When can I retire under FERS?
With no reduction, you can retire at your Minimum Retirement Age with 30 years, at 60 with 20 years, or at 62 with 5 years. Your Minimum Retirement Age is between 55 and 57, depending on the year you were born.
The four ways to retire
- MRA + 30 years: full annuity, plus the FERS supplement until 62.
- Age 60 + 20 years: full annuity, plus the FERS supplement until 62.
- Age 62 + 5 years: full annuity. With 20 or more years at 62, the multiplier rises from 1% to 1.1%.
- MRA + 10 years: reduced 5% for each year you're under 62, and no supplement. You can postpone the start of your annuity to shrink or skip the cut.
Law enforcement officers, firefighters and air traffic controllers can retire at 50 with 20 years of covered service, or at any age with 25 years. Source: OPM: FERS eligibility.
Minimum Retirement Age by birth year
Born before 1948: 55. Born 1953 to 1964: 56. Born 1970 or later: 57. In between, it goes up by 2 months for each birth year. For example, 1967 is 56 and 6 months. See the full table.
Why 62 matters
- The 1.1% multiplier starts at 62 if you have 20 years. That's a 10% raise in your annuity for life.
- The MRA+10 reduction ends at 62.
- The FERS supplement stops at 62.
- Regular FERS retirees start getting cost-of-living increases at 62.
Example
Take someone born in mid-1967 with 22 years of service in mid-2026 and a $95,000 high-3. At 60 they'd have 23 years and a full annuity: $95,000 × 1% × 23 = $21,850 a year, plus the FERS supplement until 62. If they wait until 62, they'd have 25 years at 1.1%: $95,000 × 1.1% × 25 = $26,125 a year, about 20% more for life.
Find your earliest date and see your annuity, supplement, TSP and Social Security together.
Start my FERS estimateEstimates, not advice. Ask your agency's benefits office for an official estimate.