable service. Both conditions must hold on your retirement date; one alone keeps you at 1%. Service is counted in full years and months (each month adds 1/12 of a year), and any leftover days are dropped. There is no cap on the number of years: 40 years at 1.1% pays 44% of your high-3.

Survivor elections and, for MRA+10 retirements, an age reduction are then applied to that gross figure:

where the survivor cost is 10% for a full (50%) survivor benefit, 5% for a partial (25%) benefit and 0% if you elect none, and the MRA+10 age reduction is 5% for each year under 62 (5/12 of 1% per month).

Worked example: 30 years, retiring at 62

Suppose your final three years of basic pay were $90,000, $94,000 and $98,000. The high-3 average is ($90,000 + $94,000 + $98,000) ÷ 3 = $94,000; for round numbers the example below uses $95,000. You retire on your 62nd birthday with exactly 30 years of service and elect a full survivor benefit for your spouse.

1. Multiplier: age 62 and 30 years qualify for 1.1%, so the total multiplier is 1.1% × 30 = 33% of the high-3.
2. Gross annuity: $95,000 × 0.33 = $31,350 a year, or $2,612.50 a month.
3. Survivor reduction: the full election costs 10%, so $31,350 × 0.10 = $3,135 comes off, leaving $28,215 a year, or $2,351.25 a month.
4. Survivor's annuity: after your death your spouse receives 50% of the unreduced annuity: $31,350 × 0.50 = $15,675 a year, or $1,306.25 a month, with COLAs.

Had you retired one year earlier at 61 with the same 30 years, the factor would be 1%: $95,000 × 0.30 = $28,500, which is $2,850 a year less, every year, for the rest of your life. That single birthday is the most valuable date in the FERS rulebook.

Second example: 25 years and 6 months at age 60

An employee with an $80,000 high-3 retires at 60 with 25 years and 6 months. Age 60 with 20+ years is an immediate, unreduced retirement, but under 62 the factor is 1%. Service is 25.5 years, so the gross annuity is $80,000 × 0.01 × 25.5 = $20,400 a year ($1,700 a month). A partial survivor election trims 5% to $19,380 ($1,615 a month) and would pay the spouse 25%, or $425 a month. Because this retirement is unreduced and before 62, the employee also qualifies for the FERS annuity supplement until 62.

Third example: MRA+10 at 57 with 15 years

A $70,000 high-3 with 15 years at age 57 is an MRA+10 retirement. The formula gives $70,000 × 0.01 × 15 = $10,500. Because the annuity starts 5 years before 62, OPM reduces it by 5 × 5% = 25%: $10,500 × 0.75 = $7,875 a year ($656.25 a month), permanently. Postponing the start date to 60 would cut the reduction to 10% ($9,450), and starting at 62 would restore the full $10,500. A full survivor election on the reduced figure leaves $7,087.50 ($590.63 a month).

FERS annuity by years of service ($95,000 high-3)

Gross annual annuity before survivor elections. The 1.1% column applies only at age 62 or later with at least 20 years, which is why it is blank below 20.

Every additional year of service is worth 1% (or 1.1%) of your high-3 for life: on $95,000 that is $950 or $1,045 a year, so a single extra year of work at 1.1% adds about $87 to each monthly check.

FERS annuity by high-3 salary (30 years of service)

Because the formula is linear, the annuity scales exactly with the high-3. The last column shows what the 1.1% rate is worth compared with 1% at 30 years.

Survivor benefit elections on a $31,350 annuity

The survivor election is the one choice you make at retirement that permanently changes your check. If you are married, the full benefit is the default and your spouse must consent in writing to anything less.

The full election costs $261.25 a month and buys a lifetime income of $1,306.25 a month for your spouse. It also keeps your spouse eligible to continue FEHB health coverage after your death, which for many couples matters as much as the cash.

How to use this FERS calculator

1. High-3 average salary: average your highest 3 consecutive years of basic pay including locality pay. Your most recent SF-50 or Leave and Earnings Statement shows the current figure; your agency's benefits office can confirm the exact 78-pay-period average.
2. Creditable service: enter years and months from your service computation date (SCD) for retirement, which already accounts for prior civilian service and any military deposit you have paid.
3. Age at retirement: the age you will be on your planned retirement date. The calculator checks it against the 62/5, 60/20, MRA/30 and MRA+10 eligibility rules and picks the 1% or 1.1% factor.
4. Survivor election: choose none, partial (25%) or full (50%) to see the reduction to your annuity and what your spouse would receive.
5. Supplement (optional): if you plan to retire before 62 on an unreduced annuity, enter your Social Security estimate at 62 from your my Social Security account to see the approximate FERS supplement.

Read the monthly figure at the top, then scroll to the two tables to see how one more year of service or a promotion that lifts the high-3 would change the result.

Who this calculator is for

• Federal employees under FERS (hired 1984 or later) at any agency, including the Postal Service, VA, DoD civilians and the courts.
• Employees within five years of retirement comparing a 60/20 retirement against waiting for 62 and the 1.1% factor.
• Mid-career staff deciding whether to stay for the pension or leave for the private sector and take a deferred annuity later.
• Married couples weighing the full, partial or no survivor election.
• Anyone who cannot decode the OPM estimate their agency produced and wants to see the arithmetic behind it.

