Why federal compensation is easy to undervalue
When comparing a federal job to a private-sector offer, it's tempting to compare salaries directly. But federal employment adds several forms of compensation most private offers don't match dollar for dollar: a lifetime pension that accrues every year you work, an automatic and matched TSP contribution, and an employer share of your health insurance premium that continues into retirement.
How this calculator works
We add this year's pension accrual (the standard 1% multiplier, or 1.7% if you're in a special category with fewer than 20 covered years), your TSP agency contribution (automatic 1% plus matching, capped at 5% of salary), and — if you enter your FEHB premium — the government's roughly 72% employer share, on top of your salary. The total is what a private offer would need to pay in cash to be equivalent.
This is deliberately a single-year snapshot, not a lifetime model: it doesn't account for how a pension's value compounds the longer you stay, which grows much larger the closer you get to retirement eligibility.
See the bigger picture
For the full lifetime value of your pension alone, try the Pension Present Value Calculator. Weighing a VERA or VSIP offer? The VERA & VSIP Evaluator models that decision directly.
FH / Full Analysis
Your federal compensation package is one input. Your full report combines pension, supplement, survivor election, and FEHB into one decision.
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