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A special 20-year retirement system was created for certain
designated positions which require employees to meet vigorous physical
demands. Because of the physical demands, this retirement system
allows employees to retire sooner, with just 20 years of service.
It also includes a mandatory retirement when the employee reaches a
designated age or years of service.
Eligibility to retire under the special 20-year provision depends on
the both the retirement system (CSRS or FERS) and the position.
Positions covered under the 20-year retirement system
- Law Enforcement Officers (LEO)
- Firefighters (FF)
- Air Traffic Controllers (ATC)
- Nuclear Weapons Couriers (NWC)
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Unsure of your retirement coverage?
Check Block 30 of your Notification of Personnel action, SF-50. If you are
covered under the special retirement system, the retirement code will be either:
- 6 – CSRS Special
- E – CSRS Offset Special
- M – FERS Special
Eligibility Requirements
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CSRS
Retirement Eligibility
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Law
Enforcement Officers (LEO),
Firefighters (FF), and Nuclear Weapons Couriers (NWC)
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Age
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Years
of Service
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50
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20
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Note: You must have 3
years primary coverage first, followed by secondary coverage with no
break.
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Helpful Links:
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FERS
Retirement Eligibility
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Law
Enforcement Officers (LEO), Firefighters
(FF), and Nuclear Weapons Couriers (NWC)
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Age
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Years
of Service
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50
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20
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Any Age
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25 (at least 3 years primary)
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Note: You must have 3 years primary coverage first, followed by
secondary coverage with no break.
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Helpful Links:
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CSRS
and FERS Eligibility
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Air
Traffic Controllers (ATC)
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Age
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Years
of Service
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50
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20
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Any Age
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25
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- CSRS Retirement Annuity Formula:
2.5 percent X High-3 Average Salary X 20 Years of LEO Service plus 2 percent
X High-3 Average Salary X Additional years of creditable service exceeding
20 years (LEO & non-LEO), including military deposit service.
- FERS Retirement Annuity Formula:
1.7 percent X High-3 Average Salary X 20 Years of LEO Service plus 1 percent
X High-3 Average Salary X Additional years of creditable service exceeding
20 years (LEO & non-LEO), including military deposit service. A retiree
annuity supplement is payable before age 62 in addition to the basic
annuity.
Under both CSRS and FERS, the payroll deductions for CSRS/FERS are ½ percent
more than for regular federal employees. Under the special provisions for
FERS, the payroll deduction is 1.3% and for CSRS, the payroll deduction is 7.5%.
To meet the goal of maintaining a young and vigorous work force, a mandatory
separation provision applies to these positions. Employees must be separated
when they meet specific age and service requirements. The law does allow
departmental agency heads to waive mandatory retirement when it is in the public
interest.
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Mandatory Retirement
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Group
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Age
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Years
of Service
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LEO/FF/NWC
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57
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20
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ATC
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56
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20
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Employees without 20 years of covered service at age 56 or 57,
are separated at the end of the month in which they attain 20 years of covered
service. If an employee is no longer in a position under the special retirement
provisions, the mandatory separation provisions do not apply.
The law also allows federal agencies to establish maximum entry age of 36 or
37, which allows the employee to attain the 20 years of service before the
mandatory retirement age.
To be eligible for the 20-year retirement, LEO/FF/NWC employees must occupy a
“primary” position for 3 or more years and move directly to the secondary
position by reassignment, promotion or change to lower grade. The primary
position information is not applicable to ATC positions. Primary and secondary
positions are defined as:
Primary position means a position whose work is
directly connected with:
- Controlling and extinguishing fires or maintaining and using firefighter
apparatus and equipment or
- Investigating, apprehending, or detaining individuals suspected or
convicted of offenses against the criminal laws of the United States or
- Transporting, and providing armed escort and protection during transit
of nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons components, strategic quantities of
special nuclear materials or other materials related to national security.
Secondary position is usually consider a natural
successor position from a primary position, but may not have the same physical
requirements. The secondary position must:
- Be in the same field as the primary position;
- Be in an organization having a LEO/FF/NWC mission; and
- Is either a supervisor of the primary positions or in an administrative
position for which experience in the primary position is a mandatory
requirement.
- Leaving Federal Service: If you leave federal service
or change to a non-covered position before attaining 20 years under the
special retirement provisions, your federal service is fully credited as if
it was under the regular CSRS or FERS retirement system. You will not be
eligible for a refund of the additional contributions made under the special
retirement provisions.
- If you do not complete at least 20 consecutive years under the
“special” retirement coverage:
- Your retirement will only be computed as if you were under the
regular retirement system. This basically reduces the computation
for the 20 years from 34% of your high three salary to 20% of your
high three.
- You will not be able to receive any refund of the additional LEO
contributions you have made.
- If you complete the 20 years under a special retirement, you
will lock in the option to retire earlier than employees under the
regular retirement system. This can be like always having an “Early
Out” option.
- You may want to consider staying in the LEO position until you
have at least 20 years of coverage, thus locking in the special
coverage computation and then changing to a higher paying, non-LEO
position.
- Credit for Military Service: Military service, even if
it is in the same career field, is not creditable toward the 20 years of
service. If you make a deposit for your military service, the military
service is added as if the years were normal FERS or CSRS. For example, for
a FERS employee the military service is computed as: 1 percent X High-3
Average Salary X Additional years of creditable military service.
- TSP Considerations: The special 20-year retirement
system is a fantastic opportunity; however, if you are planning to retire
with 20 years of service, you only have 20 years to build your TSP savings.
TSP is considered a large percentage of a FERS retirement. Start
saving early and maximize your contributions whenever possible.
Many retire early to pursue another career, explore hobbies, travel, or to
learn a new interesting skill. Federal employees that do retire early consider
going back to school to
finish a degree that they started years ago or to explore areas of interest;
everything from archeology, general sciences, engineering, IT, you name it and
it is available today and
online in many cases. Others simply want to remove themselves from the
intense environment they were working in and need a BREAK!
There are many job opportunities for skilled federal retirees and we have a
comprehensive jobs board on this site that will help
you find other, less stressful, employment in all areas. We also have a
national job search site
for all employment sectors that lists over 100,000 job vacancies stateside and
overseas. The nice thing about an early federal retirement is that you have a
safety net that most will never have in their lives, a FEDERAL ANNUITY, health
care and FEGLI insurance.
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Consequences of leaving before you have 20 years service
