Kay Coles James, Director

June 2004

Your Retirement and

Insurance Benefits

(For Annuitants)

Civil Service Retirement System

(CSRS)

Federal Employees Retirement System

(FERS)

May 2005

U.S. Office of Personnel Manageme
Page no. 

How to reach us.....................................................................................................1


Life Events.............................................................................................................2


You move ..........................................................................................................2


You divorce........................................................................................................2


You marry .........................................................................................................3


You have a baby, a step-child, or a foster child ..................................................4


Your child reaches age 22..................................................................................4


You reach age 65...............................................................................................4


Your spouse dies ...............................................................................................5


Your former spouse dies or marries before age 55 ..............................................6


Your child dies ..................................................................................................6


You cannot handle your own money ..................................................................6


You die ..............................................................................................................7


Information About Students and Other Survivor Annuitants..............................7


Other Publications ................................................................................................9


i 
The Office of Personnel Management is committed to providing you with the best 

customer service possible. To do this, we have established a toll-free telephone numb

1-888-767-6738. Customers within local calling distance to Washington, DC must 

contact us on 202-606-0500. 

When you call on a touch tone telephone, you reach our Retirement Information Offic

You will be greeted by an automatic answering system which will guide you through 

menu which lists the topics our customers call about most frequently. 

To use the automated features, you will need your retirement claim number and you

personal identification number. We continue to add features to this system to make i

easier for you to take actions for yourself instead of having to wait for us to act. You 

have the option of talking to a Customer Service Specialist if you call during regular 

business hours. 

If you call on a rotary telephone, you will not be able to use the automated features. 

However, you can stay on the line, and you will be connected to a Customer Service 

Specialist if you call during regular business hours. 

The automated system is available to you day and night, seven days a week. Custom

Service Specialists are available from 7:30 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. Eastern time, Monday 

through Friday. They are not available on Federal holidays. If you are using TDD 

equipment, dial 1-800-878-5707. 

Contacting Us On the Internet

We provide retirement information and assistance on the Internet. You will find 

retirement brochures, forms, and other information at: 

www.opm.gov/retire 

You may also contact us for assistance using email at: 

retire@opm.gov 

We will respond to you at your email address. 

1
U.S. Office of Personnel Management 

Retirement Operations Center 

P.O. Box 45 

Boyers, PA 16017-0045 

Life Events

You move p You need to call us and give us your new address. This is vital if yo

are getting your payments by check. If your payments go to your 

financial institution, we still need to have your current mailing 

address so we can send you important information about your 

benefits. If you are changing financial institutions, we can take care 

of that also when you call.

p	 If you are enrolled in a health benefits plan that serves a limited 

geographic area, you will need to ask us to help you change plans i

you moved out of the service area. Contact the plan if you have 

questions about the service area.

p	 If you have state income tax withheld and you move to a different 

state, you need to call and stop the tax withholding. If you want to 

authorize state tax withholding for your new state, call and let us 

know.

You divorce p	 The divorce decree (court order) may say that you must continue to 

provide a survivor annuity or health benefits for your former spous

Be sure to mail a certified copy of the entire court order and all 

attachments to our Pennsylvania office. (See address above.) 

For more detailed information refer to publications RI 20-59 or RI 90-

listed on page 9.

2
should change to a self-only plan. Your court order may instruct yo

to continue to provide health benefits for your former spouse. Call u

to find out how to arrange for this coverage. If your court order doe

not instruct you to continue to provide health benefits coverage, yo

former spouse may qualify for temporary continuation of coverage f

up to 36 months. If this temporary coverage is needed, you or your 

former spouse must contact us within 60 days after the divorce. Fo

more detailed information refer to publication RI 79-2 listed on page 

p	 A court order may instruct you to provide health benefits coverage 

your children. If you are subject to such an order, you cannot chan

your coverage from family to a self-only plan. You must enroll in a 

family plan that provides full benefits for the children in the area 

where they live. This applies to you as long as the court order is in 

effect.

p	 You may want to call us and change your Federal or state income t

withholding.

p	 You may want to change your designations of beneficiary for life 

insurance or for retirement. This must be in writing on the forms w

provide. Call us or send email to ask for the forms.

