CSRS Civil Service 

Re tire ment 

Sys tem 

Re tire ment 

Facts 

13 

CSRS 

Off set 

Re tire ment 

RI 83-19 

Pre vious editions are not usable Re vised April 1998

United States 

Office of 

Personnel 

Management 

Retirement and 

Insurance 

Service 
Ad di tional retire ment infor ma tion and all publi cations of the U.S. Office of Person nel Manage ment 

listed in this pamphlet are available on the Internet. 

OPM Website — http://www.opm.gov/asd 
Table of Contents 

Page
 
 

Intro duc tion ............................................................1
 
 

Are You A CSRS Offset Employee? .....................1
 
 

What Is Differ ent About Being Under
 
 CSRS Offset? ....................................................2
 
 

When You May Retire ...........................................4
 
 

How CSRS Annui ties Are Computed ....................6
 
 

CSRS Offset Annu ity Reduc tion ...........................7
 
 

When Will the CSRS Offset Annu ity
 
 Be Reduced?......................................................7
 
 

How Is the Offset Computed?................................8
 
 

Cost of Living Increases.........................................9
 
 

Credit for Military Service .....................................9
 
 

CSRS Offset Disabil ity Retire ment .....................11
 
 

If You Retire Before Age 55 ................................12
 
 

If You Die While Employed as A CSRS
 
 Offset Employee..............................................12
 
 

Pro vid ing for Your Survi vors at
 
 Retire ment .......................................................13
 
 

If You Leave the Service......................................14
 
 

Mak ing Payments for Previous Service ...............14
 
 

Al ter na tive Form of Annu ity................................15
 
 

Who Can Advise About the Amount
 
 of the Offset?...................................................15
 
 

Can I Partici pate in the Thrift Savings
 
 Plan as A CSRS Offset Employee?.................16
 
 

Will Payment of My CSRS Offset
 
 Annu ity Affect the Amount of My
 Social Secu rity Benefits? ................................16
 
 

Ad di tional Infor ma tion.........................................18
 
 

i 
Introduction 

This pamphlet provides infor ma tion on the Civil 

Serv ice Retire ment System’s Offset Retire ment. 

Are You A CSRS Offset Employee? 

Prior to January 1, 1984, there was only one major 

re tire ment system for Federal employ ees. Federal 

em ploy ees who were eligi ble for retire ment coverage were covered by the Civil Service Retire ment 

Sys tem (CSRS). By law, Federal employ ees covered by CSRS were excluded from Social Secu rity 

cov er age and taxes. 

The Social Secu rity laws were changed in 1983 to 

re quire Social Secu rity Federal Insur ance Contribu tions Act or (FICA) cover age for most new Federal employ ees hired after Decem ber 31, 1983, or 

em ploy ees who were rehired after Decem ber 31, 

1983, after a break in CSRS cover age of more than 

1 year. These employ ees were placed in an interim 

re tire ment plan that provided for full Social Security deduc tions from pay and reduced CSRS deduc tions. This was the precur sor of the CSRS 

Off set plan. 

On January 1, 1987, the new Federal Employ ees 

Re tire ment System (FERS) started. Most Federal 

work ers are covered by either CSRS or FERS. 

How ever, in the legis la tion that created FERS, 

Con gress also created the CSRS Offset plan. 

Typi cally, CSRS Offset retire ment applies to 

em ploy ees who had a break in service that 

ex ceeded 1 year and ended after 1983, and had 5 

years of credit able civil ian service as of January 1, 

1987. For exam ple, if you left Federal service on 

May 15, 1992, with 18 years of CSRS-covered 

serv ice and were rein stated under a career appointment on Novem ber 1, 1993, you would have CSRS 

Off set cover age. 

An other major category of CSRS Offset employees includes people who were hired before January 

1, 1984, acquired CSRS interim cover age between 

1984 and 1987, and had at least 5 years of creditable civil ian service by January 1, 1987. For exam1 
ple, suppose that an employee had a cumu la tive 

to tal of 4 years of tempo rary service and obtained 

a career appoint ment on June 1, 1984. Upon entering the career appoint ment, the employee would 

have been placed under the interim plan, which 

be came the CSRS Offset plan on January 1, 1987. 

