What is the FERS MRA?
The Minimum Retirement Age (MRA) is the earliest age at which a FERS-covered federal employee can retire — under certain conditions. Congress introduced it when FERS launched in 1987 to replace the old CSRS system, which had a simpler age-55-flat rule. Under FERS, your MRA ranges from 55 to 57 depending on your birth year.
The key word is minimum. MRA is the floor, not the finish line. Reaching your MRA does not mean you can retire on a full, unreduced annuity. Your years of service have to meet a threshold too — and which threshold determines whether you get an immediate, reduced, or postponed annuity.
MRA by birth year — complete table
OPM publishes a stepped table in the FERS Handbook. The transition bands add two months per year until the next flat tier is reached. Here is the full table:
| Birth year | FERS MRA |
|---|---|
| Before 1948 | 55 years |
| 1948 | 55 years, 2 months |
| 1949 | 55 years, 4 months |
| 1950 | 55 years, 6 months |
| 1951 | 55 years, 8 months |
| 1952 | 55 years, 10 months |
| 1953–1964 | 56 years |
| 1965 | 56 years, 2 months |
| 1966 | 56 years, 4 months |
| 1967 | 56 years, 6 months |
| 1968 | 56 years, 8 months |
| 1969 | 56 years, 10 months |
| 1970 or later | 57 years |
MRA vs. retirement eligibility
Knowing your MRA is essential, but it only answers half the question. FERS has three main retirement pathways, and each has its own combination of age and service requirements:
- Immediate, unreduced annuity: age 62 with 5+ years; age 60 with 20+ years; or MRA with 30+ years. All three give you a full pension starting the day after your last day worked.
- MRA+10 (immediate, reduced): at your MRA with 10–29 years, you can retire immediately, but your annuity is permanently reduced by 5% for every year you are under 62. For example, at MRA (57) you would face a 25% reduction. The reduction is prorated by month — the exact amount depends on how many months you are under 62.
- MRA+10 postponed: instead of taking the reduced annuity right away, you can separate from federal service and postpone receiving your pension until a later age. The later you start it, the smaller the reduction — or none at all if you wait until 62. You must re-enroll in FEHB within 30 days of postponed annuity start; coverage lapses in the interim.
- Deferred retirement: if you leave federal service before reaching any eligibility threshold but have at least 5 years of service, you can claim a deferred annuity at age 62. No FEHB bridge; no supplement.
The FedHorizon Timeline maps out every one of these milestones on a personalized calendar — showing the exact year and age at which each pathway opens, and what your estimated annuity would be at each point.