FERS Retirement Planner: Pension, Supplement and TSP by Retirement Age

What does each retirement age pay a federal employee?

Enter your birth month, your service start month, pay, sick leave and TSP. The tool shows your FERS annuity, the Special Retirement Supplement and a TSP draw for every retirement age, the month each kind of retirement first opens to you, and what one more year of work adds. It is built for the question people actually ask: is it worth waiting for 62, or for the 1.1% multiplier?

Arithmetic on the figures you type, using FERS rules as the tool's author understood them. Not retirement, tax or legal advice. Your agency HR office and OPM's retirement estimate are the authority. The example is made-up placeholder data, not any person's.

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This month (YYYY-MM)

Birth month (YYYY-MM)

Month your creditable service began (YYYY-MM)

Your service computation date is on an SF-50. Subtract any time without pay yourself.

Retirement age to look at closely

Current annual salary ($)

Expected raise per year (%)

Unused sick leave now (hours)

Sick leave added per year, net of what you use (hours)

104 hours is a full year of accrual with none used.

Survivor benefit for a spouse

TSP and Social Security

TSP balance now ($)

Your TSP contribution (% of pay)

Your agency adds 1% plus a match of up to 4%.

TSP return per year (%)

Share of TSP you spend each year (%)

Social Security per month if claimed at 62 ($, optional)

From your statement at ssa.gov. Needed for the supplement.

Expected inflation per year (%)

Sets the COLA, which FERS pays from age 62.

Questions federal employees ask

How is a FERS pension calculated?

Multiplier times high-3 times years of service. The multiplier is 1.0%, or 1.1% if you retire at 62 or later with at least 20 years. High-3 is your highest average basic pay over any three consecutive years. Unused sick leave is converted to months of service and added to the years used in the formula, but it does not help you qualify.

When can I retire?

Immediately at your minimum retirement age (55 to 57 depending on birth year) with 30 years, at 60 with 20 years, or at 62 with 5 years. At your minimum retirement age with 10 to 29 years you can retire at once too (called MRA+10), but the annuity is cut 5% for every year you are under 62.

What is the Special Retirement Supplement?

A bridge payment that stands in for the Social Security you earned in federal service, paid until 62. It goes to people retiring with 30 years at their minimum retirement age or with 20 years at 60. It is not paid with MRA+10, and it is reduced if you earn above the Social Security earnings limit.

Why is there a jump at 62?

Two rules meet there: the 1.1% multiplier for people with 20 years, and the start of cost-of-living adjustments. The table shows the effect in dollars so you can weigh a year of work against it.

Not decided

Law enforcement, firefighter, air traffic controller and similar special provisions, CSRS and mixed service, part-time and military buyback service, disability and involuntary retirement, deferred and early-out retirement, the Social Security earnings test, taxes on any income, the TSP withdrawal rules and Medicare or FEHB timing. Check any of these with your HR office and your OPM estimate.

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