There are other less common reasons why employees may have CSRS Offset cover age. You should 

check with your person nel office if you do not 

know what retire ment system covers you, or you 

have questions about your cover age. When there 

are errors in employ ees’ retire ment cover age, the 

er rors must be corrected. There is no authority to 

al low employ ees to retain cover age that they are 

not enti tled to, so it is impor tant that when errors 

oc cur, they are detected and corrected as quickly 

as possi ble. 

What Is Different About Being Under 

CSRS Offset? 

This section summa rizes what is differ ent about 

CSRS Offset benefits. The sections that follow 

pro vide a basic expla na tion of CSRS benefits and 

more detailed infor ma tion about CSRS Offset 

rules. If you want more detailed infor ma tion about 

a particu lar topic, another of the “Retire ment 

Facts” pamphlets listed at the end of this pamphlet 

may answer your questions. 

While you are employed under the CSRS Offset 

pro vi sions, you are covered by both CSRS and 

So cial Secu rity. You are earning retire ment credits 

un der the relatively gener ous CSRS formula. You 

also have the portabil ity of Social Secu rity coverage. You are adding to any Social Secu rity benefits 

you have already earned, and if you continue to 

work after you leave Federal employ ment, you will 

con tinue to add to your Social Secu rity benefit. 

When you retire, your annu ity will be computed 

un der the same rules that apply to other CSRS 

re tir ees. However, when you become eligi ble for 

So cial Secu rity benefits, (usually at age 62), your 

an nu ity will be reduced, or offset, by the value of 

the Social Secu rity benefit you earned during your 

CSRS Offset service. In other words, instead of 

2 
get ting one check from the U.S. Office of Personnel Manage ment (OPM) that reflects all your Federal service, some of the payment will come from 

the Social Secu rity Admin istra tion (SSA) when 

you become eligi ble for a Social Secu rity benefit. 

If you are not eligi ble for a Social Secu rity benefit, 

there is no offset in your CSRS annu ity. 

If you become disabled or die, your disabil ity 

an nu ity or your survi vor’s benefits will also be 

re duced in a like manner. If no disabil ity or survivor’s Social Secu rity benefit is payable, there is no 

off set of CSRS benefits. 

The amount you pay for retire ment is reduced, or 

off set, by Social Secu rity taxes (6.2 percent of 

pay). Most CSRS employ ees will pay 7.0 percent 

of pay for CSRS cover age. However, most CSRS 

Off set employ ees pay .80 percent of pay for CSRS 

Off set cover age (7.0 percent minus 6.2 percent for 

So cial Secu rity equals .80 percent for Offset coverage.) 

Note 1: Certain catego ries of employ ees, such as 

law enforce ment offi cers, pay more than 7.0 percent for retire ment cover age. 

Note 2: Under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, 

Pub li c Law 105-33 for fiscal year 1998, employee 

re tire ment contri bu tions will increase as follows. 

De duc tions for the Civil Service Retire ment System and the Federal Employ ees Retire ment System 

would be increased by 0.25% in January 1999, by 

an addi tional 0.15% in January 2000, and by 0.1% 

more in January 2001, for a total increase of 0.5%. 

These higher contri bu tion rates would be in effect 

through 2002. 

If you earn more than the maximum Social Security wage base ($68,400 in 1998), the Social Security tax stops when you reach this maximum, and 

your CSRS deduc tions increase to the full CSRS 

rate for the remain der of the calen dar year. When 

the next year begins, the FICA tax resumes and the 

CSRS deduc tions drop to the offset amount until 

you reach the maximum taxable wage base for that 

year. Note that your taxable wage base for FICA 

pur poses includes wages, such as overtime and 

awards, which are not counted for CSRS purposes. 

This means that your FICA deduc tions may stop 

bef ore your CSRS deduc tions revert to the full 

rate. 

