Retiring at 62 under FERS in 2026: the 1.1 % multiplier against leaving at the MRA
Age 62 is the point where FERS pays its best multiplier and the age limit on COLAs ends. Set the age you leave to 62 in the calculator, then compare with your MRA.
Immediate unreduced annuity, from age 62
$3,254/mo
$39,050 a year.
| Basic annuity (35 years, 6 months counted) | $39,050 |
| Your MRA | 57 |
Age 62 with 5 years · 1.1 % (age 62 with 20 years).
Prepared by Radif Partners · How the figures are built · read on opm.gov, ecfr.gov and ssa.gov · not an official determination
If you separate at 62 or later with at least 20 years of service, your FERS annuity uses 1.1 % of the high-3 for each year instead of 1 %, a 10 % larger pension for life. With 5 to 19 years at 62, you still get an immediate unreduced annuity, at 1 %. There is no FERS supplement at 62, since it exists only to bridge the years before Social Security, and the annuity receives the diet COLA from the first December, prorated for the first year. Take an employee born in 1970 with a $100,000 high-3: leaving at the MRA of 57 with 30 years pays $30,000 a year plus a $1,425 monthly supplement; working to 62 with 35 years pays $38,500. The five years of early income, about $235,500, take the larger annuity roughly 28 years to make up, before counting the salary, TSP contributions and Social Security credits earned by staying.
What changes at 62
Three rules switch at 62. The multiplier rises to 1.1 % if you have 20 years of service, under section 8415(i). The ban on COLAs before 62 in section 8462 no longer applies, so the FERS COLA is paid from the first December, prorated by the months on the roll. And the FERS supplement is gone: it ends at 62 for everyone and is never paid to someone who retires at that age. Section 8412(a) gives an immediate annuity at 62 with just 5 years of service, so even a short federal career opens the door at this age, at 1 %.
The 1.1 % test uses your age on the date of separation and the service you have then. Unused sick leave counts in the computation but does not help reach 20 years. Someone at 62 with 19 years and a $100,000 high-3 receives $19,000 a year; one more year makes it $22,000, because the higher rate then applies to every year, not only the twentieth.
Your annuity if you leave at 62
Immediate unreduced annuity, from age 62
$3,254/mo
| Basic annuity (35 years, 6 months counted) | $39,050 |
| Your MRA | 57 |
Leaving at the MRA or staying to 62
Take an employee born in 1970, hired at 27, with a $100,000 high-3 that we keep flat for clarity. At the MRA of 57 the employee has 30 years and can leave with an immediate unreduced annuity and the supplement. At 62 the employee would have 35 years and the 1.1 % rate.
| Leave at the MRA (57) | Leave at 62 | |
|---|---|---|
| Service | 30 years | 35 years |
| Multiplier | 1.0 % | 1.1 % |
| Annuity per year | $30,000 | $38,500 |
| Supplement until 62 | $1,425/mo | none |
| Income from the MRA to 62 | $235,500 | salary instead |
| COLA | none before 62 | from the first December |
The early path brings $235,500 of annuity and supplement over the 5 years before 62, with no COLA on either. From 62, the late path pays $8,500 a year more, for life. Dividing one by the other, the larger annuity needs about 28 years after 62 to catch up, so the employee would have to live to about 90 for staying to win on the pension alone. Both annuities receive the same COLAs from 62, so inflation does not change that ratio much.
What the pension comparison leaves out
The break-even above treats the five extra years of work as if they paid nothing, which is never true. Over those years the employee keeps a full salary, and the TSP keeps receiving the agency's automatic 1 % and its matching on the first 5 % you contribute. The high-3 usually rises with pay raises and step increases, which lifts the annuity above our flat example. Social Security credits keep accruing too. Against that, the early retiree has five years of free time and can take another job; wages above the exempt amount reduce the supplement under the earnings test.
Health cover matters on both paths. An immediate annuity at the MRA or at 62 lets you keep FEHB if you were enrolled for the five years before retiring, so the choice of age does not change that.
The 60 with 20 case
An employee who reaches 60 with 20 years has another option: an immediate unreduced annuity with the supplement. With a $100,000 high-3, that is $20,000 a year and $950 a month of supplement for two years. Waiting to 62 with 22 years gives $24,200, because the extra two years and the higher rate stack. The two early years pay about $62,800; the gap of $4,200 a year takes around 15 years to recover. Here the 1.1 % rule is worth more in relative terms, because the career is shorter and two years of work add 10 % of service on top of the 10 % from the rate.
If you would leave under MRA+10
For a worker who leaves at the MRA with 10 to 29 years, 62 matters in a different way. An MRA+10 annuity taken before 62 is cut by 5 % a year, unless postponed to 60 with 20 years or to 62. Waiting to 62 to start the annuity removes the reduction, but does not bring the 1.1 % rate, which needs a separation at 62 or later with 20 years. The FERS retirement calculator shows both effects when you change the separation age and the start age.
Picking the date
Write down your MRA, the day you reach 20 years if it falls near 62, and your 62nd birthday. If you are a few months from 20 years at 62, those months are worth 10 % of the annuity for life. If you already have 30 years at the MRA, the question is how much you value the years between the MRA and 62 against a pension about 28 % larger afterward. Ask OPM or your agency for an estimate on both dates before you file.