Frequently Asked Questions Retirement

If you are the surviving spouse of a deceased retiree, recurring monthly payments may be made to you if your spouse elected a reduced annuity to provide the benefit. To qualify for the monthly benefit, you must have been married to the retiree for at least nine months. A survivor annuity may still be payable if the retiree's death occurred before nine months if the death was accidental or there was a child born of your marriage to the retiree.

A court order awarding a former spouse a survivor annuity may prevent us from paying you the portion of the annuity awarded under the court order. However, if otherwise eligible, you may receive the complete annuity if the former spouse loses eligibility for benefits.

Read about survivor benefit elections.

If no survivor annuity is payable upon the retiree's death, any remaining portion, representing either the remaining annuity and/or retirement contributions not paid to the retiree, is payable to the person(s) eligible under the order of precedence.

See how the amount of the monthly survivor benefit is determined.

No unused sick leave can be used in the computation of the Phased Retirement annuity.  However, at full retirement the unused sick leave will be taken into account.  While the computational provisions are somewhat complex, the value of the sick leave in that computation will be the same as for an individual retiring from a full-time position.

For more information regarding Federal income taxes, visit the IRS website at www.irs.gov or call the IRS on 1-800-829-1040.

If your employer sends us your retirement records electronically, via the Data Exchange Gateway (DEG), your account information for direct deposit will be sent to us automatically.  No further action from you is required. Otherwise, include your request to receive your payments by direct deposit with your retirement package.  You can do this by submitting a letter or a Standard Form (SF) 1199A with your application.  You must get the SF 1199A, Direct Deposit Sign-Up Form, from your financial institution.

Direct deposit is available to retirees residing in Canada but, generally, it is not available to those whose permanent address for receiving payments is outside the United States. However, retirees living outside the U.S. can arrange to have their payments electronically deposited in a U.S. bank.

When OPM receives your retirement application from your Agency, we mail you a Welcome Letter, along with a retirement card, which contains your CSA number.  It's a seven digit number and will be included on all correspondences from OPM. 

If you are a survivor, OPM will issue you a CSF number after we process the notification of death.  It, too, is a seven digit number and will be included on all correspondences from OPM. 

We will mail you a password which will give you access to your annuity online at Services OnLine.  You'll need your CSA (or CSF) and password in order to access the site. 

Remember:  When logging onto Services OnLine, follow the tips for entering your claim number in the logon box.

Retiree: If you are a retiree, the first letter you type in the claim number box is capital “A”, type your 7 digit claim number, then type in a zero.
Example: A12345670

Survivor: The first letter you type into the claim number box is capital “F”, type your 7 digit claim number, then type in a “W”.
Example: F1234567W

You should call us at (202) 606-0222. If we do not have a court order for child support, alimony, or bankruptcy, you can send a facsimile to us at (202) 606-7958 when a garnishment is involved. We need a certified copy of the court order and other supporting documents when an apportionment or survivor annuity is involved.

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.

Services Online is our online tool for annuitants.  You will need your CSA or CSF number and a password.  If this is your first time using Services Online, you will need to setup your personal security questions. 

Using Services Online, you can:

• View and print your annuity statement
• Start or change direct deposit and/or change financial institutions
• Start or change Federal Income Tax withholding
• Update your mailing address
• Update your email address