3 
When You May Retire 

The age and service require ments for retire ment as 

a CSRS Offset employee are the same as those for 

a regular CSRS employee. You may retire under 

the CSRS Offset at the follow ing ages, and receive 

an imme di ate annu ity, if you have at least the 

amount of Federal service shown: 

Type of Mini mum Mini mum 

Re tire ment Age Serv ice 

(Years) 

Also See The Special Requirements on The 

Next Page 

62 5 

Op tional 60 20 

55 30 

20 

Spe cial 

Op tional 50 

Any age* 25 

Early 

Op tional 50* 20 

Dis con tin ued Any age* 25 

Serv ice 50* 20 

Dis abil ity Any age 5 

*An nu ity is reduced 2% for each year you are under age 55. 

4 
Spe cial 

Re quire ments 

None 

None 

None 

You must retire under special provi sions for air 

traf fic control lers or law enforce ment and 

fire fighter person nel. Air traffic control lers can 

also retire at any age with 25 years of service as 

an air traffic control ler. 

Your agency must be under go ing a major 

re or gani za tion, reduc tion in force, or transfer of 

func tion as deter mined by the U.S. Office of 

Per son nel Manage ment. 

Your separa tion must be invol un tary and not a 

re moval for miscon duct or delin quency. 

You must be disabled for useful and effi cient 

serv ice in your current posi tion and any other 

va cant posi tion at the same grade or pay level 

within your commut ing area and current agency 

for which you are qualified.* 

*	 You must apply before you separate or within 1 year after you 

sepa rate. There are certain excep tions for those who are 

men tally incom pe tent. 

5
 
How CSRS Annuities Are Computed 

As a CSRS Offset employee you are covered by 

both Civil Service Retire ment (CSRS) and Social 

Se cu rity at the same time. You will receive a full 

CSRS annu ity at retire ment that is computed under 

the CSRS rules, using aver age salary and years of 

serv ice. However, as explained in the follow ing 

sec tion, your CSRS Offset annu ity will be reduced 

when you become eligi ble to receive Social Security benefits (usually at age 62). 

Your basic annu ity is computed based on your 

length of service (which includes unused sick 

leave if you retire on an imme di ate annu ity) and 

“high-3” aver age pay. To deter mine your length of 

serv ice for compu ta tion, add all your peri ods of 

cred it able service and the peri od repre sented by 

your unused sick leave: then eliminate from the 

to tal any fractional part of a month. Your “high-3” 

av er age pay is the highest aver age basic pay you 

earned during any 3 consecu tive years of service. 

Your basic annu ity cannot be more than 80 percent 

of your “high-3” aver age pay, unless the amount 

over 80 percent is due to credit ing your unused 

sick leave. 

Your yearly basic annu ity is computed by adding: 

(a) 11⁄2 percent of your “high-3” aver age pay times 

serv ice up to 5 years; 

(b) 13⁄4 percent of your “high-3” pay times years of 

serv ice over 5 and up to 10; and 

(c) 2 percent of your “high-3” pay times years of 

serv ice over 10. 

A quick way to esti mate your annu ity is to determine your total length of service and subtract 2. 

Mul ti ply that result by 2, and use that as a percent age of 90 percent of your final salary. If, for 

ex am ple, you have 34 years of service and your 

fi nal salary was $50,000 per year, your annu ity 

would be approxi mately $2,400 per month. (Thirty 

four years of service minus 2 = 32 multi plied by 

2 = 64. Ninety percent of $50,000 is $45,000. 

Sixty four percent of $45,000 equals $28,800, 

or $2,400 per month.) This quick formula is not 

pre cise, but it allows you to esti mate your benefits 

bef ore the offset is applied. 

6 
Your basic annu ity will also be reduced if: 

(a) you retire before age 55 (unless you retire 

for disabil ity or under the special provi sions for 

law enforce ment offi cers, air traffic control lers, 

and firefight ers); 

(b) you didn’t make a deposit for service performed prior to Octo ber 1, 1982, during which 

no deduc tions were taken from your pay (nondeduction service after that date is not used in 

the compu ta tion if the deposit is not paid); 

(c) you didn’t make a rede posit of a refund for a 

pe ri od of service ending before Octo ber 1, 

1990 (if your refunded service ended after Septem ber 30, 1990, you must pay a rede posit of 

the refund with inter est in order to receive 

credit for the service in the compu ta tion of your 

an nu ity); or 

(d) you provide for a survi vor annu ity. 

