FERS minimum retirement age (MRA) 2026: the table by year of birth
Your MRA is set by your year of birth alone. Pick your year and your expected service to see the age and what it lets you do.
MRA for someone born in 1968
56 and 8 months
You reach it in 2024, 8 months after your 56th birthday.
| With 30 years at the MRA | unreduced, with supplement |
| With 10 to 29 years | reduced 5 % a year under 62, or postponed |
| At the MRA with your service | MRA with 10 years: reduced 5 % a year under 62 unless postponed |
Prepared by Radif Partners · How the figures are built · read on opm.gov, ecfr.gov and ssa.gov · not an official determination
The FERS minimum retirement age, or MRA, is fixed by 5 U.S.C. 8412(h) according to your year of birth. It is 55 for anyone born before 1948, rises by two months a year to reach 56 for those born from 1953 to 1964, then rises again by two months a year: 56 and 2 months for 1965, 56 and 4 months for 1966, up to 56 and 10 months for 1969, and 57 for everyone born in 1970 or later. At the MRA with 30 years of service you can retire on an immediate unreduced annuity and receive the FERS supplement until 62. With 10 to 29 years you can leave under MRA+10, but the annuity is cut 5 % for each year under 62 unless you postpone it. For someone born in 1966 who leaves at the MRA with 25 years, that cut is 28.3 %. The MRA also matters if you left early: a deferred annuity with 10 years can start there. It is not your Social Security full retirement age.
The MRA table
The table is written into 5 U.S.C. 8412(h). Since everyone born in 1970 or later has an MRA of 57, the table no longer changes for the people now starting their careers.
| Year of birth | Minimum retirement age |
|---|---|
| 1947 or earlier | 55 |
| 1948 | 55 and 2 months |
| 1949 | 55 and 4 months |
| 1950 | 55 and 6 months |
| 1951 | 55 and 8 months |
| 1952 | 55 and 10 months |
| 1953 to 1964 | 56 |
| 1965 | 56 and 2 months |
| 1966 | 56 and 4 months |
| 1967 | 56 and 6 months |
| 1968 | 56 and 8 months |
| 1969 | 56 and 10 months |
| 1970 or later | 57 |
To find your exact date, add the MRA to your date of birth. Someone born on March 10, 1967 reaches an MRA of 56 and 6 months on September 10, 2023. Someone born in 1972 reaches 57 on the 57th birthday, in 2029. The calculator above gives the year and month for any year from 1955.
Your MRA and what it gives you
MRA for someone born in 1970
57
| With 30 years at the MRA | unreduced, with supplement |
| With 10 to 29 years | reduced 5 % a year under 62, or postponed |
| At the MRA with your service | MRA with 30 years |
What the MRA opens with 30 years
With 30 years of creditable service, the MRA is the first age at which you can leave on an immediate, unreduced annuity. The annuity is 1 % of your high-3 per year of service, and it comes with the FERS supplement until 62. Unused sick leave raises the computation but cannot fill a gap in the 30 years: an employee with 29 years and 11 months and a large sick leave balance still falls short. Someone born in 1966 who leaves at the MRA of 56 and 4 months with 30 years and a $105,000 high-3 receives $31,500 a year, plus about $1,500 a month of supplement with a $2,000 Social Security estimate, for close to six years.
What the MRA opens with 10 to 29 years
With at least 10 years but fewer than 30, the MRA opens the MRA+10 retirement. You can leave and start the annuity at once, reduced by 5 % a year, five twelfths of 1 % a month, for each month you are under 62. Or you can leave and postpone the start to reduce or erase the cut: no reduction at 62, and none at 60 if you have 20 years. The same person born in 1966 with 25 years instead of 30 would get an unreduced annuity of $26,250, cut 28.3 % if started at the MRA, down to $18,813. No supplement is paid under MRA+10.
The MRA for those who already left
If you left federal service before the MRA with at least 10 years and did not take a refund of your contributions, you can claim a deferred annuity starting at the MRA, with the same 5 % a year reduction under 62, waived from 60 if you have 20 years. With 5 to 9 years, the deferred annuity waits until 62. The deferred retirement page works through the choice of starting age.
Where the MRA matters even if you retire earlier
Two groups can retire before their MRA. Law enforcement officers, firefighters and air traffic controllers qualify at 50 with 20 years or at any age with 25. Employees offered voluntary early retirement or separated under discontinued service rules qualify at 50 with 20 years or at any age with 25. The MRA still shapes their benefits. Early-out retirees receive the supplement only once they reach the MRA. Special-provision retirees receive it from the start, and their earnings before the MRA are not counted in the supplement earnings test.
The MRA and your Social Security age are not the same
Many employees confuse the two. The MRA only says when FERS can start paying you. Social Security can be claimed from 62 at a reduced rate, and in full at its own full retirement age, 67 for those born in 1960 or later. A retiree who leaves at the MRA with 30 years bridges the years between the two with the supplement. A retiree under MRA+10 has no bridge and lives on the annuity, the TSP or other income until Social Security begins.
Picking a separation date around the MRA
OPM requires that you have reached your MRA on the day you separate for an MRA+10 retirement. For a 30-year retirement, the same age test applies: both the age and the service must be met at separation. Check the exact date with your benefits office before you sign anything. The FERS retirement calculator lets you enter extra months of age and service in the folded fields to test a precise date. Our method page explains how months are counted.