Pension Calculator
With high-3 average salary 95000 usd, years of creditable service 25 years, age when the annuity begins 60 years, multiplier per year 1 percent and 1 more field, pension comes to $21,375 — annual pension. It is reached in 12 steps, the last of which is 21375 * (1 - 0), and each one is printed on the page with its numbers filled in. The formula is the one published by US Office of Personnel Management, not an approximation fitted to it.
A defined-benefit pension from years of service and final salary, with the age-62 multiplier cliff and the early-retirement reduction both priced.
Formula and sources checked · How we check
High-3 average salary 95000, Years of creditable service 25 years, Age when the annuity begins 60 years, Multiplier per year 1
$21,375
Annual pension for the example below. Editing a field recomputes the calculator below; this figure holds the answer the page was loaded with.
It is written into the HTML rather than drawn by a script, so a search engine reading this page without running JavaScript still finds an answer.
- What FERS would pay per year of service
1 %- Annuity before any reduction
95000 * 1 / 100 * 2523,750 usd- Full months under 62
max(0, (62 - 60) * 12)24 months- Early-retirement reduction
24 * 5 / 12 / 1000.1- After the age reduction
23750 * (1 - min(0.1, 0.95))21,375 usd- Cost of the survivor election
0 * 0.1 + 0 * 0.050- Annual pension
21375 * (1 - 0)21,375 usd- Monthly pension
21375 / 121,781.25 usd- Share of final salary replaced
21375 / 95000 * 10022.5 %- Annual pension in ten years with COLA
21375 * pow(1 + 2 / 100, 10)26,056.006 usd- Paid out over twenty years with COLA
21375 * (pow(1 + 2 / 100, 20) - 1) / (2 / 100)519,356.279 usd- What one more year of service adds a year
95000 * 1 / 100 * (1 - min(0.1, 0.95)) * (1 - 0)855 usd
Worked example
A $95,000 high-3 with 25 years of service, starting at 60, pays $21,375 a year — $1,781.25 a month, replacing 22.5% of salary. Two years of it went to the early-retirement reduction: 24 months under 62 at 5/12 of 1% each is 10% off, for life. Waiting to 62 instead pays $28,215 — 32% more — because three things land at once: the reduction disappears, two more years of service accrue, and the FERS multiplier steps from 1% to 1.1% for anyone leaving at 62 with twenty years in.
How to work it out yourself
- 1.Enter your high-3: the highest average basic pay across any three consecutive years, not your final salary.
- 2.Put in creditable service in years, dropping any fractional month.
- 3.Set the multiplier your plan uses. FERS is 1%, or 1.1% at 62 with twenty years; most state and corporate plans are higher.
- 4.Compare the annuity at your planned age against the same one a year later — the last row prices the extra year.
Annual pension by years of service, on a $95,000 high-3
| Years of creditable service (years) | Annual pension | Annual pension | Monthly pension | Share of final salary replaced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | $8,550 | 8,550 usd | 712.5 usd | 9 % |
| 15 | $12,825 | 12,825 usd | 1,068.75 usd | 13.5 % |
| 20 | $17,100 | 17,100 usd | 1,425 usd | 18 % |
| 25 | $21,375 | 21,375 usd | 1,781.25 usd | 22.5 % |
| 30 | $28,500 | 28,500 usd | 2,375 usd | 30 % |
| 35 | $33,250 | 33,250 usd | 2,770.83 usd | 35 % |
| 40 | $38,000 | 38,000 usd | 3,166.67 usd | 40 % |
At thirty years the early-retirement reduction stops applying under the FERS rules, which is why the line steepens there rather than continuing straight.
The formula
- What FERS would pay per year of service
- Annuity before any reduction
95000 * 1 / 100 * 25 - Full months under 62
max(0, (62 - 60) * 12) - Early-retirement reduction
24 * 5 / 12 / 100 - After the age reduction
23750 * (1 - min(0.1, 0.95)) - Cost of the survivor election
0 * 0.1 + 0 * 0.05 - Annual pension
21375 * (1 - 0) - Monthly pension
21375 / 12 - Share of final salary replaced
21375 / 95000 * 100 - Annual pension in ten years with COLA
21375 * pow(1 + 2 / 100, 10) - Paid out over twenty years with COLA
21375 * (pow(1 + 2 / 100, 20) - 1) / (2 / 100) - What one more year of service adds a year
95000 * 1 / 100 * (1 - min(0.1, 0.95)) * (1 - 0)
Source: US Office of Personnel Management — FERS basic annuity computation, Social Security Administration — retirement benefit reduction for early retirement
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