CSRS Offset Annuity Reduction 

Your CSRS Offset annu ity is reduced by the portion of your total Social Secu rity benefit that is 

pay able based on Federal service performed after 

1983 while covered by both the CSRS and Social 

Se cu rity. 

Your annu ity will not be reduced by any portion 

of your Social Secu rity benefit that is based on 

serv ice other than CSRS Offset employ ment. 

When Will the CSRS Offset Annuity 

Be Reduced? 

Nor mally, OPM will contact SSA when you are 

close to age 62 (the normal age of Social Secu rity 

eli gi bil ity), to obtain an enti tle ment deter mi na tion. 

If you are eligi ble to receive Social Secu rity benefits, SSA will provide OPM with infor ma tion 

con cern ing your benefits. Please note that even if 

you do not apply for Social Secu rity benefits when 

first eligi ble, the reduc tion in your annu ity must 

7 
still be made if you are eligi ble for Social Secu rity 

bene fits. 

If you retire at age 62 or later and already are entitled to Social Secu rity benefits, the offset in your 

an nu ity will be made at retire ment. If you never 

be come eligi ble for Social Secu rity benefits based 

on your own employ ment, there is no offset. 

How is the Offset Computed? 

The Social Secu rity Admin istra tion takes the Federal earnings in the peri od(s) when you are covered 

by both Social Secu rity and CSRS and computes a 

So cial Secu rity benefit with those earnings included, and then without those earnings 

in cluded. These two amounts are sent to OPM so 

that we can deter mine the CSRS Offset amount. 

Your CSRS benefit is computed as explained 

above. The offset reduc tion is then subtracted from 

the annu ity rate to become your new gross annu ity 

rate. 

The offset reduc tion is the lesser of1. 	 the differ ence between the Social Secu rity 

monthly benefit amount with and without 

CSRS Offset service (service after Decem ber 

31, 1983, covered under the interim CSRS provi sions or the CSRS Offset provi sions); or 

2.	 the product of the Social Secu rity monthly 

bene fit amount, with Federal earnings, multiplied by a fraction where the numerator is the 

em ploy ee’s total CSRS Offset service rounded 

to the nearest whole number of years and the 

de nomi na tor is 40. 

So cial Secu rity X Total Years of Offset Service 

bene fit 40 

8 
Ex am ple 

In this exam ple, the employee has 3 years and 8 

months of Offset service. 

Com pu ta tion number 1. 

So cial Secu rity monthly benefit with Federal 

off set service .................................$600 
 

So cial Secu rity monthly benefit without Federal offset service ..........................$550 
 

Dif fer ence .......................................$50 
 

Com pu ta tion number 2. 

So cial Secu rity amount with Federal earnings = 

$600 X 4 years* = $2400 divided by 40 = $60. 

*Near est whole year to 3 years 8 months. 

Re sult: Since the offset is deter mined by taking the 

lesser amount of the two compu ta tions, the 

re duc tion in this case would be based on method 

number 1, or $50. 

Cost of Living Increases 

You will receive the same cost-of- living adjustment (COLA) increases as other CSRS retir ees. 

Your annu ity will be increased peri odi cally by 

CO LA’s that occur after you retire. Your initial 

in crease will be prorated based on how long you 

have been retired when it becomes payable. 

Credit for Military Service 

Re tire ment credit for military service is the same 

as under regular CSRS retire ment. As a general 

rule, military service in the Armed Forces of the 

United States is credit able for retire ment purposes 

if it was active service termi nated under honor able 

con di tions and performed prior to your separa tion 

from civil ian service. Military service performed 

on or after January 1, 1957, is normally used to 

com pute your Social Secu rity benefits at age 62. 

