Q. I have been a FERS employee since 1991. I heard that if I stay for about 42 years, my retirement benefit will be at its highest. Is this true?
A. While it’s true that the earned annuity of CSRS employees reaches the upper limit of 80 percent of their high-3 when they has 41 years and 11 months of service, no upper limit was established for FERS employees.
That’s because they would have to work for over 67 years to be entitled to the same amount. FYI: If you worked for 42 years (and were at least 60 years old), your earned annuity would be 46.2 percent of your high-3. Including unused sick leave, it would be even higher.