Key FERS terms explained

• High-3: the highest average basic pay over any 3 consecutive years of service. Basic pay includes locality pay, law-enforcement availability pay and shift differentials that count as basic pay, but not overtime, bonuses, awards, or travel and cash allowances.
• Creditable service: civilian service under FERS plus certain prior service and military service for which you have paid the deposit. Unused sick leave is added for the computation but not for eligibility.
• Minimum retirement age (MRA): 55 to 57 depending on your birth year; 57 for anyone born in 1970 or later.
• Immediate retirement: an annuity that starts within 30 days of separation. Unreduced at 62/5, 60/20 or MRA/30; reduced under MRA+10.
• Deferred retirement: leaving federal service with at least 5 years and claiming the annuity later, usually at 62.
• FERS annuity supplement: a bridge payment approximating Social Security for unreduced retirees under 62. It equals the Social Security benefit at 62 multiplied by years of FERS service (rounded to the nearest whole year) divided by 40.
• Survivor annuity: the continuing payment to a spouse after the retiree's death: 50% of the unreduced annuity for the full election, 25% for the partial.

The FERS annuity supplement

If you retire on an immediate, unreduced annuity before 62 (at 60 with 20 years or at your MRA with 30), FERS pays a supplement until the month you turn 62 to stand in for the Social Security you cannot yet claim. OPM estimates it as your projected Social Security benefit at 62 times your years of FERS civilian service, rounded to the nearest whole year, divided by 40. With a $1,800 Social Security estimate and 30 years, the supplement is $1,800 × 30 ÷ 40 = $1,350 a month; with 28 years it is $1,260. The supplement is not paid on MRA+10 or deferred retirements, it does not get COLAs, and it is subject to the Social Security earnings test: once you have reached your MRA, wages above the annual exempt amount reduce it by $1 for every $2 earned.

What changes the result the most

• The 62/20 threshold: reaching both 62 and 20 years lifts every year of service from 1% to 1.1%, a permanent 10% raise. On $95,000 with 30 years it is $2,850 a year.
• Years of service: each extra year adds 1% or 1.1% of your high-3 for life, and unused sick leave adds months on top.
• The high-3 itself: a promotion or step increase in your last three years raises the average. Because pay usually rises every year, retiring in January after the annual adjustment has hit all three years pays more than retiring in December.
• The survivor election: 5% or 10% off your check for life, in exchange for a spouse's income and FEHB continuation.
• Retiring under MRA+10: 5% per year under 62 is the largest avoidable reduction in FERS, and postponing the start date removes it.

Retire at 60 with 28 years, or at 62 with 30?

A common decision: leave at 60 with 28 years and a $95,000 high-3, or stay two more years. At 60 the annuity is $95,000 × 0.01 × 28 = $26,600 ($2,216.67 a month) plus the FERS supplement until 62. At 62 with 30 years it is $95,000 × 0.011 × 30 = $31,350, which is $4,750 a year more for life - two extra years of service and the 1.1% factor together. The right answer depends on the two years of salary versus pension you would collect in the meantime, the size of the supplement, and your health, but the calculator lets you run both scenarios in seconds.

Taxes on a FERS annuity

OPM reports your annuity on Form 1099-R each January. Almost all of it is taxable federal income: only the portion that returns your own after-tax FERS contributions (0.8%, 3.1% or 4.4% of pay depending on your hire date) is tax-free, spread over your life expectancy with the IRS Simplified Method. OPM withholds federal tax based on the W-4P you file and can withhold state tax for participating states; state treatment ranges from fully taxed to fully exempt. A $28,215 annuity plus Social Security and TSP withdrawals can easily land in the 12% or 22% federal bracket, so plan withholding on the whole picture, not the pension alone. The retirement withdrawal calculator helps you size the TSP draw that sits on top.

Tips for a larger FERS annuity

• Hit 62 with 20 years if you are close. Nothing else in FERS gives a 10% raise for one birthday.
• Bank sick leave. Every 174 hours of unused sick leave adds a month of service to the computation.
• Pay the military deposit. Post-1956 military service counts toward the annuity only if the deposit is paid before retirement.
• Time your date. Retiring at the end of a pay period after the January pay adjustment maximizes both the high-3 and the annual leave lump sum.
• Get an official estimate. Your agency's retirement counselor can produce an OPM-based estimate that includes sick leave, deposits and part-time proration; use this tool to understand and sanity-check it.

Limitations and assumptions

• It applies the standard FERS formula only. Special-category employees (law enforcement officers, firefighters, air traffic controllers, nuclear materials couriers, some Capitol Police and Supreme Court Police) use 1.7% for the first 20 years and 1% thereafter, which is not modeled.
• Unused sick leave, part-time proration, military deposits and disability retirement are not included; add sick leave to your months manually if you know it.
• The MRA is assumed to be 57. If you were born before 1970, your MRA is between 55 and 57 and eligibility can begin slightly earlier.
• The FERS supplement estimate uses OPM's approximation and your own Social Security estimate; the actual amount is computed by OPM from your earnings record.
• Results are in today's dollars with no COLA, no tax and no FEHB, FEGLI or dental premiums deducted.

Related retirement calculators

FERS is one leg of a three-legged plan, so pair this page with the tools for the other two. Use the Social Security calculator to estimate the benefit at 62 that feeds the supplement and your income after 62; the 401(k) calculator to project a TSP balance with the 5% agency match; the pension calculator when you need a custom multiplier for a state or private plan; the military retirement calculator for uniformed retired pay, which is separate from any FERS annuity; and the annuity payout calculator to compare the pension against buying a commercial annuity with a lump sum.

Sources

• U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) - FERS Information: Computation (basic annuity formula, 1% and 1.1% factors, high-3 definition, MRA+10 reduction).
• U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) - FERS Information: Eligibility (minimum retirement age table, immediate, early, deferred and disability retirement).
• U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) - FERS Information: Survivors (full and partial survivor elections and the 10% / 5% reductions).
• U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) - FERS Information: Types of Retirement (FERS annuity supplement).
• Social Security Administration (SSA) - my Social Security (benefit estimate at 62 used for the supplement).