This is a planning figure, not an entitlement. It applies the standard formula to what you enter. It does not model special provisions for law enforcement, firefighters or air traffic controllers, service deposits, or court-ordered apportionment. Your agency and OPM produce the binding number.
I The estimator
Estimate My FERS Annuity
Basic annuity only. The FERS supplement, TSP and Social Security are separate and not included.
II The formula
Three numbers, multiplied:
| Component | What it is |
|---|---|
| High-3 | Average of your highest 36 consecutive months of basic pay |
| Service | Years and months of creditable service, plus unused sick leave |
| Multiplier | 1.0%, or 1.1% at age 62 with 20+ years |
Basic pay includes locality — which is why locality is the only geographic adjustment that builds a pension, and why allowances such as non-foreign COLA and overseas post allowances do not. Overtime, awards and differentials are excluded too. The high-3 strategy guide covers how to position those 36 months.
III The 1.1 percent threshold
The multiplier is 1.0 percent unless you retire at age 62 or later with at least 20 years of creditable service, in which case it is 1.1 percent. Both conditions, not either.
What ten percent looks like
A $120,000 high-3 with 30 years of service.
At 1.1 percent: $39,600 a year.
A difference of $3,600 every year for the rest of your life, and across a 25-year retirement roughly $90,000 before any COLA. Someone retiring at 61 years and 10 months with 30 years of service leaves that on the table for the sake of two months.
IV Sick leave, and what it cannot do
Unused sick leave converts to creditable service at 2,087 hours per year and increases the annuity.
What it cannot do is establish eligibility. You cannot use sick leave to meet the 30-year, 20-year or 5-year service requirements. It makes the pension bigger; it never makes you eligible sooner.
That distinction matters when someone plans a retirement date around a service milestone — the milestone is measured on actual service, and the sick leave is added afterwards. See sick leave strategy.
V The MRA+10 reduction
Three paths give an immediate unreduced annuity: MRA with 30 years, age 60 with 20, or age 62 with 5.
Retiring at your MRA with at least 10 but fewer than 30 years produces an immediate annuity reduced by 5 percent for each year under 62 — roughly 0.4167 percent per month.
The reduction applies “unless you have 20 years of service and your benefit starts when you reach age 60 or later.” That clause is frequently missed, and it is the difference between a permanent cut and none. Note also that MRA+10 retirees receive no FERS supplement — nor do deferred or postponed retirees. Retiring at 57 under MRA+10 is a 25 percent reduction for life, not until 62.
| Year of birth | MRA |
|---|---|
| Before 1948 | 55 |
| 1948–1952 | 55, rising 2 months per year |
| 1953–1964 | 56 |
| 1965–1969 | 56, rising 2 months per year |
| 1970 and after | 57 |
Frequently asked questions
High-3 average salary multiplied by years of creditable service multiplied by a multiplier. The multiplier is 1.0 percent in most cases. It rises to 1.1 percent only if you retire at age 62 or later with at least 20 years of creditable service. That tenth of a percentage point raises the whole annuity by 10 percent, permanently, which is why the combination of age 62 and 20 years is the single most valuable threshold in FERS retirement planning.
The average of your highest 36 consecutive months of basic pay. Basic pay includes locality pay, because locality is part of basic pay, but excludes overtime, awards, and allowances such as non-foreign COLA or overseas post allowances. The 36 months do not have to be your final three years, though for most people they are, which is why a downgrade or a move to a lower locality area late in a career has an effect well beyond the immediate paycheque.
Yes, for the annuity computation. Unused sick leave converts to creditable service at retirement at a rate of 2,087 hours per year. What it cannot do is establish eligibility: you cannot use sick leave to meet the 30-year, 20-year or 5-year service requirements. So it increases the size of your annuity but never the date on which you become eligible to retire, and that distinction catches people planning a retirement date around a service milestone.
Three standard paths give an immediate unreduced annuity: your Minimum Retirement Age with 30 years of service, age 60 with 20 years, or age 62 with 5 years. Your MRA depends on your birth year and ranges from 55 to 57 — it is 56 for anyone born between 1953 and 1964, and 57 for anyone born in 1970 or later, with two-month steps in between.
If you retire at your MRA with at least 10 but fewer than 30 years of service, the annuity is reduced by 5 percent for each year you are under age 62 — about 0.4167 percent per month. There is an important exception in OPM's own wording: the reduction does not apply if you have 20 years of service and your benefit starts when you reach age 60 or later. Retiring at 57 under MRA+10 means a 25 percent reduction for life, not a temporary one, and MRA+10 retirees also receive no FERS supplement.
A full survivor annuity pays your spouse 50 percent of your pension for life and reduces your own annuity by 10 percent. A partial election pays 25 percent and reduces yours by 5 percent. The reduction looks like the whole decision but it is not, because a surviving spouse cannot continue FEHB coverage unless they are receiving a survivor annuity. The health coverage consequence usually outweighs the arithmetic.
No. This estimator computes the basic annuity only. The special retirement supplement is a separate payment for those who retire on an immediate unreduced annuity before age 62, and it ends at 62 regardless of when you claim Social Security. Several routes are excluded from it entirely, including MRA+10 retirements, deferred retirements and postponed retirements. It also carries an earnings test that reduces the benefit by $1 for every $2 earned above the annual exempt amount.
It is a planning figure, not an entitlement. It applies the standard formula to the numbers you enter and does not model special provisions for law enforcement officers, firefighters or air traffic controllers, who use a 1.7 percent multiplier for their first 20 years. It also does not model deposits or redeposits for military or civilian service, court-ordered apportionment, or your specific service computation date. Your agency and OPM produce the binding figure.