Free FERS Tool

Household Retirement Income Calculator

Most calculators model one person. If you and your spouse are both federal employees, or your household includes SSDI or VA disability compensation, this combines both of you into one household income total — including a deferred pension for a spouse who hasn't started collecting yet.

Data current as of 2026 · Sources: 5 U.S.C. § 8413 · SSA · 38 U.S.C. § 5301

What this doesn't model: Gross income by source, not a combined net figure — joint federal tax brackets and state tax aren't modeled. Deferred pensions use the standard 1.0% multiplier only, not special-category (LEO/FF/ATC) rates. Social Security and VA disability amounts are entered directly, not derived from earnings history or a disability rating.

Dual-fed households

When both spouses have federal careers, each has their own pension governed by their own service history — they don't combine into a single calculation. If one spouse has already separated from federal service but hasn't started their deferred pension yet, this tool computes it the same way OPM does: unreduced, starting at your Minimum Retirement Age with 30+ years of service, age 60 with 20+ years, or age 62 otherwise (5 U.S.C. § 8413).

SSDI is not the same as early Social Security

A spouse receiving Social Security Disability Insurance isn't taking a reduced benefit the way early retirement claiming works — SSDI pays the full Primary Insurance Amount from the start, at any age. When that spouse reaches Full Retirement Age, SSA automatically converts the benefit to a standard retirement benefit at the same dollar amount, with no reduction and no new application required.

VA disability stacks independently, for either spouse

VA disability compensation is tax-free and doesn't interact with a FERS pension or Social Security at all — for either spouse. A household where both spouses are veterans with a VA disability rating simply adds both figures on top of everything else, with no offset in either direction.

Your own retirement numbers, modeled in full is one input. Your full report combines pension, supplement, survivor election, and FEHB into one decision.

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