Q: I switched over to the Federal Employees Retirement System in 1986, with less than five years of service, and I withdrew my money from the Civil Service Retirement System, but not all of it. What happened to the money that I did not receive?
A: You were automatically covered by FERS because you had fewer than five years of CSRS service, so that time was automatically converted to FERS service. Since the retirement deductions needed to pay for FERS service were less than those for CSRS, what you received was a refund of the difference.