FERS Retirement Calculator PagesWhen you Google "FERS Retirement Calculator" - it may look like there are hundreds of FERS calculators out there. But you might be surprised to learn that there are only four main federal retirement calculators available online. They are:
Let’s take a look at each of these major FERS retirement calculators... USGS FERS Calculator: "Quick & Easy"If you're looking for a quick estimate of your FERS annuity - check out the USGS FERS retirement calculator.The USGS has a very simple calculator. You enter in:
Then you get back a nice grid with your FERS annuity before and after any deductions for survivor benefits. It also has a helpful section in the results that lets you know if you are eligible to retire based on the information you have entered. Here's a screen shot of the USGS FERS Retirement calculator:
While I still think this is the best simple FERS retirement calculator - there are a couple of things you should watch for:
SCD vs. RSCDOn the input section it asks for your SCD - your Service Computation Date. But when you use a FERS retirement calculator, you need to use your RSCD - your Retirement Service Computation Date. For many FERS, their SCD and RSCD might be different dates.How can this be? We find many Federal Employees started their career with temp time - which doesn't count towards retirement. Or if you have any deposit or redeposit time - your RSCD might be different than your SCD. When you click on the little “Help” link on the USGS calculator, they do have some information about your SCD vs. your RSCD. But if you don't happen to click that link - you might not even know there was a difference. I think that some people will just enter their SCD and possibly get an inaccurate calculation for their personal situation. Survivor Annuity ConfusionThe section on the survivor annuity options can be confusing. You choose 100% or 50% survivor annuity - or no annuity at all.If you aren’t familiar with the FERS survivor annuity – you might think that if you choose 100%, your survivor would get 100% of your pension when you die. But this is not the case. Here - the 100% really means 50% and the 50% really means 25%. Confusing, right? They do go on to explain that in the results section of this calculator – but I think this may confuse some Federal Employees. No Special Provisions CalculationThis FERS retirement calculator is only for regular FERS - it does not do calculations for Special Provisions FERS employees.Overall: Good Quick EstimateKeep in mind that it doesn’t tell you when the ‘best’ time to retire is. It simply calculates your FERS annuity based on the information you provide.With those things in mind - the USGS FERS Retirement Calculator is still a great tool to get a quick estimate for your FERS annuity benefit. Click here to visit
USGS FERS Retirement Calculator
FedCalc: "Middle-of-the-Road"FedCalc's FERS Annuity Calculator is a good middle-of-the-road tool.Sometimes the ads all around the page can get distracting - but it's still fairly straight forward to use. FedCalc's FERS Annuity Calculator has you enter:
It provides the same information you'll get with the USGS calculator - but you'll also get information on FEGLI and the FERS Supplement. And if you have deposit or redeposit time, it will help calculate the cost of that for you as well. Here's a look at a sceen shot (without the ads) from FedCalc: 
After you use FedCalc's FERS Annuity Calculator, you'll be asked if you want to use their Full Retirement Analysis Calculator. While I like FedCalc's FERS Calculator - I'm not a big fan of their Full Retirement Calculator for the following reasons:
Default Estimates are UnrealisticIt’s nice that some of the fields in FedCalc are pre-loaded with some estimates - but I happen to disagree with their default numbers. For example, the number of ‘years in retirement’ is pre-set to 15.So if you’re 60 years old, they’re saying you only need to plan to be retired for 15 years – or 75 years old. Are you planning on kicking the bucket at 75? I happen to know a lot of people at 75 years of age – some of my clients are 75. And they are still active, healthy and enjoying retirement. I encourage you to plan to be retired for 30 or even 40 years. Doesn't Consider Effect of TaxesFedCalc's Full Retirement Analysis is more comprehensive - but it still misses the boat since it doesn't consider the effect of income taxes on your retirement.While the USGS FERS retirement calculator doesn't consider taxes either - it is only calculating your FERS annuity. Since FedCalc's "Full Retirement Analysis" deals with your bigger financial picture - it should consider taxes, but it does not. Can't Easily Enter Social Security EstimateFedCalc's Full Retirement Analysis allows you to enter information about your Social Security benefit.But - you can't just look at your Social Security Statement and put in Social Security's estimate. You have to enter in ALL of your annual earnings so FedCalc can do this calculation for you. So if you're 60, you probably have 40 years of earnings to type into this calculator. But unless you're a CSRS or CSRS Offset - who is subject to the Windfall Elimination Provision - it makes no sense to enter in all of your annual earnings history. You should just be able to put in the estimate from your Social Security Statement. But with the FedCalc's Full Retirement Analysis - you can't. Also, it looks like they haven't updated this section of their