So You Think You're a FERS... Right?

by Micah Shilanski
(Anchorage, AK)

So you think you're a FERS, right? If you worked from 1983 - 1987 you should pay extra special attn to your SF50s. You might really be a FERCCA!

What Happened: OPM put some federal employees in the wrong retirement system. Many don't even know that they are FERCCAs.

How it Was Caught: Creating a timeline of service during a meeting with Micah Shilanski

How to Avoid It: Pay special attention to your SF-50s, especially if you were hired or rehired between 1983 and 1987, and even as late as 1989.

The Story:

CSRS was created in the 1920s, and continued through 1983...But FERS didn't take effect until 1987.

In that time frame, from 1983 to 1987 - OPM now says that they accidentally put 13,000 workers in the *WRONG* retirement system. There is a special name for these employees - FERCCA.

So far, OPM says that they have found 10,000 FERCCAs, but 3,000 are still out there.

That means there are 3,000 more federal employees out there who think they are CSRS or FERS - but they are really FERCCA.

FERCCAs have important choices to make before retirement - choices that could significantly impact their retirement income.

Of the hundreds of Federal employees that I have taught and worked with over the years - I have come across 4 FERCCAs.

And the real kicker?! Only 1 actually knew that they were a FERCCA. The other 3 had no idea! But during an initial consultation - something just didn't sound right. And once we looked further into their situation - we discovered that they were indeed FERCCAs.

What should you do? Use your SF-50s to create a timeline of service. As you construct your timeline and look at your SF-50s, you'll see if each section was 'creditable service' or if it was temp time. Once you've got your timeline - you should compare it to OPM's rules for retirement systems and make sure that you were put in the correct retirement system.