Life Events and Your Retirement and Insurance Benefits (for Annuitants)

An overview of the most important things that Federal employees need to do when planning for retirement

RI 83-11
Revised December 1997
The October 1996 edition is still usable

Thinking About Retirement?

If you are planning to retire within the next 5 years, this pamphlet is for you. It is designed to provide you with a general guide to help you through the retirement process. It also discusses how your application for retirement is processed at your agency and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Retirement is one of the most important events in your life. A successful retirement takes careful planning on your part -- planning that hopefully began early in your working career to help insure that you will have the income you need when you want to retire.

The retirement process itself is very simple for most people. However, if at all possible, there are several things you should do well in advance of your planned retirement so that there are no surprises when you do separate. Understanding your role in the retirement process, and the roles played by your agency and OPM, is an essential part of that planning. By working closely with your agency, you can help assure that your retirement from Federal service will be smooth and worry free.

The information in this pamphlet applies primarily to employees who are retiring voluntarily under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS). It is intended to give a brief overview of the most important things that employees need to do when planning for retirement.

More detailed information on a number of topics is available in other publications of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. These publications are listed at the end of this pamphlet, along with several publications from the Social Security Administration, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, and the Internal Revenue Service.

Section I: Preparing to Retire

If at all possible, you should start specific planning for retirement about 5 years before your planned retirement date. If you can't start that early, use the time that is available to do whatever advance planning you can do.

Your most valuable step in planning for retirement is to contact your personnel office for pre-retirement counseling. This will tell you whether you will be eligible to retire on the date you have in mind, whether you will be eligible to keep your health and life insurance coverages as a retiree, if your agency has records of all your service, whether there are deposits or redeposits you may want to pay to maximize your annuity, and how much you can expect to receive as an annuitant.

If your retirement package is not complete when your agency sends it to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the final processing of your application for retirement may be delayed until missing information is obtained. However, if you take the steps outlined in this pamphlet, you can help assure that your retirement package is complete and able to be processed without problems.

The steps outlined below will assist you in preparing for retirement.

Five or More Years Before Your Planned Retirement Date
Contact your personnel office and request to attend a pre-retirement counseling seminar, if available at your agency.

Make sure your records are complete. Ask your servicing personnel office for the following:

• A listing of all periods of civilian and military service that are verified in your Official Personnel Folder (OPF).
  
  The preferred way to document your service history is for your agency to complete an SF 2801-1,"Certified Summary of Federal Service", (or an SF 3107-1 for FERS employees).
  
  Compare this listing to your own records, make sure the list is complete, and ask that a copy be filed in your personnel folder for association with your retirement application when you retire. If your check reveals that service is missing from the agency list, ask your personnel office for assistance in documenting the service. If you have had part-time or intermittent service, the listing should show time worked for this kind of service. If you have service that was not covered by retirement that can be used in computing your annuity, and have not paid a deposit for it, the date and amount of each pay rate and any adjustment to the tour of duty needs to be recorded.
  
  
• Verification that you will meet the age and service requirements (and any other applicable requirement) for retirement on your proposed retirement date.
  
  
• An annuity estimate so that you can determine whether your annuity, along with any expected income from other sources, will meet your needs at the time you plan to retire.
  
  The estimate should take into account the survivor elections you plan to make.
  
  In addition, if there are payments for civilian or military service that you can make that will increase your annuity, you need to know how much these payments are and what your annuity will be with and without the payments.
  
  Since the interest continues to accrue on deposits and redeposits, if you intend to make payment, you may want to complete it as quickly as possible. Also, if you owe a substantial amount, you may need time to acquire the amount needed. Remember that, while payments for civilian service may be made to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management when you retire, military service deposits must be paid to your agency before you separate.
  
  If you are a military retiree who must waive military retired pay to have the service used in your annuity, you also need to decide whether you want to do this if you have not already made a decision.
  
  
• If you are enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program, ask for verification that your personnel file contains your latest enrollment form that identifies your present plan, type of enrollment (self only or self and family), and option (high or standard).
  
  Normally, to continue coverage after retirement, an employee must have been continuously enrolled (or covered as a family member) in a plan (not necessarily the same plan) for the 5 years of service immediately preceding retirement. If you want to continue your Federal health benefits coverage after you retire, therefore, you must remain covered in a plan within the program until you retire.
  
  If you are not enrolled (or covered as a family member) in the program, consider acquiring coverage now if you are interested in having the coverage after you retire. Ask your agency benefits officer about opportunities to acquire coverage.
  
  
• If you are in the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) program, ask for verification that your present coverage is documented in your personnel file.
  
  You will be able to continue your present coverage as long as you have been covered for the 5 years before you retire. Consider what kind of coverage you will want after you retire and whether your current coverage will meet your needs.
  
  If you are not in the life insurance program, but are interested in having coverage after retirement, ask your agency benefits officer about opportunities to acquire coverage. You must have coverage for the 5-year period before retirement to be able to continue it after retirement. This includes both basic coverage and any optional coverage you want to keep after retirement.
  
  
• Confirm who would be entitled to receive life insurance and other monies that would become payable in the event of your death.
  
  If you previously completed a life insurance Designation of Beneficiary form that is in your personnel file, be sure that it reflects your current wishes.
  
  Also check other designations of beneficiary that you have on file. Designations for the Federal Employees' Retirement System are filed in the personnel folder until an employee separates. Designations for the Civil Service Retirement System are filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) designations are filed with the Thrift Savings Plan Service Office. If you have not filed designations of beneficiary, make sure that the normal order of precedence will meet your needs.
  
  
• Find out if you will be eligible for a Social Security benefit. Call the Social Security Administration on (800) 772-1213 to ask for SSA-7004-PC, Request for Earnings and Benefit Statement, to get a record of your earnings under Social Security and, if you will be eligible, an estimate of the payment you may receive.
  
  This estimate is not adjusted for the Windfall Elimination Provision, which is a provision of the Social Security law that reduces the Social Security-covered benefits of many former Federal employees. You also may be entitled to benefits based on the Social Security-covered earnings of your spouse or former spouse. However, this benefit may be affected by the Government Pension Offset, another provision of Social Security law.
  
  Ask the agency representative who is assisting you if you will be affected by either of these provisions, or visit your local Social Security office for assistance.