Retirement FAQs

You can cancel or decrease your coverage at any time. You cannot increase your coverage.

The U.S. Department of Labor calculates the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for urban wage earners and clerical workers from the third quarter average of the previous year to the third quarter average for the current year. For Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or Organization and Disability Retirement System (ORDS) benefits, the increase percentage is applied to your monthly benefit amount before any deductions, and is rounded down to the next whole dollar. For Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) or FERS Special benefits, if the increase in the CPI is 2 percent or less, the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) is equal to the CPI increase. If the CPI increase is more than 2 percent but no more than 3 percent, the Cost-of-Living Adjustment is 2 percent. If the CPI increase is more than 3 percent, the adjustment is 1 percent less than the CPI increase. The new amount is rounded down to the next whole dollar. To get the full COLA, a retiree or survivor annuitant must have been in receipt of payment for a full year. If not, the increase is prorated under both plans. Prorated accounts receive one-twelfth of the increase for each month they received benefits. Cost-of-Living Adjustments were first prorated in April 1982. Adjustments to benefits for children are never prorated. Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and FERS Special Cost-of-Living Adjustments are not provided until age 62, except for disability, survivor benefits, and other special provision retirements. FERS disability retirees get the adjustment, except when they are receiving a disability annuity based on 60 percent of their high-3 average salary. Also, under FERS, if you have a CSRS component, the component is subject to the CSRS COLA calculation. Note: A benefit will not be increased if it would cause the annuitant to receive payments in excess of any cap amount specified by law.

Send your request by e-mail to screceipts@opm.gov and a response will be returned by e-mail.  Be sure to include your name, date of birth and CSD Claim Number.

If you want to waive your military retired pay to receive credit for military service in the computation of your benefit, you should write the Retired Pay Operations Center at least 60 days before your planned retirement.  Send your waiver to: Defense Finance and Accounting Service U.S. Military Retirement Pay P.O. Box 7130 London, KY 40742-7130 You can "fax" your request to 1 (888) 469-6559. Suggested wording for your request is as follows: "I (full name and military serial number) hereby waive my military retired pay for Civil Service Retirement/Federal Employees Retirement System purposes effective (the day before your annuity begins). I hereby authorize the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to withhold from my CSRS or FERS annuity any amount of military retired pay granted beyond the effective date of this waiver due to any delay in receiving or processing this request."

• The benefit is not reduced if it begins after your 60th birthday and you have at least 20 years of service or you reach the Minimum Retirement Age and have 30 years of service. Delay of the benefit can be used to avoid all or part of the reduction for retirement before age 62 that would otherwise have been applied.
• Your life insurance enrollment will stop until the annuity begins. Once the annuity begins, the life insurance coverage you had when you stopped working will resume if you are eligible.
• Your health benefits can be temporarily continued under the Temporary Continuation of Coverage for 18 months. You must pay the full cost of coverage, including both the employee and government shares, plus a two percent administrative charge. Your employer will collect the premiums and maintain this coverage.
• When your payments begin, if you are otherwise eligible to continue coverage, you can again enroll in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program and we will pay the government share of the premiums.
• If you do not file an application before your death, the rights of your surviving family members would be protected because you would be considered a retiree.

This list shows the possible withholdings from or adjustments to your CSRS or FERS annuity payment. The list provides a description of the withholdings or adjustments and the code that is used for listing them on your annuity adjustment notice. However, it does not include the enrollment codes for plans under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program. See our web pages at http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/index.asp to obtain information about health insurance benefits online.

OPM takes the following steps to process your claim for retirement benefits.

• Obtains missing information from your retirement documents;
• Determines your eligibility for an annuity and continued health and life insurance coverages;
• Computes the amount of your annuity;
• Sends you materials concerning:
  • your survivor benefit election;
  • the alternative form of annuity;
  • rollover to an IRA; or,
  • if you are a FERS MRA+10 retiree, your annuity commencing date.
• Authorizes your annuity payment by the Department of the Treasury; and
• Sends you an annuity statement.

A court order following annulment of marriage, legal separation, or divorce can divide or apportion your annuity. The order must expressly direct OPM to pay a portion of your monthly benefit. The spouse's share must be stated as a fixed amount, a percentage or fraction of your annuity, or by a formula with a readily apparent value. The amount cannot exceed the money payable to you after deductions for taxes and insurance. A court order may provide for payment of all or part of a refund of your retirement contributions. It may also block the refund payment, but only if the order directs us not to pay the refund and grants a survivor annuity or a portion of your annuity to a legally separated current spouse or former spouse.

Contact your agency’s Benefits Officer.  A complete list of Benefits Officers by agency can be found at http://apps.opm.gov/abo/.

Your retirement contributions are not taxable, but interest included in the payment is taxable. You should contact the Internal Revenue Service for additional tax information.

Yes. If your disability benefit stopped because you were found recovered either medically or administratively, your benefit can resume only if the disability recurs and you do not exceed the 80 percent earnings limitation. If your disability benefit stopped merely because you exceeded the earnings limitation, your benefit can resume effective the first of the year after you no longer exceed the 80 percent earnings limit.

You should contact the Social Security Administration at least three months before your 65th birthday to apply for benefits. The Social Security Administration will have records pertaining to your eligibility for Medicare coverage.  If they do not, and you or your employer need to get a statement of your earnings for this purpose, you can write to: General Services Administration National Personnel Records Center Civilian Personnel Records 111 Winnebago Street St. Louis, Missouri 63118 You should provide the following information in your request:

• your name, as shown on your payroll records;
• date of birth;
• Social Security Number;
• mailing address;
• years for which earnings are needed;
• name and location of employer for each year;
• reason for request;
• written signature; and,
• a statement that all other sources of information have been exhausted.

If you are leaving your Federal job and want a refund of your retirement contributions, you can get an application from your personnel office, complete it, and return it to them. If you are no longer in the Federal service, you can acquire the appropriate application from our website. The applications are shown below:

• "Application for Refund of Retirement Deductions (CSRS)," Standard Form (SF) 2802
• "Application for Refund of Retirement Deductions (FERS), " Standard Form (SF) 3106 (The SF-3106A, "Current/Former Spouse's Notification of Application for Refund of Retirement Deductions under FERS," is included with this form.)

If you are still working, submit your application to your servicing personnel office. If you have left Federal service, submit your application to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Generally, since your coverage under these programs effectively ended when you left Federal service, you cannot continue the coverage into retirement when you receive a deferred annuity.