Fed Retirement Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hello all,

I'm a fed govt attorney and was just curious about our pensions.

I'm not gonna touch TSP until I actually retire, but we also get some pension plan too, right? I think we get vested into that pension plan after 5 years, but can I stay with the feds for like 5-10 years and then start collecting that pension amount immediately if I leave to go back to the private sector?

Just curious how that works. I'm going to reach out to our HR person/department here as well, but wanted to see what the lay of the land was. Appreciate the information!

[Anonymous User]

Hello all,

I'm a fed govt attorney and was just curious about our pensions.

I'm not gonna touch TSP until I actually retire, but we also get some pension plan too, right? I think we get vested into that pension plan after 5 years, but can I stay with the feds for like 5-10 years and then start collecting that pension amount immediately if I leave to go back to the private sector?

Just curious how that works. I'm going to reach out to our HR person/department here as well, but wanted to see what the lay of the land was. Appreciate the information!

No. If you leave, there are still age limits on touching the pension. I could be wrong but I think you have to be at least 58 to access. The pension calculation is based on your years of service and high three years of pay.

[Anonymous User]

Hello all,

I'm a fed govt attorney and was just curious about our pensions.

I'm not gonna touch TSP until I actually retire, but we also get some pension plan too, right? I think we get vested into that pension plan after 5 years, but can I stay with the feds for like 5-10 years and then start collecting that pension amount immediately if I leave to go back to the private sector?

Just curious how that works. I'm going to reach out to our HR person/department here as well, but wanted to see what the lay of the land was. Appreciate the information!

No. If you leave, there are still age limits on touching the pension. I could be wrong but I think you have to be at least 58 to access. The pension calculation is based on your years of service and high three years of pay.

This is correct; the age you can start collecting the pension depends on your age (then younger you are, the older you have to be to start collecting; I think this is to take into account people who started when the age you could collect was lower). And IIRC it’s like social security in that the earlier you take it, the less you get (but don’t quote me on that, it’s been a while since I looked at this stuff; that might just be a function of the fact that if you leave earlier you will have fewer years of service than if you leave later).

[Anonymous User]

Also fed attorney here. The calculation for pension is 1.1% or 1% x your high 3 x years of service. OPM link here: https://www.opm.gov/retirement-center/f ... mputation/. If you leave before 62 or after 62 with fewer than 20 years of service then your multiplier is 1%. Age 62 or older with > 20 years of service then your multiplier is 1.1%. I think there's more to this too, I recall learning about it during onboarding but I don't remember the specifics.