The Basic Civil Service Retirement System Annuity Cannot Exceed 80 Percent Of Your High-3 Average Salary

How might I be indebted to my employer?

You should resolve any financial indebtedness to your agency. Examples of causes for indebtedness include:outstanding travel advances, overpayments of salary, indebtedness for failure to return government property or for damage to government property, or advanced leave.

When and how do I waive my military retired pay?

If you want to waive your military retired pay to receive credit for military service in the computation of your benefit, you should write the Retired Pay Operations Center at least 60 days before your planned retirement. Send your waiver to:

Defense Finance and Accounting Service
Cleveland Center
Retired Pay Operations
Post Office Box 99191
Cleveland, Ohio 44199-1126

You can "fax" your request to (216) 522-5237.

Suggested wording for your request is as follows:

"I (full name and military serial number) hereby waive my military retired pay for Civil Service Retirement purposes effective (the day before your annuity begins).

I hereby authorize the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to withhold from my civil service annuity any amount of military retired pay granted beyond the effective date of this waiver due to any delay in receiving or processing this request."

What is the maximum benefit I can receive?

The basic Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) annuity cannot exceed 80 percent of your high-3 average salary, excluding your unused sick leave. Generally, you reach the 80 percent limitation when you have 41 years and 11 months of service, not including accumulated sick leave.  Fewer years of service may result in a computation that produces the maximum benefit under special computation formulas such as for law enforcement personnel.

Your service beyond the years which provides the maximum benefit will not be used to compute your annuity.  Instead, we will automatically refund the retirement contributions you made during those years.  Interest is paid on this refund payment at the rate of three percent per year, compounded annually.  You can use the refund to purchase additional annuity, as if  the contributions and interest are voluntary contributions.

However, if you have federal civilian employment periods when you did not contribute to either the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), we automatically apply excess contributions toward any deposit due to for these employment periods.

How do I find out if I am eligible for Medicare coverage?

You should contact the Social Security Administration at least three months before your 65th birthday to apply for benefits. The Social Security Administration will have records pertaining to your eligibility for Medicare coverage. If they do not, and you or your employer need to get a statement of your earnings for this purpose, you can write to:

General Services Administration
National Personnel Records Center
Civilian Personnel Records
111 Winnebago Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63118

You should provide the following information in your request:

your name, as shown on your payroll records; date of birth; Social Security Number; mailing address; years for which earnings are needed;name and location of employer for each year; reason for request; written signature; and, a statement that all other sources of information have been exhausted.