Q. I am a 62-year-old federal police officer. I have over 33 years of combined military and civilian time. I have an adjusted service computation date of Jan. 4, 1978, and I have FICA, CSRS (partial) and FERS offset.
Promotions and upward mobility are few and far between in my job series, not to mention reaching a “high- 3.” I am contemplating retirement. However, since we no longer have a local human resources department to assist us, I am writing to ask if you can advise me.
A. It doesn’t make any difference what level of income is used, the formulas for calculating federal employee annuities are the same. For CSRS the formula is:
.015 x your high-3 x 5 years of service, plus
.0175 x your high-3 x 5 years of service, plus
.02 x your high-3 x all remaining years and full months of service
For FERS, the formula is:
.01 x your high-3 x all years and full months of service
(.011 if you retire at age 62 or later with at least 20 years of service)
Since you have both CSRS and FERS service, you’d do two calculations and add the results together. If you made a deposit to get credit for your active duty service, you’d be done. If you didn’t make a deposit, you’d get credit for the time in determining your eligibility to retire.
However, your annuity would be reduced actuarially by the amount you owe and your age when you retire.
