FERS Retirement Calculator

This calculator estimates the FERS basic annuity for a regular, non-disability retirement. Enter your date of birth, your planned retirement date, your creditable service, your unused sick leave and your High-3 average salary. It applies OPM's eligibility rules, the 1% or 1.1% multiplier, the MRA+10 age reduction and the cost of a survivor annuity.

How is the FERS basic annuity calculated?

Your annual FERS annuity is your High-3 average salary times your years and months of creditable service times 1%. If you retire at 62 or older with at least 20 years of service, the multiplier is 1.1% instead. Unused sick leave is added to service for the calculation, and leftover days below a full month are dropped.

Two reductions can follow. Retiring under the MRA+10 rule reduces the annuity by 5/12 of 1% for each full month you are under 62 when payments start — 5% a year. Electing a survivor annuity reduces it again: 10% for a full survivor benefit (50% of your annuity) or 5% for a partial one (25%).

Worked example: age 62 with 25 years of service

An employee born March 15, 1964 who retires March 31, 2026 with 25 years of service and a High-3 of $90,000 qualifies for the 1.1% multiplier. The annual annuity is $24,750 before any survivor election, $22,275 with a full survivor annuity and $23,512.50 with a partial one.

When can I retire under FERS?

FERS pays an immediate annuity at age 62 with 5 years of service, at 60 with 20 years, at your minimum retirement age (MRA) with 30 years, or at your MRA with 10 years at a reduced rate. Your MRA is 55 to 57 depending on your birth year; it is 57 for anyone born in 1970 or later.

Early retirement during a reorganization or reduction in force, disability retirement and deferred retirement after leaving federal service follow separate rules. This calculator covers the four immediate retirement types above; the others are named in the result when your inputs point to them, without an estimate.

How does unused sick leave raise my annuity?

Every 2,087 hours of unused sick leave adds one year of service to the annuity calculation, and OPM converts smaller balances into months and days with its sick leave table. Sick leave never helps you qualify to retire and never raises your High-3; it only lengthens the service used in the formula.

OPM's table treats a year as 360 days, so one day of credit equals about 5.8 hours and one month about 174 hours. For example, 835 hours converts to 4 months and 24 days. If those 24 days push your total past a full month, you gain a month of credit; if not, the extra days are dropped.

Sick leave can also decide the multiplier. OPM confirmed in Benefits Administration Letter 18-103 that a retiree who is 62 or older and reaches 20 years only when sick leave is added still receives 1.1%. The calculator applies that rule; our example inputs with 19 years 6 months plus 1,100 hours land exactly at 20 years.

What does the MRA+10 reduction cost?

The MRA+10 reduction cuts your annuity by 5% for each year you are under 62 when payments begin, counted in full months. If you have at least 20 years of service, starting payments at 60 or later removes the reduction entirely. Postponing the start date to 62 removes it at any service length.

Take an employee born May 1, 1968, who leaves on January 1, 2025 at 56 years and 8 months with 21 years 8 months of service, 1,000 hours of sick leave and a High-3 of $95,000. Starting payments right away, the annuity is $15,384.72 a year after a 26.67% reduction. Postponing the start to age 60 gives $20,979.17 a year with no reduction, because the service is over 20 years.

Same inputs, three retirement dates

For the same employee — High-3 of $95,000 and 1,000 hours of sick leave — working longer raises the annuity three ways: more service, no age reduction, and at 62 the 1.1% multiplier. Retiring at 56 years 8 months, at 60 or at 62 produces three very different yearly figures, as the table shows.

Your own comparison appears under the result after you enter your inputs. The figures are before taxes, health and life insurance premiums, and any survivor reduction. Retiring before 62 under MRA+30 or 60+20 may also add the FERS supplement, which this table does not include.

Does my FERS annuity get a cost-of-living adjustment?

Most FERS retirees receive no annuity COLA until they reach 62; after that, the FERS COLA is reduced when inflation is above 2%. For 2027, eligible FERS annuities rise 2.6% while CSRS annuities rise 3.6%. Disability retirees, survivors and special-provision retirees receive the FERS COLA regardless of age.

The calculator shows your first-year annuity only and does not project future COLAs. The 2027 COLA figures come from the Congressional Research Service report on civil service COLAs dated October 14, 2026.

What this calculator leaves out

The estimate covers regular FERS retirements. It does not compute disability annuities, special-provision retirements for law enforcement officers, firefighters and air traffic controllers, the CSRS component for employees who transferred from CSRS, part-time service proration, unpaid deposits for military or non-deduction service, or tax withholding.

For any of those, the estimate will be off, and your agency's retirement counselor or an OPM annuity estimate is the right source. This site only applies published formulas; it does not suggest which retirement date or survivor option suits you.

Printed from https://knowyourpension.org/fers-retirement-calculator/ · Last updated October 29, 2026 · Independent reference. Not affiliated with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management or any federal agency. Estimates only — your official figures come from your agency, your SF-50 and OPM.