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Hi. I'm Kim Johnson,
and this is Welcome to the Forest Service,
your destination for breaking news
and feature stories about in-processing.
We're following the journeys of new employees
as they navigate the Forest Service's in-processing.
In this episode, Erin has a quick discussion about
her retirement with her benefits counselor, Greg.
Let's cut over to Erin and Greg.
ERIN: Yeah, Greg, I want to set things up right and
I realize there are a lot of aspects to the systems.
First, could you tell me about
the Federal Employees Retirement System?
GREG: The Federal Employees Retirement System,
or FERS, is a retirement system that offers retirement,
disability, and survivor benefits for civilian
employees in the federal government hired on or after
January 1st, 1987, or during the interim period
of January 1st, 1984, through December 31st, 1986.
Under FERS, you have three tiers, or sources,
of benefits to offer you a strong retirement foundation.
One tier is the FERS retirement annuity and is
based on your total years of credible service.
The second tier consists of a FERS supplement for
eligible employees, which is paid until age 62.
At age 62, when you are initially eligible for
reduced Social Security benefits, the special
retirement supplement ends and your Social Security
benefits may begin if you elect to apply at that time.
The third tier is the Thrift Savings Plan,
or TSP, and offers you a tax-deferred
retirement savings and investment plan.
Participating in the TSP allows you the opportunity
to save part of your income for retirement,
receive matching agency contributions,
and reduce your taxes.
Your FERS retirement contribution, Social Security,
and TSP are made by automatic payroll deductions.
Your FERS retirement contribution
is dependent upon your date of hire.
If you were hired on or after January 1st, 1987,
your retirement contribution is a 0.8 percent
deduction from your salary each pay period.
If you were hired on or after January 1st, 2013,
the retirement contribution rate is
3.1 percent of your salary.
If you were hired on or after January 1st, 2014,
the retirement contribution rate is
4.4 percent of your salary.
If you have former permanent or
previous temporary federal service,
you may fall under a different
retirement system and pay a different rate.
If you have any additional questions about
the rate you're paying, we should schedule
another appointment to discuss in more detail.
You can determine your contribution rate at any time
by logging in to your Employee Personal Page through
ConnectHR and viewing your FERS retirement deductions
on the earnings and leave statement.
FERS and Social Security deductions are not optional.
KIM: Because Erin is a new employee,
she is a FERS participant.
A transfer or reassignment could be a participant
in the Civil Service Retirement System, CSRS.
CSRS provides retirement, disability,
and survivor benefits for civilian employees
in the federal government who were hired before 1984.
CSRS participants do not pay Social Security.
However, CSRS retirement contributions are
7 percent of your salary.
Under certain circumstances,
employees may be covered by the CSRS offset.
If you were previously employed with the government
and were covered by CSRS or are covered under
CSRS offset, contact a benefits counselor to discuss
your specific individual retirement coverage and costs
by calling the Human Resources Management,
or HRM Contact Center, at 877-372-7248.
If you have prior military or civilian service,
you will also want to review this information
with your benefits counselor to discuss
any deposits and re-deposits.
Let's check in with Greg and Erin.
ERIN: Can you tell me anything about the retirement
system for firefighters and law enforcement officers?
GREG: Yes. It's referred to as Special Retirement Coverage.
(Text on screen)
Firefighter or law enforcement coverage has many unique
and specific credible service requirements for eligibility.
If you are in a firefighter or law enforcement
covered position, we should schedule
another appointment to discuss in more detail.
We want to ensure continuation of the
special retirement coverage throughout your career.
ERIN: Yeah, thanks, Greg. That's great information.
KIM: Thanks for joining us.
That's it from Welcome to the Forest Service.
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