How to Calculate Your FERS Pension & Military Buyback (2024)

Are you a federal government employee? Do you ever wonder how much you'll make in retirement? How much will your military buyback cost if you once served on the Armed Forces?
DFAS Military Deposits ➡️ www.dfas.mil/civilianemployee...
FERS Survivor Benefits ➡️ www.opm.gov/support/retiremen...
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⏰ Table of Contents ⏰
0:00 FERS Basic Annuity Formula
4:27 FERS Military Buyback
7:24 FERS Special Provisions and Taxes
#FIREPsyChat #FinancialIndependence #FERSPension
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[@FIREPsyChat]

FERS pension alone won't be enough. Get your free financial independence resources at www.firepsychat.com/contact.

[@mellauzon4050]

In the video you stated if you're retired from the military, you can't buy back your time. This in fact is incorrect. You can buy back your time but you have to waive your retired pay once you retire from federal service.

[@FIREPsyChat]

You are correct. I wouldn’t waive my military retirement pay though

[@CanesFan65]

@@FIREPsyChat - Why not? I believe there ARE situations where it can make sense. I am currently considering this exact situation. For example: If I have a military pension - lets say I retired with 23 years of Active service and retired as an E-7 but my high 3 pension is only base on 2 years of E-6 and 1 Year of E-7 pay (in other words My pension is NOT a full High 3 of E-7 pay )......OR to make it easier let's just say you only retired as an E-6. Let say your military pension is $1800/mo base on 23 years of active service. NOW you have worked 17 years as a GS-11 and you have not yet hit 60 years old. So you are in the MRA+10 category. You cannot or do not want to work for the additional 3 years to get to 20 years of civil service. So if you choose to Buy back your military service time (23 years) - you can now add that to your civil service and retire immediately at say 60 with 40 years of civil service at GS-11 pay. So instead of getting one pension and E-6 Pay for 23 years of military service and One at GS-11 pay for 17 years of service (at 62 years old) - you will now get ONE pension at the higher Pay Grade of GS-11 with 40 Years of service. Yes...the numbers (based on my calculations) are very close at the end of the day. Roughly $200.00 more per month BUT the bigger benefit is that you can now retire IMMEDIATELY at 60 years old and a combined 40 years of service instead of having to wait until 62 to collect the Civil Service Pension. (Yes you would give up your military pension when you buy back your time but you will now collect your Civil Service Pension sooner....at 60 instead of having to wait until 62 to collect an unreduced pension.(and Possibly at a higher rate of 1.1%). In the end - the total for the single Civil Service Pension of a GS-11 with 40 total years is slightly more than getting Both a Military Pension with 23 years and a Civil Service Pension with 17 years. NOW - I'm certainly NO EXPERT on this topic however this is how I understand it based on my research in the past month because I am trying to make a decision for my situation. Based on my research so far....I have not yet seen any reason NOT to buy back my time and give up my Military Pension in lieu of 1 Civil Service Pension. The biggest factor to consider is the Pay Grade of your Military Pension versus the Pay Grade of your Civil Service. Only 2 caveats as I understand it so far is: Apparently the Civil Service COLA each year is less than that of a Military pension (I though they were the same) and secondly, I would have to fork out a chuck of cash to buy back the time and I would need to factor that amount into my calculations to determine how long it will take to recover that money that I have to pay to buy back the time. However - IF I am able to receive the FERS Supplement (from age 60 to age 62) since I can now retire at 60 with 40 total years....then the FERS Supplement would make up for the cost of the Buyback. IF I cannot get the FERS Supplement in this scenario then it could change the decision. I am still waiting to find out if I can collect the FERS supplement in this situation because that would be the deciding factor. But in the end....I would think that in most cases it would make sense IF your Military Pension is based on a lower pay grade than your Civil Service Pay Grade but you should still do the necessary calculations.

[@mr.h4104]

@@FIREPsyChat Also, if you medically retire due to combat injuries with 20+, you do not have to waive your retirement.

[@rovie8976]

Thank you!! The best explanation so far for service buyback.

[@hlhl2691]

This is gold. Keep up the great videos

[@FIREPsyChat]

Thank you!

[@laellewis7787]

great video. ill be in touch

[@darrylharlan6178]

THANK YOU.

[@FIREPsyChat]

Sure thing

[@dshep832]

Thanks for sharing! Are you familiar with federal law enforcement retirement?

[@bryanspanglerracing4574]

Your video is the first I've seen mention that military retirees are not eligible for the buyback. I cant find this info on any "official" Gov websites. Do you have any refences to confirm? Thank you!

[@meganhauptmann1538]

Hi there. Does military retirement include medical retirement? I'm having a difficult time finding this.

[@teeybannister]

@ 6:30 is my situation!

[@jonathanbates4582]

How does Time In service effect the total years served? For example, if I served 5 years active and 15 years inactive while working DoD. Could I retire at 15 years under the 20 years 1% provision despite only 20 years DoD if I buy back my time or do I need to have 20 years DoD and retire at 20+5 years.

[@mattcero1]

Great video man! Thank you. I'm 57 with 9 years active duty from '89 to '98. If I get a job with the Feds, when is the earliest using my buyback option, I'd be able to draw a federal pension along with Social Security? Thank you sir.

[@FIREPsyChat]

It actually depends on the job you get with the federal government. If you’re going to be a firefighter or police officer then there are different rates and requirements. Generally speaking you would need 5 years working with the Fed but I would do the due diligence but visiting the OPM website for more info. I hope that helps

[@itguru2037]

Do disabled veterans have to pay to buyback military time?

[@user-kf6sz6hn8g]

How is the ineterst calculated for military buyback? I'll try to make my question more clear. Military earnings of $100,000 would be a $3,000 deposit. That does not include the annual interest if the deposit is not paid within the grace period. How is that annual interest calculated? Is it on the earnings amount or the deposit amount? Using the above scenario, if the empoloyee left active duty in 2005 and started fed service in 2007, but did not make the military deposit until 2020, how is that ineterst calculated?

[@gcastillo9210]

Working for US Border Patrol I will retire at 58 with 20 yrs of service. I bought back 10 yrs of military service. How much will I make annually?

[@Sponge_Dab]

Can I do Military buyback without having a federal job?

[@brachelliejoshua1195]

Does anyone have a phone number to the FERS department, I sent in a withdrawal form and haven't heard from anyone.

[@jackbrown6474]

I'm a 27 year old civilian with 6 years of active duty Army time. Should I go back into the military until I can meet the 20-30 year retirement requirements and then transfer to a Federal Agency and work an additional 20 years? Or should I just go straight into a Federal Agency job and work into my 60's? My goal is to get the highest monthly pension payment and I'm certain that I'm not going to stop working in my 40's because I know it will get too boring.

[@FIREPsyChat]

Pension is nicer with the military, sure. But you can invest with or without the military. I wouldn’t go back into the military just for the pension. Do something that suits your lifestyle or family

[@mr.b4444]

@@FIREPsyChat TSP is also available for military.