Federal Employee's CSRS & FERS Federal Civil Service Retirement
& Financial Planning Resources
Creditable Service Menu
Military Service
Credits & Retirement Eligibility
Retirement eligibility with military service can
be confusing. You need a minimum of 5 years of civilian service to be
eligible for a civilian retirement annuity. However, after the 5 years is
met, the military service is creditable towards years of service for all the
other voluntary retirement eligibility requirements: MRA +10; MRA +30; 60
years old with 20 years of service; and the even the VERA requirements - age
50 with 20 years of service or any age with 25 years of service. Review all
eligibility requirements for FERS and CSRS
retirement.
- Federal “covered service”, that is, service in which the
individual’s pay is subject to FERS retirement deductions, such as
service under a career or career conditional appointment,
- Federal service performed before 1989, where an employee’s pay was
not subject to retirement deductions, such as, service under a temporary
appointment, as long as a deposit is paid. There are a few exceptions to
the rule that the service must have been performed before 1989, in order
to be eligible to pay a deposit. The only
exceptions are:
- U.S. Senate Child Care Center service
- Peace Corps/VISTA service
- Service under the Foreign Service Pension System (FSPS)
- Service performed before 12/31/90 with the Democratic or
Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee or the Democratic or
Republican National Congressional Committee, and
- Service with the Library of Congress Child Development Center
prior to 12/21/00.
Deposit: A deposit is the payment
of the retirement deductions, plus interest, that would have been withheld
from your pay if you had been covered by the Federal Employees Retirement
System (FERS) during a period of employment when retirement deductions were
not withheld from your salary. You are not required to make this type of
payment.
- Making Payment to Get Credit for Service
- You should apply to make a payment by completing a
Standard Form
3108 Application to Make Service Credit Payment/FERS). You
should use this form even if a portion of your FERS annuity will be
computed under CSRS rules.
- Send your completed application to your department or agency
because they must certify it. If you are within six months of
retirement submit your request to make the deposit or redeposit at
the same time you submit your application for retirement. OPM will
notify you of any amounts due so you can decide whether or not to
make the payment. OPM cannot, however, authorize your
regular annuity payments until we have your decision about the
payment.
- If you are not currently a Federal employee send your completed
application directly to: OPM Retirement Operations Center Deposit
Section P.O. Box 45 Boyers, PA 16017-0045
You can repay any refund you received for any period of civilian service
during which retirement deductions were withheld from your pay and later
returned to you. Interest is charged from the date of the refund and
compounded annually. Interest is charged to the date full payment is made or
the date annuity begins, whichever is earlier. If you do not repay (redeposit)
your prior refunded service, you will not receive credit in determining your
eligibility to retire or in computing your retirement benefit.
Redeposit FERS: A redeposit is
the repayment of retirement deductions that were previously withheld and
refunded to you, plus interest.
References:
OPM FERS Deposit
Guidance
- Federal "covered service", that is, service in which the
individual's pay is subject to CSRS retirement deductions, such as
service under a career or career conditional appointment,
- Federal service where an employee's pay is not subject to retirement
deductions, such as, service under a temporary appointment,
- Service for which a specific statue allows credit or allows credit
for the service, such as:
- Peace Corps enrollment
- Certain pre-1969 National Guard technician service
- Service for which a specific statute allows an individual to be
subject to CSRS deductions during his/her employment with a specified
entity or under a specific program or type of appointment, such as:
- Employees of Gallaudet University or D.C. Government,
- Federal employees who receive assignments under the
Intergovernmental Personnel Act, or employees serving as full-time
officers or employees of an employee organization.
If Retirement Deductions Were Not Withheld During Service
Creditable service is not limited to service covered by retirement
deductions. It can also include service where an employee's pay is not
subject to retirement deductions. In some cases, you must pay back the
retirement deductions (plus interest) to credit this service in the
computation of your benefit. This repayment amount is called a
deposit. If the service was performed
before 10/1/82, you do not have to pay back the deductions. Your annuity
will be subject to a reduction based on the amount of the unpaid retirement
deductions, if you do not pay the deposit.
Deposit CSRS
A deposit is the payment of the retirement deductions, plus interest,
that would have been withheld from your pay if you had been covered by the
Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or Federal Employees Retirement
System (FERS) during a period of employment when retirement deductions were
not withheld from your salary. You are not required to make this type of
payment.
- Making Payment to Get Credit for Service
- You should apply to make a deposit or redeposit payment by
completing a Standard Form 2803
"Application to Make Deposit or Redeposit/CSRS".
- If you are a Federal employee send your completed application to
your department or agency because they must certify it. Please do
not file an application if you plan to retire within six months. OPM
will give you an opportunity to make payment when it computes our
annuity.
- If you are within six months of retirement- submit your
request to make the deposit or redeposit at the same time you
submit your application for retirement. We will notify you of
any amounts due so you can decide whether or not to make the
payment. We cannot, however, authorize your regular
annuity payments until we have your decision about the payment.
- If you are not currently a Federal employee send your completed
application directly to: OPM Retirement Operations Center Deposit
Section P.O. Box 45 Boyers, PA 16017-0045
If you received a refund for service that ended on or after October 1, 1990,
the service covered by the refund cannot be included in computing your
annuity, unless the refund is repaid after you become reemployed. This
repayment is called a
redeposit.
It will still be used toward the service used to qualify for retirement.
If you received a refund for service that ended before October 1, 1990, and
did not repay the refund, the service will still be credited when you
retire, however, it will cause an actuarial reduction in your annuity.
The reduction is based on the amount of the redeposit and your age at the
time of retirement. This exception to the redeposit requirement does
not apply if you retire for disability.
A redeposit is the repayment of retirement deductions that were
previously withheld and refunded to you, plus interest. You are not required
to make this type of payment.
Redeposit Service Ending before October 1, 1990 and Covered by
CSRS:
You can repay the refund you received for periods of civilian service
ending before October 1, 1990 during which retirement deductions were
withheld from your pay and later refunded to you. However, you will
receive credit for all of this service whether or not you make the payment
(unless you retire under the disability provisions of the law). Your
annuity will be subject to a permanent actuarial reduction based on the
amount of redeposit and interest due and your age at retirement. The
actuarial reduction will not be applied to any annuity due your surviving
spouse. You can avoid the reduction by repaying the refund.
If the refund was paid before October 1, 1982, interest is charged up
through the billing date. If full payment is received within 30 days
after the bill is issued, no additional interest will be charged.
Otherwise, interest will be computed after each payment at the rate of 3
percent for the interval since the most recent payment.
If the refund was paid on or after October 1, 1982, interest is
compounded annually and charged through December 31 of the year before the
year in which this bill is being issued. If full payment is received
by December 31 of the year in which this bill is issued, no additional
interest will be charged. If not, interest will be computed once
each year as of December 31 based on the unpaid balance at that time.
Interest
is applied at the rates described in the table.
References:
OPM CSRS
Guidance
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