calculator in a while - since the last block that you can enter information in is for 2005. Privately Branded to Other CompaniesOne last thing to know about FedCalc is that they offer a professional version that allows some companies use FedCalc on their website as if it were their own FERS retirement calculator.If you see a FERS retirement calculator on a website and you’re not sure if it is from FedCalc – just click on the link. If the website of the calculator starts with Quantos or FedCalc – you have found a privately branded FedCalc Calculator. This is not necessarily a bad thing – I just think you should know. Overall: Avoid Full Analysis, But FERS Annuity Calc is UsefulI don't care for FedCalc's Full Retirement Analysis because I don't think it is really a 'full analysis'.And they make it too difficult to enter some information - such as your Social Security earnings. So, while I can't recommend their Full Retirement Analysis Calculator - I do think that FedCalc's FERS Annuity Calculator can be a very useful tool. OPM’s Ballpark Estimate: "Misleading"If you go to the OPM's website, you’ll find the Ballpark Estimate calculator. This calculator was actually created by another organization, but it is the only FERS retirement calculator that OPM links to.Unfortunately, I think this calculator can actually do more harm than good. I tell the FERS who come to my Federal Employee classes to avoid it altogether. I tried hard to come up with something positive to say about this calculator - but because I think it is misleading and confusing, I just can't recommend it at all. Someone has tried hard to make this FERS retirement calculator useful - but I think it must have been someone who didn't really understand how Federal Retirement benefits work. I have too many issues with this calculator to list them all - but here are the biggies:
but the biggest problem I have with this calculator is:
No Options for FERS Survivor BenefitsMost Federal Employees will want to choose some type of survivor annuity, which will reduce their pension 5% - 10%.But there is no place to enter any choices about your FERS survivor annuity options on the Ballpark Estimate. This is an important area that should be covered in a FERS retirement calculator - but it's missing here. Incomplete Social Security EstimatesThis FERS retirement calculator asks for your estimated Social Security benefit - but it lacks simple 'checks'.I ran an example thorough this calculator that had someone receiving $1,200 a month in Social Security. But the example had them retiring at age 60. They actually wouldn't be eligible for Social Security until age 62. The calculator should have caught that and put up an error message. And to boot - they show you receiving your entire estimated Social Security income - even though based on other information you've entered in the calculator would mean that your Social Security benefit would be significantly reduced. In the example I ran, the calculator told me "Congratulations!" my sample FERS had enough money for retirement - but when you take taxes and the Social Security reductions into account - they didn't have enough money. No FERS Supplement CalculationContinuing the example above, while this person would not be eligible for Social Security - they would get the FERS Supplement. But you wouldn't know it from the results page of this calculator.Even though the calculator has all the info it needs to do a FERS Supplement calculation - it does not do a FERS Supplement calculation. Limited TSP CalculationsThe Ballpark Estimate tells you how much you'll be taking out of your TSP each year in retirement, but it doesn’t take in to account any of the taxes that you’ll have to pay when the money comes out.And - the calculator assumes that you'll be taking your TSP money out right away. But many FERS retirees that I work with choose to delay taking money out of their TSP. This is not an option with this calculator. Also, it only focuses on one of the four ways you can use your TSP when you are retired. It doesn’t hint that there are other, possibly
more advantageous ways to use your TSP in retirement.
Doesn't Consider TaxesThe Ballpark Estimate tries to be comprehensive - but it totally ignores income taxes.While we know that taxes will change - they certainly aren't going away. If you don't plan properly , income taxes can have a huge impact on your retirement lifestyle. The way you set up your retirement accounts can have positive or negative tax consequences when you retire. Any good comprehensive FERS retirement calculator will look at your retirement income, net of income taxes and net of inflation - this does neither. Misleading Information on FERS AnnuityThis is my biggest criticism of this calculator: the calculations it gives for your FERS annuity are both misleading and inaccurate.It takes an estimated rate of inflation and increases your FERS annuity. But your FERS annuity will not be increased by this amount! Why would they put this here? I think this calculation is confusing and may lead some FERS employees to think their annuity will be more than it actually will be. Take a look at this screen shot of a section from the results page. Based on what you see - what do you think your pension would be? ... 
There are the two big problems with the results in the screen shot above:
I think it is because the creators of this calculator did not understand
how the FERS retirement annuity works.
