1. Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS)
OO-ALC Retirements/Benefits
“Breaking Barriers… Since 1947”

2. “Breaking Barriers… Since 1947”
Agenda
Discuss the basics of:
FERS – Federal Employees Retirement System
Creditable Service for Retirement
Military Deposit
Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)
Important Program Links
Many employees do not understand what is paid at retirement or what it’s called.
Any employees under CSRS does not rely so much on TSP. Their retirement is computed a whole different way and TSP is extra.
“Breaking Barriers… Since 1947”

3. “Breaking Barriers… Since 1947”
Retirement
FERS – Federal Employees Retirement System
Three tiered retirement system
Federal Employment Retirement System (FERS) (monthly annuity for life)
Social Security
Thrift Savings Plan
Annuity or Pension = Retirement Pay
Many employees do not understand what is paid at retirement or what it’s called.
Any employees under CSRS does not rely so much on TSP. Their retirement is computed a whole different way and TSP is extra.
“Breaking Barriers… Since 1947”

4. Example of Retirement Pay
FERS = 1% per year
(Exception) At age 62 with 20 or more years of service; retirement is calculated using 1.1%
(% x High 3 x Years and Months of Service)
Example (Gross for $75k):
FERS Annuity = $1700 at retirement
Social Security = $1300 at age = $3000
After Insurance and taxes = $2100
TSP = It’s up to you! The more the better!
Example is someone who makes around $75,000 with 32 years of service.
“Breaking Barriers… Since 1947”

5. “Breaking Barriers… Since 1947”
CREDITABLE SERVICE
Non-deduction Service (usually Temporary service)
Federal civilian service where no retirement deductions were withheld. This is also known as FICA service.
If Service was prior to January 1, 1989
Deposit required for both eligibility and annuity computation
If Service was on or after January 1, 1989
Not creditable for retirement eligibility or annuity computation
Deposit cannot be made.
Part-time service
Credited as full time for eligibility
Prorated for annuity computation purposes
Service prior to 1 Jan 89 the Deposit is 1.3% of basic pay during period of service + interest
“Breaking Barriers… Since 1947”

6. CIVILIAN REDEPOSIT SERVICE
Refunded Service
If you were paying into CSRS or FERS, QUIT and pulled your retirement contributions
Redeposit service if NOT paid
The Time is used for retirement eligibility
Redeposit service if redeposit IS paid
Creditable for Time and Annuity purposes
Amount of Redeposit
Amount of refund plus interest
For refunded CSRS service now subject to FERS rules, the amount of redeposit due is 1.3% of the basic pay earned during the period of service, plus interest
“Breaking Barriers… Since 1947”

7. “Breaking Barriers… Since 1947”
Military Deposit
The benefit to paying a few years of Active Duty service is to have that time count towards your Civil Service Retirement Annuity (Title 10 only)
The pay back amount gets more expensive over time due to compounding interest (interest is at variable rate)
Each year you pay back gives you “on average” about $70 to $100 a month more in your annuity check
Example: 4 years of Active Duty could be up to $400 a month more in your FERS Annuity
Make sure you want to make a career and retire before paying it back. It’s is not refunded if you do not retire.
“Breaking Barriers… Since 1947”

8. “Breaking Barriers… Since 1947”
Military Deposit
Log into MyPers: and type “Military Deposit” in the search engine, follow instructions
The process will take 6 months to a year to find out how much you owe
This is where they go to start the process of paying their military deposit.
“Breaking Barriers… Since 1947”

9. Thrift Savings Plan - TSP
TSP Contribution Funds:
G = Government Securities
F = Government Corp and Mortgage-backed Bonds
C = Common Stock (Large/Med Sized Companies)
S = Small Capitalization Stock (Small/Med Sized)
I = International Stock (20 Developed Countries)
L = Life Cycle Funds (Invested in G,F,C,S, and I)
You elect your Contribution amount in: EBIS
You elect your Funds in: TSP.Gov
Establishing an account
If you are a FERS participant and were hired after July 31, 2010:
Your agency automatically enrolled you in the TSP and 3% of your basic pay is deducted from your paycheck each pay period and deposited in the traditional balance of your TSP account.
You began receiving automatic agency contributions equal to 1% of your pay from your agency - beginning with your first pay period.
You began receiving agency matching contributions equal to 3% of your pay from your agency - beginning with your first pay period.
If you are a FERS participant and were hired before August 1, 2010:
The TSP would have begun receiving automatic contributions equal to 1% of your pay from your agency - beginning with your first pay period.
If you contribute your own money, your agency will send matching contributions to the TSP (on up to 5% of your contributions per pay period).
“Breaking Barriers… Since 1947”

10. Thrift Savings Plan - TSP
TSP Contribution Funds:
This slide shows the return rate over a 5 year period (highlighted in red.) See the G fund and I fund get the lowest rate of return. The L Funds are pretty conservative. They may want to think of spreading their contributions through the F, C, and S Funds for the most return.
“Breaking Barriers… Since 1947”

11. Important Program Links
MyPers: (Guidance for everything)
EBIS (Changing FEHB, TSP, FEGLI)
MyBiz (Your record past and present)
This is where they go to start the process of paying their military deposit.
“Breaking Barriers… Since 1947”

12. Breaking Barriers …Since 1947
Questions?
Breaking Barriers …Since 1947