How does the FERS supplement and its earnings test work?

Rules checked October 18, 2026, against opm.gov and ssa.gov

Who gets the supplement

The supplement exists because Social Security can't start before 62, while many FERS employees can retire in their mid-50s. OPM says it is "generally payable to those retiring before 62 on an immediate annuity that is not reduced for age" (OPM: Types of retirement).

Source: OPM: Handbook, Chapter 51, Retiree annuity supplement. You also need at least one full calendar year of FERS service.

How the amount is figured

OPM builds a Social Security-style estimate using only your FERS civilian earnings, then scales it to your years of FERS service. The handbook's steps are:

1. Build an earnings history from your federal basic pay, capped at Social Security's taxable maximum.
2. Index the earnings, drop the five lowest years, and compute an average (Social Security's AIME).
3. Apply Social Security's benefit formula and the reduction for starting at 62 (70% of the full amount for people born in 1960 or later).
4. Multiply by your years of FERS service divided by 40, with 40 years as the cap.

For a quick estimate, many people use this shortcut: take the Social Security estimate at age 62 from your Social Security statement, and multiply by your FERS years divided by 40. It's rough, because your statement includes non-federal earnings and OPM's version doesn't, but it gives you the right size.

The handbook also notes that the Windfall Elimination Provision is not applied to the supplement. (The Social Security Fairness Act, signed in January 2025, also ended that provision for Social Security itself; see Does my pension lower my Social Security?)

When it starts and ends

The supplement starts with your annuity, except for early-out and discontinued service retirees under their MRA, who must wait until their MRA. It stops at the end of the month you turn 62, or the month before Social Security would first be payable if that comes sooner (OPM: Handbook, Chapter 51).

It never gets a cost-of-living increase. The handbook says "the retiree annuity supplement is not increased by cost-of-living adjustments." The supplement ending at 62 is a planning cliff: many retirees file for Social Security at 62 to replace it, while others bridge the gap with TSP withdrawals and wait. Our Social Security timing guide explains that trade-off.

The earnings test

The supplement follows Social Security's own earnings test. If your earnings from work go over the annual exempt amount, OPM reduces the supplement by $1 for every $2 over the limit. The reduction can't exceed the supplement itself.

Source: SSA: Exempt amounts under the earnings test and SSA: 2027 COLA fact sheet. OPM confirms the $24,480 figure for 2026 (OPM: BAL 26-101). The higher Social Security limit for the year you reach full retirement age doesn't apply, since the supplement ends at 62.

What counts: wages from a job, plus net earnings from self-employment, minus any net self-employment loss. What doesn't count: your FERS annuity, TSP withdrawals, investment income, rental income and other income that isn't from work.

When it hits: the reduction for a year is based on the previous calendar year's earnings. It begins in the year after you first become entitled to the supplement, or after you reach your MRA if that is later. In practice this means a good year of side work shows up as a smaller supplement the following year.

Special provision retirees

Law enforcement officers, firefighters, air traffic controllers and military reserve technicians who retire under their special provisions get a break: the earnings test does not apply to them until they reach their MRA. A firefighter who retires at 50 can work any job until their MRA (55 to 57) without losing any supplement. From the MRA until 62, the normal test applies. See FERS special provisions.

Reporting your earnings to OPM

After you reach your MRA, OPM sends supplement recipients an annual earnings survey, form RI 92-22, the Annuity Supplement Earnings Report. You fill in your wages and self-employment income for the prior year and mail it back to OPM's FERS annuity supplement office. Keep your W-2s and tax returns handy so the figures you report match your records, and answer every year until the supplement ends. If something on the form is unclear, call OPM Retirement Services before you send it.

What to do next

1. Check your retirement type. Make sure your planned retirement qualifies. MRA+10 does not.
2. Ask for an estimate. Your agency's retirement estimate should show the supplement separately.
3. If you'll work, compare your expected earnings with the exempt amount for that year.
4. Watch for RI 92-22. Return OPM's earnings survey on time each year until 62.
5. Plan for 62. Decide how you'll replace the supplement when it stops.

General information, not advice. We aren't part of OPM or the Social Security Administration. Your agency's benefits office can estimate your supplement, and OPM applies the earnings test.