Overall: Don't Use This FERS CalculatorI tried to see where the creators of this calculator were coming from - but when it comes down to it - no matter what they were trying to do, they have put up a calculator that is sure to confuse and mislead FERS employees.The only explanation is that the people who created this calculator don't understand how the FERS annuity works. I find it troubling that OPM would still link to a FERS retirement calculator that provides misleading information about the FERS pension. Because of these issues, and the potentially confusing results page, save yourself the time and hassle by avoiding the Ballpark Estimate FERS Retirement Calculator. I'm providing a link here to the calculator in case you want to check it out yourself. But please - don't pay any attention to the results. Use another calculator. FedRetire Software: "Most Comprehensive"FedRetire Software provides the most complete and thorough FERS retirement calculator available.Their program is called the "CSRS and FERS Benefits Calculator". They offer a free calculator, as well as a professional version for $300. The professional version does have more options than the free version. In addition to your basic FERS annuity, the FedRetire Software FERS program can calculate:
And the biggie…
Although, perhaps most important, this calculator helps you see if there is a gap between the lifestyle you want in retirement and your projected retirement income. While this is the most comprehensive and thorough of all the FERS retirement calculators - there are a few things you need to keep in mind:
Not Web-Based, Download RequiredUnlike all the other calculators we’ve discussed, it’s not web-based.You have to download the program to your computer to use it. This is not the end of the world - but it does take more time than just using a web-based calculator. Quirky, Not IntuitiveWhile this is the most thorough FERS retirement calculator program – it is also the most quirky.It’s not very intuitive to use. You have to really spend a lot of time in the program before you feel comfortable with the way information is entered. High Potential for Mis-entering InformationIf you don’t spend a lot of time to get very familiar with all the different features – there is a high chance that you may get misleading calculations.You might enter the wrong information, or perhaps mistakenly enter the ‘right’ information, but in the wrong spot. Either way, you could end up with incorrect information about your FERS retirement benefits if you're not careful. A Little Experiment: Quirky, but Still the BestSince I’m quite familiar with this program, I decided to do a little experiment...I wanted to get the perspective of someone who had never used this calculator before. So I asked my wife to test out the free version of this calculator. She is familiar with FERS retirement benefits - but had never used the FedRetire Software program before. To start off with, she had problems downloading the free version. After uninstalling and reinstalling the program didn’t fix the problem – she located a help document and had to change some settings on her computer to get the program to run. Once it was running, her first comment was that she didn’t know where to start. If you try this calculator, you’ll see exactly what she means. And she definitely agreed that this calculator was ‘quirky’. Even though my wife is pretty well versed in FERS benefits and fairly computer savvy – she said she had a hard time navigating this calculator. So, it might be a pain to download, it's quirky and can be difficult to navigate. But - I still think this is the best FERS retirement calculator to use when you want to calculate all of your Federal Retirement benefits. I’ve used this calculator quite a bit, because I think it provides the most thorough look at your complete retirement picture. In fact, I use the professional version of this program to calculate benefits for my Federal Employee clients. They provide me with their personal information, and I do the calculation for them. This way, they get the detailed report, without having to worry about mis-entering information. If you want to download this program for yourself, here's a link to
FedRetire Software's CSRS and FERS Benefits Calculator
Reminders for Any FERS Retirement CalculatorA couple of reminders when using any FERS Retirement Caculator:Please remember that it's easy to enter the 'right' information in the 'wrong' spot. And you might not even be aware of the error. So - be sure to scrutinize the results you get, and make sure they pass the 'straight face test'. None of these calculators will tell you when the ‘best’ time to retire is. They won't tell you that it would be better to keep working another year - or - that you might be able to retire sooner. They simply calculate your FERS annuity based on the information you provide. For real insight into your FERS retirement - consider seeking a personal consultation with a financial planner who understands FERS benefits. Which FERS Retirement Calculator is Right for Me?If you’re more than 10 years from retirement: stick to a simple calculator, like the USGS FERS retirement calculator.If you’re 5 - 10 years away from retirement: you could probably be just fine using FedCalc’s FERS calculator. If you’re about 5 years from retirement: consider using the FedRetire Software calculator. But if you're 5 years or less from retirement - or if you have concerns about having enough money in retirement - I would encourage you to get a personal benefits calculation from a financial planner who is experienced with Federal retirement benefits. The free FERS retirement calculator programs can be handy. But when you're getting close to retirement - wouldn't it be worth it to get some help from someone who works with FERS retirement benefits every day? Can Someone Help Me?Federal benefits can seem daunting - it's our goal to help our clients understand their Federal benefits, as well as how their benefits fit into their overall financial picture.OPM and your HR department can give you information - but they simply aren't equipped to help you determine what benefit choices are the best for your personal situation. Some of our clients were overwhelmed with all of the details of their Federal benefits: between Years in Service and High-3 Calculations, to getting an accurate projection of their complete retirement picture and how to submit their documentation - we've helped them with the whole process. We help walk our clients through the entire planning process, and even help them fill out their retirement paperwork to make sure everything is in order. Your FERS benefits make up an important part of your retirement income. You should be sure you know exactly how much money you can count on in retirement. Are you looking for someone to help you get the most out of your Federal benefits and help you manage your personal and retirement finances? Learn more about
how a Federal Retirement Planner can help you.
Return from FERS Retirement Calculator to Plan Your Federal Retirement Home Page
|
