How do you achieve retirement dreams and get an income that you can’t outlive in retirement? Micah is flying solo in today’s podcast to answer...
Read MoreHow do you achieve retirement dreams and get an income that you can’t outlive in retirement? Micah is flying solo in today’s podcast to answer...
Read MoreWhen we talk about your FERS Retirement, we’re really talking about several different benefits. FERS (Federal Employees Retirement System) has three main components: Basic FERS...
Read MoreSpecial Benefit for Some FERS Who Retire Before Age 62 Have you heard about the FERS Supplement? It’s an important benefit for FERS planning to...
Read MoreFERS retirement benefits are complex. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all of the details. But it’s important to remember that federal benefits are just...
Read MoreOne of the most frequent questions that we receive from FERS Employees is how do they apply for the FERS Supplement.
If you searched online for hours, going deep into the 3rd or even 4th pages of Google and other search engines, and have not been able to find out how do not worry. We are going to help.
As a FERS Employee, you may be eligible to receive the FERS Supplement. The Supplement is additional, monthly, fixed income. It begins at your retirement and lasts until you have reached age 62.
At age 62 you first become eligible to receive social security benefits so the Supplement will stop. However, just because you are eligible to receive your social security benefits when your Supplement stops, that does not necessarily mean that you should apply for social security at age 62.
If you start social security at age 62 you will do so at a permanently reduced rate versus if you had waited until you reached your Full Retirement Age (FRA) or older.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) calculates your FERS Supplement.
When you go to retire, if you do so before you have reached age 62 and you are eligible for the FERS Supplement, then OPM will calculate your Supplement income based off a portion of your age 62 social security benefit. The calculation is done based on your age 62 social security benefit, not your social security benefit when you reach your Full Retirement Age (FRA).
Actually, you do not apply for your FERS Supplement.
There is no website or online application to apply for the FERS Supplement.
If you are eligible to receive the FERS Supplement in retirement than you will receive the allotment automatically. You do not have to “apply”.
Likewise, you do not have to cancel or stop your FERS Supplement at age 62. That will cease when you reach age 62 automatically as well.
However, once you retire you may want to confirm that OPM has your particular file flagged as eligible for the FERS Supplement.
When you retire from Federal Service, you will receive a small retirement booklet in the mail.
The booklet looks like a piece of junk mail; we cannot tell you how many people throw out their retirement benefits booklet confirming their FERS Retirement information from OPM because they mistook for nothing of consequence.
Contained with your FERS Retirement booklet from OPM you will see confirmation of your eligibility to receive the FERS Supplement. The OPM mails you the booklet after they finalize your retirement, a process called certifying your retirement.
On average it takes OPM around 3-9 months to process FERS Retirement files.
The booklet contains all of the information about your retirement to verify its accuracy. You will see your gross, net pension as well as all of the deductions and survivor benefits. Additionally, you will see your FERS Supplement verification.
You have a limited amount of time after you have retired from the Federal Government to ensure the accuracy of your FERS information. To verify that you will receive the FERS Supplement, review your Retiree benefits booklet that OPM has sent you via post.
“Is there a way, I can find out how much I will receive at retirement and when I can collect? I worked 24 years, but I don’t know my high
“The question is the following: My wife and I are both federal employees. I will retire before her. Upon my death, she will receive a survivor annuity (50% of my
“From my understanding, those military retirees who are getting a military retirement aren’t eligible for the FERS Supplement. If I’m incorrect someone please let me know.” – Golfnut.
“I worked from 2010 to 2013 at VA Hospital. I quit/and then I work back in 2018 until now. My question is are those 3 years that I work before
Get the most out of your federal retirement benefits by taking advantage of the FERS resources created by Micah Shilanski, CFP®, and the team of independent financial advisors at Shilanski & Associates, Inc. Join the thousands of federal employees who trust us to guide them in their retirement planning journey because of our unique perspective of how your FERS benefits contribute to your comprehensive financial plan.
Year after year I see Federal Employees missing the same critical concepts in their federal retirement planning. That’s why I’ve created an online workshop to help educate Federal Employees on these critical concepts.
If you are a Financial Advisor looking to work with Federal Employees,
we are always looking for Advisors that want to deliver massive value to clients.
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7 CLASSIC RETIREMENT MISTAKES Federal Employees Make
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7 CLASSIC RETIREMENT MISTAKES Federal Employees Make
Your privacy is our top priority, and we promise to keep your email safe! For more information, please see our privacy policy.