9 
In di vidu als first employed with CSRS cover age 

bef ore Octo ber 1, 1982, may either 

(1) make a deposit that is 7 percent of their military 

ba sic pay, plus inter est if appli ca ble, for post1956 military service, to avoid a reduc tion in 

their annu ity at age 62 when they become eligible for Social Secu rity benefits; or 

(2) not make the deposit and have their annui ties 

re duced at age 62 if they are then eligi ble for 

So cial Secu rity benefits. 

Em ploy ees first covered under CSRS on or after
 

Oc to ber 1, 1982, must make the deposit or their
 

mili tary service cannot be used to deter mine their
 

eli gi bil ity to retire or to calcu late their annu ity.
 

Since you are very likely to be enti tled to Social
 

Se cu rity benefits, you should review your benefits
 

care fully, with and without post-1956 military
 

serv ice credit, well before retire ment, so that if you
 

need to make a deposit of military service you can
 

do so before inter est charges increase the amount
 

you need to pay. Most people find it is to their
 

ad van tage to make the deposit. The deposit must
 

be paid to your agency while you are still
 

em ployed. Your person nel office can assist you.
 

Note: Service in the National Guard, except when
 

or dered to active duty in the service in the United
 

States, is gener ally not credit able. However, you
 

may receive credit for National Guard service, fol­
 

lowed by Federal civil ian reem ploy ment that 
 

oc curs after August 1, 1990, when condi tions
 

de scribed in Retire ment Facts 2 are met. For Offset
 

em ploy ees, the deposit for such service may not
 

ex ceed the amount that would have been deducted
 

from your pay as retire ment deduc tions if you had
 

not performed the military service.
 

10 
CSRS Offset Disability Retirement 

If you retire for disabil ity when you are under age 

60, you will receive the greater of: 

(a) the annu ity you have earned, based on your 

serv ice to date, or 

(b) a guaran teed minimum amount. 

To figure the guaran teed minimum you must compute: 

(a) 40 percent of your “high-3” aver age pay, and 

(b) an annu ity using your “high-3”, but increas ing 

your service by the time between your retirement and your 60th birthday. 

The guaran teed minimum is the lesser of these two 

amounts. 

The guaran teed minimum does not apply if you are 

over age 60 or receiv ing military retired pay and/or 

com pen sa tion from the Veter ans Admin istra tion in 

lieu of all or part of the military retired pay. However, if your earned annu ity plus your military 

bene fit (or compen sa tion) is less than what it 

would have been under the guaran teed minimum, 

the annu ity is increased to bring it up to that level. 

If you retire under the disabil ity provi sions and 

also qualify for a Social Secu rity disabil ity benefit, 

the law requires that the U.S. Office of Person nel 

Man age ment (OPM) reduce your CSRS benefit by 

the value of your Offset service in your Social 

Se cu rity disabil ity benefit. The calcu la tion is the 

same as was described earlier for a regular retirement. Since OPM does not know how much annuity to pay you until it knows whether or not the 

So cial Secu rity Admin istra tion (SSA) will award 

bene fits, you must provide OPM proof that shows 

you have filed for Social Secu rity disabil ity benefits, or a statement from SSA that says you are not 

eli gi ble for Social Secu rity disabil ity benefits. 

So cial Secu rity often awards disabil ity benefits 

later than OPM because of differ ences between 

the rules for Social Secu rity benefits and CSRS 

bene fits. If this happens to you, it is impor tant that 

you notify OPM imme di ate ly when SSA awards 

bene fits. In addi tion, if SSA awards retro ac tive 

11 
bene fits, you should set aside the amount you are 

over paid. OPM must reduce your annu ity retro actively to the begin ning of your Social Secu rity 

bene fit, and will bill you for any overpay ment. 

If You Retire Before Age 55 

The same rules for retire ment before age 55 apply 

to any CSRS or CSRS Offset employee. 

If you volun tar ily retire during a major reor ganiza tion, reduc tion in force, or transfer of function, 

or if you are invol un tar ily separated (but not for 

per sonal cause) and are younger than 55, your 

ba sic annu ity will be reduced by one-sixth of 1 

per cent for each full month you are under 55. 

