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    Contact Retirement Retirement Information Center

    Welcome to the Retirement Info Center. We want to share information about retirement benefits for new, prospective, and current Federal employees, as well as Federal retirees and their survivors and benefits officers. Here you will find the most up-to-date information on changes, events, and other issues that may affect your Federal retirement benefits.

    Often, we will link to other pages on the official Website so that you can easily find updated information.

    As Federal annuitants, many of you are familiar with the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) as a way to support your favorite charities locally, nationally and internationally. However, when you left active government service, it may have been more difficult for you to contribute as easily.

    Last year, we introduced substantial changes to modernize the CFC program. One of those changes gave retirees and survivors the opportunity once again to have convenient options of contributing directly through the CFC, including through monthly annuities! Whether your pension comes through OPM Retirement Services or the Defense Finance and Accounting Services retiree pay, you can once again elect to make a recurring pledge to your favorite charities. If you are in the middle of transitioning from active to retiree status, you can also choose to keep your commitment and move them to another funding source.

    This year's campaign theme, Show Some Love, highlights ways Federal retirees like you give to the causes that ignite your passions. A survey conducted by the National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) Association showed that by giving retirees and survivors the option to donate through their annuities, charities could receive millions in additional support through the CFC. Last year Federal employees and retirees pledged more than $100 million in monetary pledges.

    As Federal employees and retirees, your dedication to making a difference in your communities, your country, and your world demonstrates a high degree of selflessness. If you choose to continue to participate in CFC, please take a moment to tell your CFC story to inspire others to engage as well. Your example throughout your career and into the retirement phase of your life is how you can continue to "build a more perfect union" one person at a time.

    To help those in need by making a pledge, please visit the CFC's Online Donor Pledging System.


    How You Can Contribute!

    The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), the Federal Government’s charitable giving program for employees, is seeing a lot of changes this year. Among these changes, retirees and survivors will now be able to contribute through their monthly annuities! 

    Since 1961, the CFC has raised more than $8.2 billion to help out those in need. The importance of the CFC can be seen most recently in the areas devastated by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. To assist with these hurricane victims and many more causes, more than 8,000 CFC-approved charities are there to help.    

    This year’s campaign theme, Show Some Love, will now allow Federal retirees and survivors like you to give to causes that you are passionate about. And research shows that retirees and survivors are eager and ready to give. A 2013 survey conducted by the National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) Association estimates that by allowing retirees and survivors to donate through their annuities, charities will receive approximately 600,000 additional CFC donors, with more than $130 million dollars in additional pledges, over the course of a year. 

    As a retiree or survivor, participating in the CFC has never been easier. If you want to give electronically, please visit the CFC’s new Online Donor Pledging System to sign up for an account. There, you can also search through CFC’s database of approved charities. For those wishing to submit a paper form instead, please visit the website for the zone that covers your regional campaign to download a copy of the form needed. For example, if you are in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area, the link is: cfcnca.org. To find your zone based upon your zip code, visit OPM.gov.  

    You can send your completed pledge form, along with your check (if appropriate) to:   

    CFC Processing Center
    P.O. Box 7820
    Madison, WI 53707-7820     

    Do not send cash or gift cards to the CFC. 

    For more information on the CFC and the upcoming changes this year, please check out Acting OPM Director Kathy McGettigan’s blog,


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    Investment scam artists are targeting Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) participants, warns the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Last month, four former Atlanta-area brokers were charged with fraudulently persuading Federal employees to roll over holdings from their TSP retirement accounts into higher-fee, variable annuity products. The brokers were accused of specifically targeting Federal employees nearing retirement with sizable funds invested in the TSP.

    Federal government agencies, including the SEC, do not endorse or sponsor any particular securities, issuers, products, services, professional credentials, firms, or individuals. To protect yourself against those claiming an affiliation with the Federal government, follow these tips:

    • Do not trust any contact information or a website provided by someone contacting you with an investment idea when that person claims to be affiliated with the government, the TSP, or government retirement plans.

