Tailored Plans for Federal Employees

 FERS is a retirement plan that provides benefits from three different sources: a Basic Benefit Plan, Social Security and the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). Two of the three parts of FERS (Social Security and the TSP) can go with you to your next job if you leave the Federal Government before retirement. The Basic Benefit and Social Security parts of FERS require you to pay your share each pay period. Your agency withholds the cost of the Basic Benefit and Social Security from your pay as payroll deductions. Your agency pays its part too. Then, after you retire, you receive annuity payments each month for the rest of your life. 

 The TSP part of FERS is an account that your agency automatically sets up for you. Each pay period your agency deposits into your account amount equal to 1% of the basic pay you earn for the pay period. You can also make your own contributions to your TSP account and your agency will also make a matching contribution. These contributions are tax-deferred. The Thrift Savings Plan is administered by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. 

 As a Federal employee, you are eligible to elect Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) coverage, unless your position is excluded by law or regulation. Your agency applies these rules and determines your eligibility. All FEHB plans qualify as minimum essential coverage (MEC) and meet the Affordable Care Act's individual shared responsibility requirement for the covered individual. All FEHB health plans are eligible employer-sponsored plans. The health coverage of all the plans in the FEHB Program meets the Affordable Care Act’s minimum value standard for the benefits that each FEHB plan provides. 

 The FEGLI Basic insurance premium is a level rate per one thousand dollars of coverage. The level premium feature means the enrollee premium rates are equal for the duration of the coverage period. The rate for an individual enrollee does not change as the enrollee ages (although the rate structure for all enrollees is subject to periodic adjustments based on claims experience). This means a younger employee pays the same cost for Basic coverage as a 64-year-old retiree. 

 The Military Buy Back Program (Military Service Deposit) lets federal employees use their active military time for civil service retirement by paying a deposit, boosting their pension and potentially letting them retire sooner, usually requiring an honorable discharge and payment of 3% of military base pay plus interest, with a potential 3-year interest-free grace period from the start of civilian employment; it's a key benefit but requires weighing costs vs. long-term gains, and most military retirees must waive military retired pay to get civilian credit.