Current Employees

• I don't know where my Human Resources office is and I need help figuring out if I'm in the right retirement plan. What should I do? View more

  Many employees do not actually work near their Human Resources office. If you don't know who to contact, find the benefits counselor for your agency at www.apps.opm.gov/abo. Your agency's benefits counselor can help you find the office in your agency that has your employment records and can review your retirement coverage. Please note that neither OPM or the FERCCA Hotline has your employment history and won't be able to tell you if you are in the right retirement plan.

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• I just returned to work for the government and received a term appointment. I was put under Social Security only (FICA) for my retirement coverage. Since I previously had over 15 years of service under CSRS, shouldn't my retirement coverage be CSRS or CSRS Offset? View more

  No. Term appointments are excluded from CSRS or CSRS Offset retirement coverage. Individuals who receive a term appointment and who are not automatically covered by FERS are covered by FICA (Social Security) with the option to elect FERS coverage. Since you previously had over 15 years of CSRS service, you are not automatically covered under FERS. You coverage should be FICA. If you don't elect FERS coverage, and then later convert to an appointment not excluded from CSRS (a career appointment, for example), you would then be covered under CSRS or CSRS Offset depending on when you last worked as a CSRS employee.

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• If an employee elected FERS coverage, or was correctly covered automatically under FERS, can the individual ever have CSRS or CSRS Offset coverage again? View more

  No. Once an employee is correctly placed under FERS (except those employees who were erroneously put in CSRS/Offset and were already corrected to FERS), the individual will always have FERS coverage in the future, unless excluded from retirement coverage because of the nature of the appointment.

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• I should have been CSRS. Instead, I paid into Social Security. What happens to the Social Security taxes I paid when my agency corrects my retirement coverage to CSRS? View more

  Except for the last 3 years, the money you erroneously paid into Social Security will remain to your credit in the Social Security fund. The Social Security Administration will include all but those last 3 years in determining your eligibility for, and the amount of, future benefits.

  The amount you paid into Social Security for the last 3 years will be transferred to your account in the Civil Service Retirement fund. Your employing agency will pay all additional retirement contributions owed for your CSRS time. It may not go back and bill you for additional retirement deductions when it corrects the error.

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• I'm ready to retire. My agency told me that I'm in the wrong retirement plan, but under FERCCA I can choose whether I want to stay where I am. They're leaving me in my current retirement plan until I choose. What retirement application do I complete? View more
  Complete the retirement application for the plan you're in now. Make your decisions about survivor benefits, life insurance, paying a deposit, and others based on your current retirement coverage. Your agency will flag your retirement package to alert OPM that you fall under FERCCA. You will receive detailed information about your retirement options. If you decide to change retirement plans, we will ask you to complete a new application for retirement and make all new elections.
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• I'm ready to retire. Because of a coverage error, I'll be able to choose whether I want CSRS Offset or FERS retirement coverage. I hadn't planned to waive my military retired pay under FERS. Under CSRS Offset, giving up my military retired pay to get credit for my military service would make a big difference in my CSRS retirement. If I retire now under FERS and later choose CSRS Offset, can I go back and waive my military retired pay? View more

  You'll be able to make all new elections, if you choose CSRS Offset coverage. If you decide to waive your military retired pay, you will be able to waive it back to your retirement date. Also, you'll have an opportunity to pay the military deposit. Since you owed a FERS military deposit when you were in FERS and would owe a larger CSRS deposit if you choose CSRS Offset coverage, you can take an actuarial reduction in your annuity instead of paying the CSRS military deposit. The actuarial reduction is based on the amount of military deposit you owe and your age at retirement.

  Before you're asked to choose retirement plans, OPM will give you information about your benefits under both CSRS Offset and FERS. They will tell you how much your military deposit is under both. They will also explain how payment of a military deposit and the actuarial reduction will affect your benefit.

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• I have always had CSRS coverage. Now my agency tells me that when I returned to work in 1988, I should have had both CSRS and Social Security coverage, as a CSRS Offset employee. I'm 62 now and ready to retire. How will this error affect my benefits? View more
  When you retire, OPM will compute your CSRS Offset benefit under the same rules that apply to other CSRS retirees. But, because you are now eligible for Social Security benefits, OPM will reduce your benefit. This reduction is based on the value of the Social Security benefit you earned during your CSRS Offset service. In other words, instead of getting one check from OPM for all of your Federal service, some of the payment will come from the Social Security Administration.
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• I was put in FERS by mistake. When my agency discovered the error, they let me choose whether I wanted to stay in FERS. Do I get another choice under FERCCA? View more

  No, you don't get a second choice.

  Certain employees who were put in FERS by mistake could choose to stay in FERS when the agency discovered the error. If they declined FERS, the agency placed them in the correct retirement plan (CSRS, CSRS Offset, or Social Security only). If you already had this opportunity to choose between FERS and CSRS, CSRS Offset, or Social Security only; then FERCCA does not give you an opportunity to change your decision.

  FERCCA may help you, however. If you worked for the Government before you came under a retirement plan, you may be able to get retirement credit for that service by taking an actuarial reduction in your retirement benefit instead of having to pay a deposit. The same may be true for any military service you have. See the questions under the heading

  
  Service Credit for more information.

   

  Also, if you were in FERS for at least 3 years of service before your agency gave you an opportunity to stay in FERS or have your records corrected, OPM may compensate you for any out-of-pocket expenses you incurred because of the error. See the questions under the heading Out of Pocket Expenses for more information.

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• I was in CSRS Offset. That was a mistake. I belonged in FERS. My agency corrected my retirement coverage to FERS a while ago. Under FERCCA, I can choose between FERS and CSRS Offset. If I choose CSRS Offset, the deposit I owe for the time I worked before I came under a retirement plan will be a lot greater than what I owe under FERS. Can I get credit for that time by taking an actuarial reduction? View more

  Yes, if you choose CSRS Offset coverage, you can get credit for that deposit service by taking an actuarial reduction. That's because the nature of the service changes from FERS to CSRS time when you elect CSRS Offset coverage. If you remain in FERS, you will have to pay a FERS deposit before you can get credit for the service time. You would not be eligible for the actuarial reduction

  Before you're asked to choose retirement plans, OPM will give you information about your benefits under both CSRS Offset and FERS. They will tell you how much you owe under both. They will also explain how payment of a deposit and the actuarial reduction will affect your benefit.

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• What kind of out-of-pocket expenses will OPM reimburse? View more

  OPM will reimburse out-of-pocket expenses such as payments of additional Social Security taxes, payment of additional retirement deductions, and other out-of-pocket expenses that you incurred because of a retirement coverage error.

  OPM cannot pay you for claimed losses related to lost investment opportunities. Claimed losses related to forgone contributions and earnings under the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) won't be paid as out-of-pocket expenses. Lost earnings on make-up contributions to the TSP will be paid directly to your TSP account by your employing agency.

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