Federal retirement timing workbench
Federal retirement date calculator
Compare FERS or CSRS separation dates by eligibility, annuity commencement, service, leave-year, pay-period, and COLA timing—without hiding the agency facts that still need confirmation.
- Rule snapshot
- Comparison
- Up to 3 dates · no ranking
- Privacy
- Browser-only · no storage
Candidate comparison
Build the retirement timeline
Start with agency-confirmed retirement service. Dates are compared in your order; the tool does not rank a universal best choice.
Candidate dates
Compare without reordering
Ready for agency-confirmed facts
Enter your profile or load an official-rule example. No calculation is transmitted or stored.
Rules verified 2026-07-22. Inputs stay in this browser.
Agency and OPM records control eligibility and payment.
Ready
Rules and the OPM most-employees leave-year table were reviewed . Personal service and agency-calendar facts come only from what you enter.
Entries stay in this browser. No government API, payroll connection, external account lookup, storage, or FedUp data-platform request is used.
Methodology
Resolve eligibility before calendar convenience
A month-end date, pay-period ending, or leave-year boundary matters only after the candidate produces the intended retirement path. The engine keeps those questions in that order.
- 01
Anchor agency-confirmed service
Enter retirement-creditable service through a known date. The tool projects only continuous covered service after that anchor; it never substitutes the SCD-Leave on an SF-50.
- 02
Test each date independently
Exact day-before-birthday age milestones and OPM 30-day-month service arithmetic are applied to every candidate without reordering the dates.
- 03
Choose the correct start rule
The eligibility basis is resolved before the commencement rule, preserving FERS month-start, CSRS three-day, and qualifying discontinued-service differences.
- 04
Keep calendar effects conditional
Pay-period and leave-year alignment are shown only from an official OPM snapshot or your agency-confirmed anchor. Processing time is never invented.
FERS voluntary / MRA+10 / VERA
First day of the month after separation
Qualified FERS discontinued service
Day after separation
CSRS voluntary / VERA
First next month, or next day under the confirmed three-day pay-status rule
Qualified CSRS discontinued service
Day after separation or qualifying pay cessation
See OPM Handbook Chapter 44 for discontinued service, Chapter 45 for deferred retirement, and 5 U.S.C. § 8345 for CSRS commencement.
Scope boundary
Exact rules, conditional personal facts
Public rules can identify a planning result. Only the agency and OPM can certify coverage, creditable service, an early authority, and the claim.
Included
- Ordinary FERS and CSRS retirement coverage
- Voluntary, agency-confirmed VERA, and agency-confirmed DSR comparisons
- One to three candidate separation dates kept in the entered order
- Exact statutory age milestones and projected retirement-creditable service
- Immediate, MRA+10, and supported deferred timing distinctions
- Annuity commencement, non-accrual gap, and normally payable month
- Conditional pay-period and OPM most-employees leave-year alignment
- COLA eligibility and proration timing without a future rate forecast
Stops or remains outside
- An official eligibility decision, retirement claim, or first-deposit date
- Annuity dollars, taxes, annual-leave payout dollars, or insurance premiums
- SCD-Leave or SCD-RIF used as an unverified retirement-service record
- Special LEO, firefighter, ATC, CBP, courier, Member, or reserve-technician rules
- Disability, phased retirement, OWCP, reemployment, or court-order cases
- Mixed FERS/CSRS, CSRS Offset, or disputed coverage records
- Unresolved breaks, excess LWOP, intermittent work, refunds, deposits, or military credit
- FEHB or FEGLI continuation adjudication and agency processing time
Canonical sources
No retirement-date data feed required
Eligibility and timing rules are compact enough to review and version locally. The unavailable facts are personal service and agency payroll records, so a shared feed would add false certainty rather than accuracy.
Reverify by July 1, 2027 and sooner after a change to title 5, Part 842, Part 630, or the cited OPM chapters. Refresh the leave-year snapshot whenever OPM extends its table beyond 2030.
- OPM Handbook, Chapter 41Ordinary FERS and CSRS eligibility and commencement, including the CSRS three-day rule.
- OPM Handbook, Chapters 42, 44, and 45MRA+10, discontinued-service, postponed, and deferred-retirement timing. Chapter 44 and Chapter 45 are linked in the methodology below.
- OPM FERS Types of RetirementCurrent immediate, early, MRA+10, postponed, and deferred requirements and application guidance.
- OPM CSRS Types of RetirementCurrent CSRS age/service paths and coverage requirements.
- 5 U.S.C. §§ 8464 and 8345Controlling FERS and CSRS commencement rules; the CSRS section is linked beside this source on the page.
- 5 C.F.R. Part 842FERS MRA, retirement eligibility, postponed commencement, and MRA+10 reduction rules.
- OPM leave-year datesPublished 2024–2030 dates for most employees, with OPM's warning that agency payroll calendars can differ.
- OPM Handbook, Chapter 2First COLA timing and proration; the tool does not forecast a future COLA percentage.
- OPM Handbook, Chapter 50Retirement-service 30-day-month and 360-day-year arithmetic used for projected service.
Questions
Federal retirement-date FAQ
What is the best date to retire from the Federal Government?
There is no universal best date. Month-end can reduce the gap before an ordinary FERS annuity begins, a full pay-period ending may affect final leave accrual, and a leave-year boundary can affect use-or-lose leave. Eligibility, cash needs, insurance, work plans, and agency records can make a different date better for a particular person. This tool compares consequences instead of ranking dates.
When does a FERS annuity begin?
An ordinary voluntary, MRA+10, or VERA FERS annuity generally begins on the first day of the month after separation. A qualifying discontinued-service annuity generally begins the day after separation. Disability, term-expiration, reserve-technician, and other special cases are outside this calculator.
Does CSRS have the same retirement-date rule?
No. A voluntary CSRS annuity normally begins the first day of the next month, but an employee whose pay status ends within the first three calendar days may begin the annuity the next day. The calculator requires confirmation of the pay-status facts before using that exception.
Can unused sick leave make me eligible sooner?
No. Unused sick leave can affect an annuity computation after title to an annuity is established, but it cannot be used to satisfy the age-and-service eligibility threshold. This page never adds sick leave to eligibility service.
Can I use the service computation date on my SF-50?
Not automatically. The common SF-50 service computation date is usually SCD-Leave, and retirement service can differ because military service, deposits, nonpay time, prior service, and coverage rules are purpose-specific. Use an agency-confirmed retirement-service total or retirement SCD.
Does the date shown predict my first OPM payment?
No. The tool can identify when an annuity legally begins and the first normally payable month. Agency transmission, OPM adjudication, interim-pay timing, deductions, and the actual deposit date are not deterministic and are not estimated.
Do all agencies use the OPM leave-year dates shown?
No. OPM says its published schedule applies to most employees, while some agency payroll systems use a different schedule. Use the unknown setting or a confirmed agency pay-period anchor when the published calendar does not apply.
Are my dates or service records uploaded?
No. The calculation runs in this browser. Entries are not stored or transmitted, and the page makes no live government, payroll, or FedUp data-platform request.
Next worksheet
Keep dates and dollars in separate tools
For the administrative sequence around retirement, use the Federal retirement transition guide.
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