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FERS Retirement Calculator
Federal employee pension + TSP projection
Estimated monthly income at retirement
$5,350/mo
Pension + TSP + eligible supplement at age 65. Before tax; Social Security excluded.
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Your Minimum Retirement Age (MRA): 57
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Monthly Income at Retirement
$5,350/mo
Annuity
$1,742/mo
TSP (4%)
$3,608/mo
Replacement
67.6%
Retiring at 65 with 20 years qualifies for an immediate, unreduced FERS annuity of $1,742/mo.
Income at retirement replaces 67.6% of your High-3 salary before Social Security, which adds $2,000/mo from age 67. All amounts are in today's dollars.
Monthly Income at Retirement (age 65)
Later: Social Security $2,000/mo from age 67.
FERS Annuity
$1,742/mo
$20,900/year
TSP at Retirement
$1,082,384
$3,608/mo at 4%
Social Security
$2,000/mo
Starting age 67
By the Coast FIRE Calculator editorial team · Methodology · Official sources: OPM annuity computation; OPM eligibility · Sources checked October 6, 2026 · Corrections: hello@coastfirecalculator.io
Understanding FERS Retirement
FERS provides retirement benefits through three components, often called the "three-legged stool."
FERS Basic Annuity
A defined benefit pension based on years of service and your highest three years of salary.
Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)
A defined contribution plan similar to a 401(k), with agency matching up to 5%.
Social Security
Federal employees under FERS are covered by Social Security and pay FICA taxes.
FERS Annuity Formula
Your FERS basic annuity is calculated as:
Years of Service x Multiplier x High-3 Average Salary
Standard multiplier
1% per year of service
Enhanced multiplier
1.1% per year if you retire at age 62+ with 20+ years
Special provisions
1.7% for the first 20 years, then 1% (law enforcement, firefighters, air traffic controllers)
For example, a federal employee with 30 years of service, retiring at age 62 with a High-3 salary of $95,000: 30 x 1.1% x $95,000 = $31,350/year ($2,612.50/month).
FERS Retirement Eligibility
| Age | Years of Service | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| MRA (56-57) | 30 | Full annuity + FERS Supplement |
| 60 | 20 | Full annuity + FERS Supplement |
| 62 | 5 | Full annuity (1.1% multiplier if 20+ years) |
| MRA (56-57) | 10 | Reduced annuity (5% per year under 62), no supplement |
| 50 | 20 (special provisions) | Law enforcement, firefighters, air traffic controllers: full annuity + supplement |
| Any age | 25 (special provisions) | Same as above |
Unused Sick Leave
For employees who retire on an immediate annuity after December 31, 2013, all unused sick leave is added to service when the annuity is computed (5 U.S.C. 8415(m)). OPM converts hours with its 2,087-hour chart: 2,000 hours is 11 months and 15 days, and hours that are not on the chart use the next highest entry.
Sick leave does not help you qualify for retirement and does not change your High-3. It can, however, lift you to 20 years at 62, which earns the 1.1% multiplier (OPM BAL 18-103). Any leftover fraction of a month in your total service is dropped. Sick leave is not credited in a deferred retirement.
Survivor Benefits
| Election | Your spouse receives | Your annuity is reduced by |
|---|---|---|
| Full | 50% of your annuity | 10% |
| Partial | 25% of your annuity | 5% |
| None | Nothing | 0% |
A married employee gets the full election unless the spouse consents in writing to less. Per OPM's order of reductions, any age reduction (MRA+10) comes first and the survivor reduction is taken from the reduced annuity.
FERS Supplement and the Earnings Test
The supplement is paid to employees who retire on an immediate, unreduced annuity before 62: at MRA with 30 years, at 60 with 20 years, or under special provisions. It is estimated as your Social Security benefit at 62 times your years of FERS civilian service divided by 40, and it stops at 62. It is not paid for MRA+10 or deferred retirements, and it gets no COLA.
If you work after retiring, the supplement drops $1 for every $2 of wages above the Social Security exempt amount, which is $24,480 for 2026 (OPM BAL 26-101). The test looks at the previous year's earnings, and the reduction runs for 12 months from July. Special-provision retirees are exempt until they reach their MRA.
Cost-of-Living Adjustments
| CPI-W increase | FERS COLA |
|---|---|
| 2% or less | Same as the CPI increase |
| More than 2%, up to 3% | 2% |
| More than 3% | CPI increase minus 1 percentage point |
For 2026 the CPI-W rose 2.8%, so FERS annuities rose 2.0% (CSRS 2.8%). Regular FERS retirees get COLAs only from age 62; special-provision retirees and survivors get them earlier. Because the calculator shows today's dollars, a COLA below inflation means the real value of your annuity slowly shrinks.
What You Pay Into FERS
| Hired | Regular employees | LEO, firefighters, ATC |
|---|---|---|
| FERS (before 2013) | 0.8% of pay | 1.3% |
| FERS-RAE (2013) | 3.1% | 3.6% |
| FERS-FRAE (2014 and later) | 4.4% | 4.9% |
The basic annuity formula is the same under FERS, FERS-RAE and FERS-FRAE; only the employee contribution differs (OPM BALs 13-102 and 14-102). Sources for this page: OPM annuity computation, OPM eligibility, 5 U.S.C. 8412-8421, 5 CFR 842 and OPM BAL 26-101 (2026 annual changes). Page rules checked September 2026; linked sources checked October 6, 2026.
Planning Your Federal Retirement
Use this calculator alongside the Coast FIRE Calculator to see when your combined FERS annuity, TSP, and Social Security might allow you to achieve financial independence. The TSP calculator projects your Thrift Savings Plan with the agency match, and the Barista FIRE calculator shows whether part-time work could bridge the years before your annuity starts.