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The Federal “CSRS Offset”, explained
“CSRS”, or the Civil Service Retirement System, was a pre-1984 Federal employee retirement system which did not participate in the Social Security program. It was replaced by “FERS”, or Federal Employee Retirement System, the current system which does participate in the Social Security program. The significance of this to CSRS retirees is that, because they have a pension which was outside the Social Security program, any Social Security benefits they might be due from other SS-covered employment will be reduced by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) but their CSRS pension will not be affected. But that is not the case for many Federal employees whose employment spanned the year 1984, and who were covered by (and contributed to) both Federal Retirement Systems. This group of employees, referred to as “CSRS Offset” employees, will get a Social Security benefit from their FERS contributions, as well as a pension from their CSRS employment. And for those retirees, the CSRS Offset provisions will reduce their CSRS pension by the amount of their Social Security benefit attributable to their FERS employment earnings. The interesting article by Ehren Clovis, appearing at FedSmith.com, explains the details of the CSRS Offset provision and how Social Security effects the CSRS pension. Click here to read more.
im csrs offset i feel like this system has some major flaws one being my example im 64 years old and plan on working until 67 or later and not have the same chance as fers employees and acually get credit for social security the offset takes place at the time of retirement yea i get a bigger ss but it gets eaten up by my csrs pension how is that fair
also my survivor benifits also get offset even though i pay the same 10% as csrs employees and also if i retire at 67 i will have 47 years service unlike csrs they have there contributions returned to them 7 % not csrs offset we pay 6.2 %
until social security and .08 into csrs a very big difference so every so called speclist says csrs offset if the best of both worlds not when you have 40 years offset service they just dont know my biggest problem my own HR cant seem to answer any questions i have and OPM DOES NOT ANSWER PHONE CALLS EITHER
Gregory,
Thank you for your feedback on the “CSRS Offset” article, but most of all, thank you for your many years of public service working for our government. As a long time federal employee who is in the CSRS Offset retirement category, you obviously have in-depth knowledge of how that program works. Thus, you know that your CSRS pension will be reduced by your age-62 Social Security entitlement. And you also know that when you retire from working and are receiving both your Social Security retirement benefit and your federal pension, you will be affected by Social Security’s Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). Because of your federal CSRS pension, WEP will reduce your Social Security retirement benefit using a special formula based on the number of years you have contributed to Social Security from substantial earnings. Is that fair? Well almost everyone who is affected by WEP does not believe so, so you are in good company. But Congress has, for decades, upheld the WEP rule as appropriate to equalize the way Social Security benefits are paid to all beneficiaries.
Here at the AMAC Foundation we are experts on Social Security and so we can speak to all Social Security’s rules and regulations. But the highly specialized and complex rules of the federal retirement programs (old CSRS and current FERS) are outside our area of expertise. I know that OPM describes CSRS Offset as the “best of both worlds” but, but I’m afraid I cannot offer you an opinion on whether CSRS Offset rules are flawed. As difficult as it may be to find answers from them, OPM are the experts on your federal retirement programs. You may already have this, but you can contact OPM’s Retirement Office by phone at 1 (888) 767-6738 or by e-mail at [email protected]. If you have concerns about the fairness of the CSRS Offset retirement rules, you may also wish to contact your Congressional Representative to express those concerns.
Sorry I cannot be of more assistance regarding your CSRS Offset retirement plan.
Russell Gloor
Certified Social Security Advisor
The AMAC Foundation