Quick Decision
You would like to increase the Social Security benefit you have already earned
If you are covered under CSRS, you do not have Social Security coverage. This means
that if you leave the Federal Government before retirement, you have not been earning
credits under Social Security. If you get a new job in the private sector, you and your
family may not have any benefit if
you become disabled or die until you have worked long enough to have earned
these benefits.
If you are covered under CSRS Offset, you do have Social Security
coverage.
If you choose to transfer to FERS, you will earn Social Security coverage.
For almost all American workers, Social Security is the basic retirement plan to which other
benefits are added.
To qualify for Social Security retirement benefits, you must have paid Social Security taxes for
at least 10 years (or 40 credits or "quarters") over the course of your lifetime.
(This 40-credit rule applies if you were born after
1928. If you were born before 1929, you need fewer credits to qualify).
The Social Security credits you earn as a
Federal employee are added to those you have earned in other employment throughout your career.
You can receive unreduced Social Security benefits if you wait until age 65.
Starting in the year 2000, this age
will gradually increase to 67. Or, you can retire at age 62 and receive reduced benefits.
Your monthly Social
Security checks will be reduced about 20% from the full benefit amount you'd receive if you
waited until age 65.
(This gradually increases to a 30% reduction for those born in 1960 or later.) Leaving the
Federal Government
before you retire has no effect on the Social Security benefits you receive later.
All of your FERS Social Security
credits (years of covered employment) still count. You may continue to add more quarters of
Social Security
credits as long as you work under Social Security. You can still receive reduced Social
Security benefits at age 62
or full benefits at age 65 (or later as the Social Security retirement age goes up to 67).
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