The Eligibility Criteria For A FERS Plan

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The Federal Employee Retirement System

The Federal Employment Retirement System was created to replace the former Civil Service Retirement System. The main reason for the creation and introduction of the FERS savings plan was to devise federal retirement plans which offered services and benefits, similar to those available in the private sector. The system is a retirement savings plan for the federal employees, which consists of three components in total, namely the Social Security, the Basic Benefit Plan and the Thrift Savings Plan.

The Thrift Savings Plan component of the Federal Employee Retirement System is an account which is automatically set up by the employer's in the name of an employee as per the revised rules of the system.

If an employee was to leave employment under the federal government before their retirement, the Social Security and the Thrift Savings Plan are transferable to the new job chosen by the individual. The FERS system requires a participant to make payments in each time period in the Social Security and the Basic Benefits components of the retirement system. The agency makes its contributions within the account of the participant along with making suitable deductions from the pay of the employee, which results in annuity payments in each month for the retired employee throughout their life.

Eligibility Criteria

As per the new rules, any employees who were rehired after the formulation of the FERS retirement savings system get automatic coverage under the Federal Employee Retirement System. The law states, that any employees who were rehired after the introduction of the new FERS savings system and have a service record of 5 years in civilian service, can either continue deriving benefit from the previous CSRS or can elect for the FERS after 6 months of being rehired.

In order to become eligible for the FERS annuity, an employee must qualify the requirements of having reached the minimum retirement age along with having a record of having served the authority specific credited number of years in federal service. The minimum age and the required number of service years are specified by the federal authorities, and former employees answering the system requirements are recognized as being eligible for the FERS annuity.

An employee can qualify for early retirement in the case of involuntary separation and even voluntary separation caused due to a process of enacting a reduction in force. The individual must have a service record of around 25 years at any age, or should have 20 years of service to their credit with a minimum age of 50.

In case of any physical disability, the federal employee can be recognized to be eligible for the FERS annuity if they have a service record of 18 months, and are hampered from performing their duties because of the medical disability.
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