See Part One Civil Service Early Retirement Here
Background About CSRS and FERS
CSRS Retirement The Civil Service Retirement Act, which became effective on August 1, 1920, established a retirement system for certain Federal employees. It was replaced by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) for Federal employees who first entered covered service on and after January 1, 1987.
The Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) is a defined benefit, contributory retirement system. Employees share in the expense of the annuities to which they become entitled. CSRS covered employees contribute 7, 7 1/2 or 8 percent of pay to CSRS and, while they generally pay no Social Security retirement, survivor and disability (OASDI) tax, they must pay the Medicare tax (currently 1.45 percent of pay). The employing agency matches the employee’s CSRS contributions.
CSRS employees may increase their earned annuity by contributing up to 10 percent of the basic pay for their creditable service to a voluntary contribution account. Employees may also contribute a portion of pay to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). There is no Government contribution, but the employee contributions are tax-deferred. For more information about TSP, see the TSP website.
Unused Sick Leave, Health Insurance Coverage, etc.
- If I take early retirement, what happens to my unused sick leave?
- Can I continue health and life insurance into retirement?
CSRS employees will receive service credit for any unused sick leave in determining their annuity (but they must meet eligibility requirements for retirement before the sick leave is added).
FERS employees do not receive credit. Employees who were previously under CSRS but who transferred to FERS will receive credit for either the amount of sick leave at the time of the transfer to FERS, or at the time of retirement–whichever is less.
You can continue your coverage if you retire on an immediate annuity and if you have been enrolled (or covered as a family member) in a plan (not necessarily the same plan) under the Federal Employees Health Benefits program from a) the 5 years of service immediately preceding retirement or b) from service since your first opportunity to enroll or c) continuously for the full period or periods of service beginning with the enrollment which became effective no later than December 31, 1964.
An employee who does not meet the 5-year participation requirement for continuing health benefits coverage may be eligible for a waiver of that requirement. Please note, there is no waiver provision for life insurance.
Where Can I Learn More About the CSRS Program?
If you visit the OPM website you can learn more about the CSRS program. It covers topics like:
Eligibility – The main eligibility requirements for the common types of retirements.
Creditable Service – Rules showing the civilian and military service that can be used to compute your CSRS retirement benefits.
Computation – How your retirement annuity is computed.
Disability – Special rules governing Disability retirement.
Early Retirement – Explanation of the minimum retirement age and early retirement if you agency under goes a “reduction in force” or you are involuntarily separated other than for cause.
Voluntary – Requirements for the most common type of retirement.
Deferred – If you are a former Federal employee who was covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), you may be eligible for a deferred annuity at age 62.
Service Credit – Payment to increase your annuity for civilian service when no CSRS retirement deductions were withheld or were refunded or for military service after 1956.
Former Employees – Options if you leave your Federal job before becoming eligible for retirement.
Jeremiah John
TER
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