    • Confirm that a seller is not affiliated with a government agency by contacting the agency directly or calling the SEC’s toll-free investor assistance line at (800) 732-0330.

    • Be cautious about providing personal information to anyone you do not personally know.

    Keep in mind that the TSP will never contact you by email, telephone, or mail asking you to provide sensitive personal information such as your account number, Social Security number, password, or PIN. Also, fraudsters may try to deceive investors by using the words “federal” or “government” in the name of their company, copying or imitating government emblems or seals, creating fake correspondence that looks like it is from a government agency, or sending email messages that link to a government website. 

    For more information on this fraud warning, check out the SEC’s Investor Alert and Press Release.


    OPM has recently learned of an aggressive marketing push targeting Federal annuitants. Companies are offering a cash payment in exchange for a portion, or all, of your future annuity payments generally much less than their long-term worth, and typically charging high interest rates and fees. We have specifically received numerous phone calls from one company in particular asking us to not just verify annuity amounts, but also banking information, including routing numbers and account numbers. Our suspicions were confirmed by our Inspector General’s office who discovered this company is currently under investigation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

    CFPB lists three things you can do to protect your retirement annuity:

    1. Avoid loans with high fees and interest. Pension advance companies may not always advertise their fees and interest rates, but you will certainly feel them in your bottom line. Before you sign anything, learn what you are getting and how much you are giving up.
    2. Don’t sign over control of your benefits. Companies sometimes arrange for monthly payments to be automatically deposited in a newly created bank account so the company can withdraw payments, fees and interest charges from the account. This leaves you with little control.
    3. Don’t buy life insurance that you don’t want or need. Pension advance companies sometimes require consumers to sign up for life insurance with the company as the consumer’s beneficiary. If you sign up for life insurance with the pension advance company as your beneficiary, you could end up footing the bill, whether you know it or not. Go to https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/consumer-advisory-3-pension-advance-traps-to-avoid/ for more information.

    Also feel free to report any suspected scams to OPM’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) at:

    • OIG Hotline Number:

      877-499-7295

    • Or Write To:

      OPM Office of the Inspector General

      1900 E Street NW Room #6400

      Washington, DC 20415-1100

    • Or Submit a Complaint Form:

      Hotline Complaint Form


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    Be on the Alert for an aggressive phone scam that targets Federal annuitants: The scammer claims to be an OPM employee. The scammer threatens to end the annuitant’s retirement, threatens that a “magistrate” will criminally prosecute, and demands an immediate payment. This is a government impostor scam – Do not send money.

    Any communication of this type is NOT from an OPM official. OPM will not make such calls. Scams like this one are carried out by skilled impostors, who may sound convincing. They may use real names and titles – and they may know a lot about their targets, including personally identifiable information. The scammers may alter the caller ID to make it look like OPM is calling. Scammers may also attempt to use email to “phish” for more information. Finally, these impostors may leave an “urgent” callback request.  Don’t fall for it. 

    Signs of a SCAM (and these are actions OPM does NOT do):

    1. Call to demand immediate payment.

    2. Demand that you pay a debt first before any appeal.

    3. Request that you pay using gift cards, prepaid debit or credit cards, wire transfers, Western Union, MoneyGram, or PayPal, etc.

    4. Request for credit or debit card numbers over the phone or by email.

    5. Threaten referral to a Magistrate, the police, or law enforcement.

    If you suspect the caller is an impostor:

    • Do not engage with the callers. Simply hang-up.

    • Note the date and time of the call, as well as the caller’s phone number.

    • Report it to OPM’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), https://www.opm.gov/our-inspector-general/

    For Help and to Report suspected fraud:

    1. Call the OIG Hotline: 877-499-7295.

    2. Click to report online, Hotline Complaint Form

    3. Write: OPM OIG

      1900 E Street NW, Room 6400

      Washington, DC 20415-1100

    The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a report on government impostor scams, https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0048-government-impostor-scams.  You may also report suspected fraud to the FTC at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/


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