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Federal government pension rules are very complex, and you will want to check with your employee benefits office for clarification. Your benefits depend upon your date of employment. If you were employed before January 1, 1984, you are on the original Civil Service Retirement System. Your benefits become vested with five years of service. This is a defined-benefit qualified plan that requires you to share the cost of the benefit by contributing 7 percent of your pay. Your employer contributes an additional 7 percent. You may retire with 30 years of service at age 55 with a pension that replaces 56 percent of the average of your highest salaries during three years of employment. If you leave government service before age 62, you may withdraw your contributions or leave them on deposit in the system to receive a deferred annuity at age 62. Remember, benefit levels may change in the future because Civil Service benefits are funded from current contributions, and these benefits are subject to the will of Congress. If you were employed after December 31, 1983, you became a member of the new Federal Retirement System (FERS) on January 1, 1987. In the FERS plan, your benefits become vested with five years of service. The plan will provide benefits from a combination of Social Security, a defined-benefit basic plan, and a thrift plan. To receive benefits from the FERS plan, you must make contributions to it. Your Social Security benefits will be funded through your payment of the full old age survivors and disability insurance (OASDI) tax. Contributions to the basic plan are 8 percent, and you may elect to contribute to the thrift plan. Regardless of your contributions, the government will contribute one percent of basic pay on your behalf. You may contribute up to 10 percent on your base pay, which will be tax-deferred. The government will match your contributions at the rate of 100 percent on the first 3 percent contributed, and 50 percent of the next two percent. Just as you will want to check on your Social Security benefits every three years, it's a good idea to check with your company benefits office for an estimate of your pension benefits every two years. It is a good idea to obtain a benefit statement from your current employer and all past employers every few years. This is a report that tells:
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