You marry p	 Write to our Pennsylvania office (see address on page 2) and

send us a copy of your marriage certificate showing the date 

of the marriage and the name of your spouse. We will send 

you information about how to provide a survivor annuity. For more

detailed information refer to publication RI 20-59 listed on page 9.

p	 To change to a family health benefits enrollment, call us any 

time from 31 days before your marriage to 60 days afterward. 

Otherwise, you will have to wait until the next health benefits 

open season to make the change. If you already have a family

3 
You have a 

baby, a 

step-child, or 

a foster child

Your child 

reaches 

age 22

You reach 

age 65 

p	 You may want to change your Federal or state income tax 

withholding. Call us to make this change.

p	 You may want to change your designations of beneficiary for life 

insurance or for retirement. This must be in writing on the forms w

provide. Call us or send email to ask for the forms.

p	 If you do not already have a family health benefits enrollment, we c

change your enrollment to a family plan if you ask within 60 days 

after you have the child. If you already have a family plan, contact t

health benefits carrier to include the child in the coverage.

p	 You may want to change your Federal or state income tax withholding. Call us to make this change. 

p	 You may want to change your designations of beneficiary for life 

insurance or for retirement. This must be in writing on the forms w

provide. Call us or send email to ask for the forms.

p	 Your family health benefits coverage does not include children who 

are over age 22 (unless the child is disabled). However, temporary 

continuation of coverage is available for up to 36 months. If you ne

this coverage, call us within 60 days after the child reaches age 22.

For more detailed information refer to RI 79-2 listed on page 9.

p	 You are eligible for health benefits coverage under Medicare. Conta

your local Social Security Office and apply for Medicare. If you are 

eligible for Medicare but you do not apply, you will pay a Medicare 

penalty from the time you do apply for Medicare until you die.

When you are eligible for Medicare, you have the option of asking u

to change your health benefits enrollment to a less expensive plan. 

You may make this change 30 days before you are 65 or at any tim

thereafter.

4 
Your spouse 

dies 

Life insurance will reduce to 25% of its face value — unless you are 

paying an extra premium to prevent the reduction; Option A will 

reduce to 25% of its face value; Options B and C will reduce to zero 

unless you are paying an extra premium to prevent the reduction. 

The law does not provide a way to prevent the reduction of Option A

We stop withholding premiums for Basic Life insurance and 

all options the beginning of the month after you are 65. The premiu

to prevent life insurance from reducing begin at retirement and 

continue as long as you live.

You can reduce the cost of your life insurance only by reducing you

coverage. For example, you can cancel your optional life insurance 

and you can decide not to pay to prevent the reduction to Basic Life 

insurance. However, if you cancel your Basic Life insurance, you 

cannot continue any optional insurance you may have and you 

cannot reinstate life insurance that you have cancelled. For more

detailed information refer to RI 76-12 listed on page 9. 

p	 Send a copy of your spouse’s death certificate to our Pennsylvania 

office. (See page 2 for address.) If we are paying you a reduced annu

to provide a survivor annuity for your spouse, we may be able to 

increase your annuity after we have proof of the death.

p	 If your spouse is covered by Option C - Family life insurance, ask u

for a life insurance claim form.

p	 If there are no other eligible family members, you should ask us to 

change your health benefits to a self-only enrollment. You can do th

at any time.

p	 You may want to change your Federal or state income tax withholding. Call us to make this change.

