Enter Your Retirement Details
All fields are required. Use your highest 3 consecutive years of average basic pay.
Estimate your federal retirement annuity under FERS. Your pension is based on your High-3 average salary, years of service, and age at retirement.
All fields are required. Use your highest 3 consecutive years of average basic pay.
The Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) Pension Calculator is a specialized tool designed to help United States government civil service employees estimate their future retirement annuity. Planning for federal retirement can be incredibly complex, as your total retirement package usually consists of three components: the Basic Benefit Plan (the pension), Social Security, and the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). This calculator focuses strictly on the most difficult component to calculate by hand: the Basic Benefit Plan, or your guaranteed lifetime pension.
Whether you are a new hire trying to map out a 30-year career in the government or a seasoned employee five years away from retirement, understanding exactly how much guaranteed income you will receive is critical for your financial planning. Our tool instantly calculates your expected annual and monthly pension payout based on the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) official formulas.
The math behind your FERS pension relies on three specific variables: your "High-3" average salary, your total creditable Years of Service, and a specific multiplier determined by your age and tenure at the time of retirement.
Your High-3 is the highest average basic pay you earned during any 36 consecutive months of your federal service. For the vast majority of employees, this is their final three years before retirement. Note that this includes your base pay and locality pay, but it does not include overtime, bonuses, or military pay.
This is the total amount of time you have worked in a FERS-covered position. If you have unused sick leave at the time of retirement, those hours can be converted into additional months of creditable service (generally, every 174 hours of sick leave equals one month of service).
OPM uses a standard multiplier of 1.0% for most retirements. The formula is:
High-3 Salary × Years of Service × 1.0% = Annual Pension
However, the government incentivizes employees to work longer. If you retire at age 62 or older and have at least 20 years of service, your multiplier receives a 10% bonus, jumping to 1.1%. The formula becomes:
High-3 Salary × Years of Service × 1.1% = Annual Pension
Mark is 60 years old and is retiring after 25 years of service. His High-3 average salary is $100,000. Because he is under age 62, he uses the standard 1.0% multiplier.
Sarah is 62 years old and is retiring after 22 years of service. Her High-3 average salary is also $100,000. Because she has reached age 62 and has more than 20 years of service, she qualifies for the 1.1% bonus multiplier.
Notice the power of the multiplier: Even though Sarah worked 3 fewer years than Mark, her pension is nearly identical to his because of the 10% boost given at age 62.
No, this calculator only estimates the Basic Benefit Plan (the core pension). The FERS Supplement is an additional, temporary payment made to employees who retire before age 62. It is designed to bridge the gap until you are eligible to draw Social Security at 62.
Yes. Because you paid into the FERS system using pre-tax dollars (through payroll deductions), the annuity you receive in retirement is considered taxable income by the IRS. It may also be subject to state income taxes, depending on where you live.
Unused sick leave cannot be cashed out in a lump sum. However, under FERS, your unused sick leave is added to your total creditable years of service, which increases your pension amount. Approximately 2,087 hours of sick leave equals one full additional year of service.
Yes, you can retire at your Minimum Retirement Age (MRA)—which is between 56 and 57 depending on your birth year—if you have at least 30 years of service. If you have between 10 and 29 years of service at your MRA, you can still retire, but your pension will be permanently reduced by 5% for every year you are under age 62.