U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

In most cases, as soon as we get all your retirement records, we provide "interim" payments. These payments represent a portion of your final benefit and are usually made on the first business day of each month. We try to provide you with income until we finish processing your application.

Generally, interim payments average more than 85 percent of your final benefit.

We only withhold Federal income tax. You may find the Federal income taxes withheld from your first interim payment will be higher than the Federal tax withholdings from your subsequent interim payments and regular annuity

We will send you a personalized statement titled "Your Federal Retirement Benefits". It details, among other things, how much your monthly payment will be. It also confirms such things as health and life insurance coverage, and provides information you will need to prepare your tax returns.

Under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), you will be given the opportunity to pay for temporary service prior to January 1, 1989. Under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), if you had service on/after October 1, 1982, for which no contributions were made, we will give you the opportunity to pay the contributions, and will tell you what difference it makes to your monthly benefit. If you had unpaid service prior to October 1, 1982, we do not notify you before we finish processing your application because it generally is not to your advantage to make the payment.

Yes. After you retire, you will still have the opportunity to change your enrollment from one plan to another during the Federal Benefits Open Season. You cannot change to another plan simply because you retired.

You can cancel or decrease your coverage at any time. You cannot increase your coverage.

Yes, but you will receive only a portion of the first increase payable. We will prorate the first increase based on how long you were retired before it is given. At that time, we will send you a notice explaining the increase. Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) cost of living increases are not provided until age 62, except for disability and survivor benefits.

Read about this year's cost-of-living adjustment for those who receive benefits under the Civil Service Retirement System and the Federal Employees Retirement System.

Read more about how to compute the tax-free part of your annuity.

Use our calculator to figure the tax-free portion of your annuity payment.

Use our calculator to figure the amount of your monthly federal income tax withholding. Then, use Services Online to change the Federal tax withheld from your annuity payment.