Q: If offered an early out by an agency, which presumably would allow for the special supplement to apply (the Office of Personnel Management website only says you “may” be entitled to), how is that computed? From what I read on the OPM website, the base amount figured on a 40 year pay into Social Security divided into the number of years of Federal Employees Retirement System service (in my case 24/40). Does the base figure assume I paid into Social Security up through 62 years of age (even though I haven’t); or the figure what I actually have paid into Social Security, say through my minimum retirement age? No one in my human resources office or OPM seems to know for sure?
A: You’ll find the methodology for computing the special retirement supplement
in OPM’s Civil Service Retirement System and FERS Handbook for Personnel and Payroll Offices. Go to http://opm.gov/retire/pubs/handbook/C051.pdf and scroll down to Part 51A2