FERS Guides
When to retire
The date drives almost everything else: your multiplier, whether the FERS Supplement applies, how many years of service you finish with, and what you give up by leaving earlier. These articles work through the timing decision itself.
9 articles
FERS retirees don't get full inflation protection: COLAs are capped or trimmed when CPI tops 2%, and regular retirees get nothing before 62. The rules, the 2026 numbers, and the 20-year cost.
The FERS MRA is 55 to 57 depending on your birth year. The full table, what reaching MRA does (and doesn't) unlock, and how MRA+10, MRA+30, 60/20, and 62/5 fit together.
Deferred and postponed FERS retirement are completely different paths. Eligibility, the 5%-per-year penalty, the frozen High-3, and why health insurance — not the annuity math — usually decides it.
What is High-3 salary? It's the average of your highest 36 consecutive months of basic pay — the foundation of your FERS pension. See what counts, how it's calculated, and the mistakes that cost retirees thousands.
Federal employees with military service can buy back that time and add it permanently to their FERS creditable service. The deposit is typically 3% of military base pay — and the break-even is often under a year.
VERA gives you early retirement without the 5% penalty — but it locks in a smaller pension permanently. Here's the complete framework: what VERA costs, what it's worth, and how to evaluate your numbers before the window closes.
Use the exact OPM formula to calculate your FERS pension. Enter your High-3, years of service, and retirement age to see your gross monthly annuity.
The FERS Supplement pays $800–$1,500/month to eligible retirees — then ends permanently at 62. Who qualifies, the formula, and how to plan for the cliff.
Should FERS employees retire at 57 or wait until 62? The pension multiplier, service credit, and break-even analysis reveal what waiting is actually worth.