Federal Retirement Planning Blog

Aug 21, 2026

If you retired on FERS disability and are under age 60 on December 31 of a calendar year, OPM can stop your annuity for that year if your income from wages and self-employment reaches at least 80% of the current pay for the position you held when you retired. Your earnings must stay below that 80% line. Reaching or exceeding it triggers "restoration to earning capacity" and ends the annuity.

Aug 20, 2026

A FERS service credit deposit is a payment you make to OPM, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, to buy back civilian time that was not covered by retirement contributions, so that it counts toward your pension.

Aug 19, 2026

A reemployed annuitant is a federal retiree who draws a Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) pension and, at the same time, earns a paycheck as a rehired federal employee. If you return to federal service in 2026, your FERS annuity almost always continues in full. But your new salary is reduced by the amount of that annuity for the period you work.

Aug 18, 2026

You can check your OPM retirement application status three ways: log in to OPM Retirement Services Online with your CSA number, call the OPM Retirement Information Office at 1-888-767-6738, or email retire@opm.gov. OPM, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, assigns you a Civil Service Annuity (CSA) claim number once it receives your complete package from your agency.

Aug 14, 2026

If you're a former federal employee, you can now get your SF-50 after leaving federal service through the Office of Personnel Management's new Document Request Service (DRS). It's an online portal at myopf.opm.gov that delivers a complete copy of your electronic Official Personnel Folder without a paper form.

Aug 13, 2026

The First Responder Fair RETIRE Act is a 2022 federal law that lets certain federal first responders keep their enhanced retirement coverage, sometimes informally called "6c" coverage, after a duty-related injury or illness that permanently prevents them from providing useful and efficient service in their covered position.

Aug 12, 2026

To file a deferred FERS retirement application in 2026, you submit it through OPM's Online Retirement Application (ORA) instead of mailing paper forms. FERS, the Federal Employees Retirement System, is the pension plan that covers most civilian federal workers hired after 1983. OPM, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, is the agency that adjudicates and pays federal annuities.

Aug 11, 2026

The 2027 FERS COLA, the annual inflation adjustment that may increase payments for eligible Federal Employees Retirement System annuitants, is not yet set.

Aug 10, 2026

Standard FERS employee contribution rates are not changing in 2026. Agency contribution rates are, effective the first pay period on or after October 1, 2026.

Aug 7, 2026

A FERS pension estimate is a projection of the annual basic annuity you may receive under stated assumptions. It's calculated under the statutory formula for FERS, the Federal Employees Retirement System, using your High-3 average basic pay, your years of creditable service, and a multiplier. OPM, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, administers it.

Aug 6, 2026

A federal retirement application checklist 2026 covers the forms, elections, and supporting records you should complete before separation so your agency can position the case for OPM's goal of issuing your first pension payment within seven days of retirement.

Aug 5, 2026

The phrase "federal employee performance review changes 2026" points to a final rule from OPM, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Aug 4, 2026

Starting July 2, 2026, federal employees and retirees generally must submit documents proving that a family member is eligible before that person can be added to their Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program coverage.

Aug 3, 2026

Federal retirement myths cost employees money and delay income at the worst possible time. Many FERS employees believe their pension starts immediately, their health coverage carries over automatically, and their survivor benefits are free. None of that is true.

Jul 31, 2026

The OPM retirement backlog is the queue of pending federal retirement applications waiting for final processing at OPM, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. In 2026, many new retirees wait months for their finalized annuity while receiving reduced "interim" payments.

Jul 30, 2026

The FERS annuity supplement is a temporary monthly payment from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). It bridges the income gap for eligible federal employees who retire before age 62, and it is not the same thing as Social Security.

Jul 29, 2026

Younger federal employees shouldn't assume Social Security will vanish, but they should build a retirement plan that still works if benefits are reduced. That's the core of sound younger federal employees retirement planning: treat Social Security as one funded pillar among three, then stress-test the whole plan against a smaller, later, or rule-changed benefit.

Jul 28, 2026

OPM FEHB data updates refer to two related actions by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that could expand how federal health claims data is collected and explain how that data may be stored, used, and shared.

Jul 27, 2026

Federal retirees, survivor annuitants, and eligible former spouses can suspend FEHB coverage to use TRICARE. Active federal employees cannot.

Jul 24, 2026

Federal telework changes are recent shifts in how much federal employees may work remotely or from home. Return-to-office directives, agency discretion, and evolving guidance from OPM, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, all drive them.

Jul 23, 2026

Federal retirement planning 2027 means lining up your High-3 salary, your Thrift Savings Plan contributions, and your cash reserves against a budget process that isn't finished.

Jul 22, 2026

A FERS survivor annuity is a recurring monthly payment made to the eligible spouse of a deceased Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) member. A surviving spouse only qualifies if the marriage lasted at least nine months before the employee's death, unless the death was accidental or a child was born of the marriage.

Jul 21, 2026

Federal employee job security refers to the statutory and constitutional protections that limit how, and on what grounds, most career civil servants can be disciplined or removed. Those protections still exist in 2026. But two recent Supreme Court decisions have changed the legal conversation around them, and the two rulings do very different things.

Jul 20, 2026

If you're a federal employee turning 63, IRMAA planning before Medicare should start now. The income you report around age 63 generally helps set your Medicare premiums around age 65.

Jul 17, 2026

Special category federal retirement is the set of enhanced retirement rules for certain physically demanding federal jobs: law enforcement officers, firefighters, air traffic controllers, and other covered public safety roles. These rules let covered employees retire far earlier than regular federal employees, often in their early 50s or even their late 40s. A covered employee can retire at age 50 with 20 years of covered service, or at any age with 25 years.