If You Die While Employed as a CSRS 

Offset Employee 

If you die after 18 months of credit able civil ian 

serv ice, your widow(er) will get an annu ity, provided you were married for a total of 9 months. 

The 9-month require ment does not apply if your 

death is acci den tal or there is a child of the marriage. 

Gen er ally, your widow(er) is enti tled to 55 percent 

of the basic annu ity earned by your credit able service and aver age salary. However, if it will produce 

a higher annu ity, your widow(er) will receive 55 

per cent of the guaran teed minimum benefit 

de scribed in this pamphlet under the heading 

“CSRS Offset Disabil ity Retire ment”. 

If your spouse or children are eligi ble for survi vor 

So cial Secu rity benefits based on your service, 

OPM must reduce the benefit that is paid to your 

sur viv ing spouse and children. This reduc tion is 

com puted in the same way as the reduc tion in a 

re tire ment annu ity. 

12 
So cial Secu rity spousal survi vor benefits normally 

be gin at age 60. OPM contacts SSA close to the 

spouse’s 60th birthday to ask if the spouse will be 

eli gi ble for Social Secu rity survi vor benefits. 

Note: If you have a former spouse from whom you 

were divorced after May 6, 1985, he or she may 

re ceive, by court order, all or part of the annu ity 

your widow(er) would other wise get. 

Your unmar ried children will also be enti tled to 

an nui ties if you die in service. Their annui ties will 

con tinue until they reach age 18, or age 22 if they 

re main in school full-time. The annu ity of a child 

who is inca pa ble of self support because of a disabil ity incurred before age 18 will continue indefinitely unless the child becomes capa ble of self 

sup port or marries. 

Providing for Your Survivors at 

Retirement 

If you are married when you retire, your annu ity 

will be reduced to provide a full survi vor annu ity 

for your spouse (unless he or she consents to a 

lesser benefit). To provide for a survi vor annu ity, 

your annual annu ity will be reduced 2.5 percent of 

the first $3,600, plus 10 percent of the annu ity over 

$3,600. The survi vor annu ity will be 55 percent of 

the amount of your annu ity before this reduc tion. 

As with death in service, OPM must reduce the 

sur vi vor annu ity if your widow(er) or children are 

en ti tled, or would upon proper appli ca tion be entitled, to Social Secu rity benefits as your widow(er) 

or children. 

Note: If you were divorced after May 6, 1985, 

your former spouse may receive, by court order, all 

or part of the survi vor annu ity that your current 

spouse would other wise get. 

13 
If You Leave the Service 

If you leave Federal employ ment before you are 

eli gi ble for an imme di ate annu ity, you can apply 

for a refund of your deduc tions, or leave the 

money in the retire ment fund. If you are covered 

by retire ment for at least 1 year within the 2 year 

pe ri od imme di ate ly preced ing your separa tion on 

which annu ity is based, and you leave your money 

in the fund, you will be enti tled to a deferred annuity at age 62. It will be subject to the offset rules if 

you are eligi ble for Social Secu rity benefits. 

Making Payments for Previous 

Service 

If retire ment deduc tions were not taken from your 

pay during certain peri ods of service, you will 

need to pay these deduc tions into the retire ment 

fund to receive full credit for the service. If you 

had a refund of retire ment deduc tions for prior 

serv ice, you may repay this money into the retirement fund to receive credit for service in your 

re tire ment benefits. 

Ex cep tion: If you retire (other than on disabil ity) 

while owing a rede posit of a refund for service that 

ended before Octo ber 1, 1990, you will not be 

re quired to pay the rede posit in order to receive 

credit for that refunded service. Instead, full credit 

for the refunded service will be allowed in comput ing your annu ity, but your annu ity will be actuari ally reduced. (See Retire ment Facts pamphlets 7 

and 9 for more detailed infor ma tion.) 

These are the same rules that apply to regular 

CSRS employ ees. 

