OPM Military Buyback Count = Retire Earlier?

[bdrolan]

I am in process of buying back approximately 7 years od active duty military time as a federal employee.

Can someone answer if buying back those 7 years count toward my "retirement years" or if it's just an additional year multiple? Does military buyback count as years of "creditable service?"

I.e.
1) Can I work for Fed 13 years plus 7 years buy back = 20 total years and eligible for FERS postponed retirement or regular if I hit 60yrs old?
Or
2) I have to do full 20 years with Fed before eligible for postponed FERS but my retirement multiple will be as if I did 7 years ?

[HaveaNiceDay]

1. No. You must meet retirement requirements by working actual years in FERS. Then once conditions are met, your 7 years military will be added on top at the rate of 1% per year.

2. Depending on your specifics you may have several retirement options.

Almost always it is best to buy back the military years as soon as possible as the interest charged will increase over time.

Good luck!

[jchris]

Yes, military service time that is bought back is creditable towards retirement eligibility, and also towards your years of service for pension multiplier purposes. I am retiring under FERS on Wednesday, and have 8+ years of military service that I bought back about 10 or so years ago. It definitely counts toward meeting my eligibility for an immediate pension (in my case, MRA + 30 years). If it didn't count, I wouldn't be able to retire!

This is explained in detail in Chapter 23 of the OPM retirement manual, titled "Service Credit Payments for Post-1956 Military Service." You can find it on the OPM website.

Best of luck!

[Maverick3320]

Active duty military here in an organization that works side by side with federal employees.

Our HR department says that "buy back" years count toward the pension multiplier but do not count toward the minimum years for the FERS pension.

[jchris]

The Office of Personnel Management is the authority on this subject, and they have published a retirement manual that makes it clear that military service that is bought back counts both for annuity eligibility and annuity computation. Here's the actual language from the retirement manual, with an OPM example that shows how military service counts for both. This is from Section 23B1.1-3 of the OPM manual (I've underlined the key phrase):

A. Military Deposit
A FERS employee may receive credit for post-1956 military service under
FERS rules only if he or she deposits with the employing agency a sum
equal to 3 percent of the military basic pay he or she earned during the
period of military service, plus interest.

A deposit is necessary to use post-1956 military service both for eligibility
for an annuity and for computation purposes.

EXAMPLE: John is 58 years old. He has 8 years of creditable civilian
service and 3 years of post-1956 military service. If he makes his post-
1956 military deposit, he can retire under the MRA + 10 provision. If he
does not make the deposit, he is not eligible to retire until age 62.

[Maverick3320]

The Office of Personnel Management is the authority on this subject, and they have published a retirement manual that makes it clear that military service that is bought back counts both for annuity eligibility and annuity computation. Here's the actual language from the retirement manual, with an OPM example that shows how military service counts for both. This is from Section 23B1.1-3 of the OPM manual (I've underlined the key phrase):

A. Military Deposit
A FERS employee may receive credit for post-1956 military service under
FERS rules only if he or she deposits with the employing agency a sum
equal to 3 percent of the military basic pay he or she earned during the
period of military service, plus interest.

A deposit is necessary to use post-1956 military service both for eligibility
for an annuity and for computation purposes.

EXAMPLE: John is 58 years old. He has 8 years of creditable civilian
service and 3 years of post-1956 military service. If he makes his post-
1956 military deposit, he can retire under the MRA + 10 provision. If he
does not make the deposit, he is not eligible to retire until age 62.

Awesome - that's great news.

[abracadabra11]

Pretty shocking to me that there are still HR departments that provide factually incorrect information about buying back military time and effect on FERS retirement eligibility. Perhaps it shouldn't be for those of us that have had any interactions with most agency HR departments.

[margaritaville]

Obviously doesn't apply to the OP's situation, but there is a minimum of 5 years of civilian service required for any retirement that can't be met using military time. I.e., you can't have 4 years of civilian service and pay a deposit on 16 military years and be eligible for retirement.