The Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) is one of two federal government personnel systems. That said, almost all federal employees fall under FERS. However, you may not know how to calculate your FERS retirement benefits.
The good news is that you can follow a simple formula when calculating your FERS retirement benefits. There is no need to buy a fancy federal disability retirement calculator online. Read on to learn more about this formula and how it applies to you. If you have more questions, contact one of our capable federal disability retirement attorneys today.
Call (800) 801-0598 or send us an online message to get started.
How Is FERS Disability Retirement Pay Calculated?
The FERS retirement benefits formula requires three factors:
- Your age,
- Your years of service, and
- Your highest salary.
For the purposes of this calculation, your highest salary is your average for the three consecutive years—usually your final three years—during which your salary was the highest. This is called the “high-three” salary. For instance, if you made $80,000 in 2018, $100,000 in 2019, and $120,000 in 2020, your high-three salary would be $100,000.
Next, let’s discuss how age factors in. There is only one question: are you at least 62 years old? If you are younger than 62, your disability retirement benefits will be 60% of your high-three salary minus the pay you receive from social security during the first year you are on disability retirement. After that, you will receive 40% of your high-three salary minus 60% of whatever social security benefits you receive until you turn 62.
Once you are older than 62, your pay is determined by your years of service and your high-three salary. If you have fewer than 20 years of federal service, your disability benefits will equal 1.0% of your high-three salary times your years of service. If you have more than 20 years of federal service, you will multiply 1.1% of your high-three salary by your years of service.
Let’s use two examples to illustrate this point. Let’s say you are 62, your high-three salary is $100,000, and you have served in the government for only 10 years. One percent of $100,000 is $1,000. And $1,000 times 10 (for your 10 years of service) will equal $10,000. This means you can expect to receive $10,000 a year in disability retirement pay.
Now let’s imagine that same situation, except you have 25 years of service. In that case, you would multiply $1,100 (1.1% of your high-three salary) by 25, or $27,500, in government benefits.
Have More Questions About How to Calculate Your FERS Retirement? Contact Us Today
Although you now know how to calculate your FERS retirement, there are still plenty of other issues surrounding federal disability retirement. Whatever those questions, we are happy to help. And if you need assistance working with your employer for a third party, we can provide you the representation you deserve.
We’re not like any other firm. Our FERS disability attorneys have decades of collective experience helping employees with their federal retirement. Our objective is to make the process as easy for you as possible.
Even if your appeal is denied for some reason, we are more than happy to assist you with any appeals you might want to make. Give us a call today at (800) 801-0598 to get a case evaluation of your federal disability retirement application. You can also contact us online or fill out the form below to get started.
Eric L. Pines is a nationally recognized federal employment lawyer, mediator, and attorney business coach. He represents federal employees and acts as in-house counsel for over fifty thousand federal employees through his work as a federal employee labor union representative.
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