14 
Alternative Form of Annuity 

If you have a life-threatening medical condi tion, 

you can choose to receive an Alter na tive Form of 

An nu ity. Under this option, you receive a reduced 

monthly benefit, plus a lump-sum payment equal 

to all your unre funded contri bu tions to the retirement fund. Your election of an Alter na tive Form 

of Annu ity will not affect the poten tial survi vor 

an nu ity payable to your spouse or children. However, you must have your spouse’s consent to 

make this election. 

You cannot choose the Alter na tive Form of Annuity if you are retir ing under the disabil ity provisions or if you have a former spouse who is 

en ti tled to court-ordered benefits based on your 

serv ice. These are the same rules that apply to 

CSRS employ ees. 

Who Can Advise About the Amount of 

the Offset? 

In order for your person nel office to esti mate the 

amount of the offset, you need to request an earnings statement from the Social Secu rity Administra tion. You can do this by via Social Secu ri ty’s 

Web site at www.ssa.gov or by calling (800) 772­

1213. This statement will include your year-byyear earnings for Social Secu rity purposes and an 

es ti mated Social Secu rity benefit that includes 

your CSRS Offset service. Your agency can then 

use the rules explained in this pamphlet to esti mate 

the offset amount. 

OPM will obtain infor ma tion on your benefits and 

earn ings for any adjust ment that is needed if you 

be come eligi ble for Social Secu rity benefits after 

your CSRS Offset retire ment. 

15 
Can I Participate in the Thrift 

Savings Plan as a CSRS Offset 

Employee? 

If you are a CSRS Offset employee, you can take 

ad van tage of the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) under 

the CSRS rules to supple ment your annu ity. You 

can contrib ute up to 5 percent of your basic pay 

each pay peri od to the TSP. However, you do not 

re ceive any Agency Automat ic Contri bu tion of 

1 percent or any Agency Matching Contri bu tions, 

as you do with the Federal Employ ees Retire ment 

Sys tem (FERS). Although you do not receive any 

agency contri bu tions, you do have the benefit of 

de fer ring taxes on your contri bu tions and on the 

earn ings in your TSP account. 

Will Payment of My CSRS Offset 

Annuity Affect the Amount of My 

Social Security Benefits? 

Bene fits as a Spouse 

One differ ence between you and employ ees with 

only CSRS cover age is that if you become enti tled 

to Social Secu rity spousal benefits, those benefits 

will not be subject to the Govern ment Pension Offset. This offset does not apply to any spousal benefits of employ ees who retire under CSRS Offset 

rules. 

Bene fits Based on Your Own Earnings 

A provi sion of law known as the Windfall Elimina tion Provi sion may affect the amount of your 

So cial Secu rity benefit based on your own employment. The Windfall Elimina tion Provi sion applies 

to people who receive pensions based on work that 

was not subject to Social Secu rity and who have 

less than 30 years of “substan tial earnings” under 

So cial Secu rity. Since you normally must have had 

at least some CSRS service (or similar service 

un der another retire ment plan for Federal employees) that is not Offset service, you may be subject 

to this provi sion. 

16 
Un der this law, the formula that Social Secu rity 

uses to compute your benefits is modified, giving 

you a lower Social Secu rity benefit. The benefit 

es ti mate that you receive from Social Secu rity by 

call ing the 800 number listed earlier in this pamphlet will not be adjusted for this provi sion. 

If you provide your year-by- year earnings history 

that you get from Social Secu rity to your agency, a 

re tire ment counselor should be able to give you an 

es ti mate of your Social Secu rity benefit that is 

ad justed for this provi sion. If this provi sion applies 

to you, your Social Secu rity benefit based on the 

re duced formula is what is used to compute the 

CSRS offset amount. 

For further infor ma tion about this provi sion of law, 

ask your agency for the fact sheet “A Pension 

From Work Not Covered By Social Secu rity” 

(SSA Publi ca tion No. 05-10045). You may also 

ob tain a copy of this publi ca tion by download ing it 

from Social Secu ri ty’s Web page at — 

http://www.ssa.gov or by calling (800) 772-1213. 