5 
Your former 

spouse dies 

or marries 

before 

age 55 

Your child 

dies 

You cannot 

handle your 

own money 

p	 If we are paying you a reduced annuity to provide a survivor annuit

for your former spouse, we may be able to increase your annuity af

we have proof of the death or marriage. Call us about either of thes

events. If a former spouse who was married to you for 30 years or 

longer remarries before age 55, we cannot increase your annuity.

p	 You may want to change your Federal or state income tax withholding. Call us to make this change.

p	 You may want to change your designations of beneficiary for life 

insurance or for retirement. This must be in writing on the forms w

provide. Call us or send email to ask for the forms.

p	 If there are no other eligible family members, you should ask us to 

change your health benefits to a self-only enrollment. You can do th

at any time.

p	 If your child is covered by Option C - Family life insurance, call us 

send email to ask for a life insurance claim form.

p	 You may want to change your Federal or state income tax withholding. Call us to make this change.

p	 You may want to change your designations of beneficiary for life 

insurance or for retirement. This must be in writing on the forms w

provide. Call us or send email to ask for the forms.

p	 If you become mentally or physically incompetent, a family member 

someone who is able to take care of you and your affairs should cal

us as soon as possible. We will give the person full instructions abo

the needed actions to have your annuity payments made out to the 

family member or person who will be your “representative payee.”

6 
We will need a copy of your death certificate. When we hear of your 

death from your family or other representative, we will send them a

forms they need and will give them full instructions about how to 

proceed.

p	 If you have a family health benefits enrollment and your spouse is 

eligible for a monthly survivor annuity, we will change the enrollme

to self-only (if there are no other eligible family members covered). T

enrollment will be in your spouse’s name. The carrier will provide a 

new I.D. card for your spouse.

Information About Students and Other 

Survivor Annuitants 

A student annuitant is a child of a deceased Federal employee or retiree who is betwe

the ages of 18 and 22 and is attending school on a full-time basis. The student must 

attending an educational institution that is accredited by an organization recognized 

the U.S. Department of Education. The following events terminate students’ and children’s annuities: 

1.	 A student reaches age 22. If the 22nd birthday falls between September 1 and t

following June 30, benefits can continue until the end of the month preceding t

one in which full-time schooling stops or through June 30, whichever comes fir

2.	 A student stops going to school full-time, enters the military service on active 

duty, enters any of the military service academies, or transfers to a school that 

not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

3.	 Any person who is receiving a child’s annuity marries.

7 
5.	 A child who is receiving an annuity dies.

For more detailed information refer to RI 25-27 or RI 90-12 listed on page 9. 

The following events affect the amount of children’s annuities: 

1.	 For FERS only:

Any change in a child’s entitlement to Social Security benefits (if there are any 

children receiving FERS survivor annuity) affects the amount of the FERS bene

2.	 The death of a widow, widower, or former spouse (regardless of whether the 

deceased was receiving a survivor annuity) may affect the amount payable to th

children.

The following events terminate the survivor annuities of widows, widowers, 

and former spouses: 

1.	 The survivor annuitant dies.

2.	 The survivor annuitant marries before reaching age 55, unless the survivor 

annuitant was married to you for at least 30 years. Then the survivor annuity 

does not terminate.

3.	 A former spouse who is receiving a survivor annuity because of a court order is 

longer entitled because the court order requires termination of the annuity.

We must collect any benefits paid to a person not entitled to those payments. If your 

survivors accept benefits to which they are not entitled, they will be required to repay 

us. 

For more detailed information refer to RI 25-26 or RI 90-12 listed on page 9.

8 
topics than is possible here. If you wish to request one or more of these booklets, you 

may call us as described on page 1 or email retire@opm.gov. You may also 

find many of them on our websites at www.opm.gov/asd/htm/pub.htm and 

www.opm.gov/retire. 

Title Publication 

Number

(CSRS) 

Annuitants

Information for Annuitants on the Civil Service Retirement System RI 20-59

Information for Survivor Annuitants (CSRS) RI 25-26

Survivor Benefits for Children (CSRS) RI 25-27

Information for Disability Annuitants (CSRS) RI 30-13

Information for Retirees About the Federal Employees’ Group Life 

Insurance Program (FEGLI)

RI 76-12

Information for Annuitants About the Federal Employees Health 

Benefits Program

RI 79-2

Information for Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) RI 90-8

Information for FERS Survivor Annuitants RI 90-12

Information for FERS Disability Annuitants RI 98-2

9 
United States Office 

of 

Personnel Management 

1900 E Street, NW 
 

Washington, DC 20415 
 

www.opm.gov/forms 

RI 

Previous edition is not