FERS retirement calculator: your basic annuity

How the FERS retirement calculator works

The FERS retirement calculator follows OPM's basic annuity formula: high-3 average salary × years of service × the multiplier^[opmcomp]. The multiplier is 1% if you are under 62 when you separate, or 62 or older with fewer than 20 years; it is 1.1% if you are 62 or older with 20 or more years. Your high-3 is the highest average basic pay over any three consecutive years, usually the last three; overtime and bonuses do not count.

• Service is all creditable service added together, with fractions of a month dropped. Unused sick leave increases service for the computation only, not for eligibility^[opmcred]; the calculator converts hours at a 2,087-hour work year.
• Special provision employees (law enforcement, firefighters, air traffic controllers and others) get 1.7% for the first 20 years and 1% after^[usc8415].
• Survivor benefit: a full survivor annuity (50% of your unreduced annuity) costs 10% of your annuity; a partial one (25%) costs 5%^[opmcomp].

FERS eligibility and minimum retirement age

You can retire on an immediate annuity at 62 with 5 years, at 60 with 20, at your minimum retirement age (MRA) with 30, or at your MRA with 10 years with a reduction^[opmelig]. Your MRA depends on your birth year:

Under MRA+10 the reduction is 5/12 of 1% for each month you are under 62 when the annuity starts; you can postpone the start date to shrink or remove it, and there is no reduction if you have 20 years and start at 60 or later^[opmcomp].

Worked examples

• OPM example, age 62 with 18 years: 1% × $90,000 × 18 = $16,200 a year, $1,350 a month^[opmsupp].
• OPM example, age 62 with 20 years: 1.1% × $90,000 × 20 = $19,800 a year, $1,650 a month. Two more years add 22% because of the higher multiplier.
• MRA+10: born 1970, retiring at 57 with 15 years on an $80,000 high-3. The unreduced annuity is $12,000; starting 5 years before 62 cuts it 25%, to $9,000.
• Default scenario: 30 years and 1,000 hours of sick leave (about 5 months) at 57 gives $28,896; a full survivor benefit reduces it 10%, to $26,006 ($2,167 a month), and the spouse would receive $14,448 a year.

FERS annuity supplement

If you retire on an immediate, unreduced annuity before 62 (MRA+30 or 60+20), FERS pays a supplement until 62 that stands in for the Social Security you earned under FERS. OPM estimates your full-career Social Security benefit at 62 and multiplies it by your FERS civilian years ÷ 40: with a $1,000 estimate and 30 years, $1,000 × 30/40 = $750 a month^[opmsupp]. The supplement is not paid on MRA+10, deferred or disability retirements.

The supplement has an earnings test like Social Security's: it is cut $1 for every $2 of earnings above the Social Security exempt amount^[opmsupp]. That amount is $24,480 for 2026 and $25,560 for 2027^[cola27]; see the earnings limit page.

FERS COLA for 2026 and 2027

FERS annuities get a "diet" COLA: the full CPI increase when it is 2% or less, 2% when it is between 2% and 3%, and CPI minus 1 point above 3%^[usc8462]. For 2027 OPM set it at 2.6%, against 3.6% for CSRS and Social Security^[opmcola]. Most regular FERS retirees get no COLA until 62.

Common mistakes

• Using 1.1% before 62. The higher multiplier needs both age 62 at separation and 20 years.
• Counting sick leave for eligibility. It adds to the computation only; it cannot turn 29 years and 8 months into 30.
• Expecting a supplement under MRA+10. MRA+10 retirees get no supplement and a 5%-a-year reduction unless they postpone.
• Forgetting the TSP. The annuity is one of three FERS parts; see the TSP calculator for the savings side and the Social Security calculator for the third.