17 
Additional Information 

You may obtain copies of the pamphlets listed 

be low from your person nel office, from OPM’s 

Website (http://www.opm.gov/asd), or from OPM 

ON LINE (OPM’s electronic bulle tin board) at 

(202) 606- 4800. To access OPM ONLINE, your 

com mu ni ca tions software should be set to the follow ing: 

Baud: Up to 28,800
 

Par ity: None
 

Data bits: 8
 

Stop bit: 1
 

The pamphlets in the Retire ment Facts Series, 

which provide more detailed infor ma tion about the 

Civil Service Retire ment System (CSRS), are: 

•	 	Re tire ment Facts #1 - The Civil Service Retirement System (RI 83-1) 

•	 	Re tire ment Facts #2 - Military Service Credit 

Un der the Civil Service Retire ment System 

(RI 83-2) 

•	 	Re tire ment Facts #3 - Depos its and Rede pos its 

Un der the Civil Service Retire ment System 

(RI 83-3) 

•	 	Re tire ment Facts #4 - Disabil ity Retire ment 

Un der the Civil Service Retire ment System 

(RI 83-4) 

•	 	Re tire ment Facts #5 - Survi vor Benefits Under 

the Civil Service Retire ment System (RI 83-5) 

•	 	Re tire ment Facts #6 - Early Retire ment Under 

the Civil Service Retire ment System (RI 83-6) 

•	 	Re tire ment Facts #7 - Comput ing Retire ment 

Bene fits Under the Civil Service Retire ment 

Sys tem (RI 83-7) 

•	 	Re tire ment Facts #8 - Credit for Unused Sick 

Leave Under the Civil Service Retire ment System (RI 83-8) 

18 
•	 	Re tire ment Facts #9 - Refunds Under the Civil 

Serv ice Retire ment System (RI 83-9) 

•	 	Re tire ment Facts #10 - Volun tary Contri butions Under the Civil Service Retire ment System (RI 83-10) 

•	 	Re tire ment Facts #11 - Infor ma tion for Separat ing Civil Service Retire ment System 

Em ploy ees Who Are Not Eligi ble for an Immedi ate Annu ity (RI 83-13) 

•	 	Re tire ment Facts #12 - Infor ma tion About Reem ploy ment for Civil Service Retire ment System Annui tants (RI 83-18) 

•	 	Re tire ment Facts #13 - CSRS Offset Retirement (RI 83-19) 

•	 	Re tire ment Facts #14 - Law Enforce ment and 

Fire fighter Civil Service Retire ment System 

Re tire ment (RI 83-20) 

Pam phlets appli ca ble to employ ees in both the 

Civil Service Retire ment System and Federal 

Em ploy ees Retire ment System are: 

•	 	Court- Ordered Benefits for Former Spouses 

(RI 84-1) 

•	 	Work- Related Inju ries and Fatali ties — What 

You and Your Family Need to Know About 

Your Benefits (RI 84-2) 

•	 	Life Events and Your Retire ment and Insur ance 

Bene fits (For Employ ees) (RI 84-3) 

• 	 Think ing About Retire ment? (RI 83-11) 

19 
Pub li ca tions for employ ees who are under the Federal Employ ees Retire ment System (FERS) are: 

•	 	FERS Brochure (An Overview of Your Benefits) (RI 90-1) 

•	 	FERS Facts #1 - Infor ma tion for Separat ing 

FERS Employ ees Who Are Not Eligi ble for an 

Im me di ate Annu ity (RI 90-11) 

•	 	FERS Facts #2 - Infor ma tion About Reem ployment for FERS Annui tants (RI 90-18) 

For employ ees who are eligi ble to transfer to the 

FERS: 

•	 	FERS Transfer Handbook (A Guide to Making 

Your Deci sion) (RI 90-3) 

Pam phlets on the Federal Employ ees Health and 

Life Insur ance Programs are: 

•	 	Fed eral Employ ees Health Benefits Guide 

(RI 70-1) 

•	 	Fed eral Employ ees Group Life Booklet 

(RI 76-21) 

•	 	Tem po rary Continua tion of Cover age (TCC) 

un der the Federal Employ ees Health Benefits 

Pro gram (RI 79-27) 

20