As a federal employee, your retirement benefits are based on three primary components: your pension, Social Security, and your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). But did you know there’s an additional benefit you might be eligible for between retirement and 62? It’s called the FERS Supplement. If you’re curious about how to qualify for this benefit, this article will help you understand the key details.
What Is the FERS Supplement?
The FERS Supplement is a bridge benefit designed to provide extra income for eligible federal employees who retire before they are eligible for Social Security at age 62. The supplement helps fill the income gap for retirees until they are eligible to start collecting Social Security.
Understanding FERS Supplement Eligibility
To qualify for the FERS Supplement, you must retire with the eligibility for an immediate pension under FERS. This generally means you need to meet one of the following criteria:
- Reach your MRA with at least 30 years of federal service.
- Be age 60 with at least 20 years of federal service.
However, there is an exception if you retire under an early out scenario, a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA).
Early Out Retirement and FERS Supplement
If you retired under an early out, which is typically offered by an agency during a reduction in force, the rules change slightly:
- You can retire with at least 25 years of service at any age, or
- Retire at age 50 with at least 20 years of service.
Typically, the supplement would begin the month after reaching your MRA, and it should appear in your pension check.
Why You Might Not Receive the Supplement
If you believe you’re eligible for the FERS Supplement but haven’t received it, it’s important to contact OPM as soon as possible. There have been instances where retirees needed to manually activate their supplement, particularly if there were any complications with their retirement processing.
Conclusion
The FERS Supplement can be a valuable benefit for those who retire before reaching Social Security eligibility. Understanding the rules and ensuring eligibility can help you maximize your retirement income. If you have questions about your specific situation, don’t hesitate to contact OPM or consult a retirement planning expert.
If you have questions like Karen’s, feel free to reach out to us. We’re here to help you navigate the complexities of federal retirement. Until next time, happy planning!
Micah Shilanski 00:02
Your benefits as a federal employee was based on three things, your pension, Social Security and your TSP. But have you ever wondered how to get that FERS supplement, that extra payment you might be eligible for from when you retire to 62. If so, then stay tuned for this FERS, Federal Fact Check. Hi, I’m Micah Shilanski, and welcome to this FERS Federal Fact Check. I’m excited today to talk to you about the FERS supplement and a little sad at the same time, and you’re going to understand why just a second, but the FERS supplement is a great benefit that you get. We get a lot of questions that come in on this, do let’s read Karen’s question. Karen writes in and says, I’ve retired from the Social Security Administration with 25 years of service at any age in 2014. I was told that to be eligible for the supplement when I reached my MRA at 56 and 6 months, which is middle of summer this year, I have not received or heard anything from OPM, I’m just trying to verify that I’m eligible. Karen, that is a great question, now several things that we have to think about that I don’t know in here, so I’m going to give you some potentially a bad outcome of this, potentially a good outcome of this, and I just don’t know based on your situation. But let’s start with understanding what are the rules regarding the FERS supplement? For a FERS supplement, you must retire with the eligibility of an immediate pension, for FERSwhat is that. That’s going to be your MRA, meeting your Minimum Retirement Age and 30 years of federal service, or being age 60 and having 20 years of federal service or, oh, actually, that’s about it, because at 62 it doesn’t really matter, right? So these are the requirements you retire with the eligibility of an immediate pension. But you mentioned some interesting terminology in there that you retired with 25 you had any age and 25 years of federal service if you went out under a reduction in force, right an early out opportunity that said, hey, if you had 25 years, and regardless of your age, or you were age 50 and had 20 years of service for an early out this is now a little different. Under an early out scenario, if you separated at that time, you would be eligible for the FERS supplement once you reach your MRA. Karen, based on your comments, it kind of feels like that’s how you went out, but let’s be clear on what an early out is. This wasn’t a, hey, I’m going to leave the federal government, therefore it’s an early out, right? This has to be something offered by your agency that you took advantage of at that time in order to avoid what’s called a deferred retirement, we had a lot of different videos on deferred retirement, but if this was an early out, this was the, hey, they’re doing a reduction in force, they’re giving you this opportunity, you met the criteria, then yes, you could separate it at any age, you could then wait, because that was 2014, and analysis 10 years later, right? You could then wait that 10 years, and then you could turn on that, you would have your pension the entire time, and now you’d be eligible for the supplement. If that’s the case, you should be reaching out to OPM. I would expect to receive it the month you reached your MRA, the month following you reached your MRAs, I expect that to show up in the check. If that didn’t happen, you do have to reach out. This has been there’s only a couple times I’ve had to reach out to OPM regarding the FERS supplement, but this was one of them, had a client go out on an early out 4 months before he was eligible go out on his full retirement, he went out as early out as early out 4 months had passed his pension was still an interim at that time. It was finally adjudicated and finalized, but he didn’t get a supplement, we had to go back and get him a supplement turned on, so, Karen, you do want to follow up right away. Now if unfortunately the situation, let’s kind of rewind the clock and say you are 46 years old at the time, and you had 25 years, oh, that’s 55 my apology, you had 25 years of federal service, and you stop working, this is not an immediate retirement. This is now under a deferred retirement. You’re vested for your pension of 25 years, but you’re not eligible for a FERS supplement, because you went out under a not immediate retirement. So to be really depending upon your question, a little bit about your rules, the age point, 25 years at at 46 that’s definitely pretty young, getting those years in there and doing it, so some things to ask, make sure you have that real credible service for your time, make sure you’re under that early out, and then you are probably eligible for this FERS supplement, so I absolutely follow the OPM. If you have questions like this, then go ahead and leave us a comment, smash that like button. Our goal is to help another 1 million federal employees with their retirement, we can’t do that without your help, so share this information, and if you have questions like these, then go ahead and submit them, and you could be featured in the next FERS Federal Fact Check. Till next time, Happy Planning!