Enter your date of birth in the form mm/dd/yyyy. Use zeros for months and days under 10. For example, enter February 6, 1957 as 02/06/1957.

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2. Select "Early Out" if your agency has offered you the opportunity to retire under "early-out" rules or if the estimate will be based on discontinued service rules. Regular employees may retire under early out rules with at least 50 years of age and at least 20 years of service or any age with at least 25 years of service. For each year under age 55 at retirement, a permanent deduction of 2% will be applied to the annuity, if a CSRS employee. There is no age reduction if you are a FERS employee, but you will not receive the Social Security Supplement until you reach your minimum retirement age.

3. Select "FERS Transfer" if you are a CSRS or CSRS Offset employee who is eligible to voluntarily transfer to FERS. Vested CSRS employees returning to Federal service after a break of more than three days are eligible to elect to transfer to FERS. This election opportunity is valid for a period of six months after returning to Federal service. The benefits report displays a side-by-side comparison of future retirement benefits under CSRS and FERS.

4. Select "Disability" if you are retiring under disability rules. You must meet the following conditions to be eligible for disability retirement.

1. You must have completed at least 5 years of civilian service, or 18 months under FERS.
2. You must, while employed under either retirement system, have become totally disabled for useful and efficient service in the position occupied or any other vacant position in the agency in the local commuting area at the same grade or pay level for which you would otherwise be qualified.

For CSRS employees retiring on disability, the model will compute the annuity based on your actual years of service if you will have 21 years and 11 months of service. If less than 21 years and 11 months of service, the annuity will be based on the lesser of:

1. Forty percent of your High-3 average pay; or
2. Your years of service plus the years to reach age 60.

For FERS employees retiring on disability, the first year’s benefit is equal to 60% of your High-3 average salary, reduced by any Social Security benefits payable. Starting the second year, and until age 62, you will receive a benefit equal to 40% of your High-3 average salary, reduced by 60% of any Social Security benefit payable. At age 62, your FERS disability benefit is recomputed. Actual years of service are added to the time spent on disability rolls up to age 62. The total time is then multiplied by one percent (1.1% if total service is 20 or more years). The total percentage is multiplied by High-3 at the time of disability retirement increased by all FERS cost-of-living adjustments payable from that time to age 62. The benefits report shows these recalculations as they apply to you.

5. Select "Severance Pay" if you are being involuntarily separated from employment. If you will be eligible for an immediate annuity under any provision of retirement law on the date your separate, you are not eligible for the severance pay, even if you elect to postpone the starting date the annuity. Only your civilian service is used in computing your severance pay. Military service does not count unless it interrupts a period of continuous federal service, i.e., you left federal service to enter the military and returned to federal employment by exercising your restoration rights as provided by law. If your service computation date includes non-creditable military service, you should adjust the date so that this military service is excluded before computing severance pay.

Retirement Service Computation Date

Your retirement service computation date is a constructed date that reflects all "creditable service" - service counting towards your retirement benefits under CSRS and/or FERS - including adjustments for any breaks in service or periods of service that are not creditable. For example, if as of June 30, 1998 you had exactly 25 years of creditable service, then your retirement SCD would be July 1, 1973.

At any point in time, your total creditable service can be computed by comparing the current date with the SCD. And, the SCD can be used to compute a projected amount of future service based on a future separation date. Once you enter your SCD, this software will automatically recall it later to generate your retirement benefits calculations.

You may have a record of your retirement SCD from a benefits statement or benefits estimate that your agency has provided to you in the past. If you do not know your retirement SCD or are concerned that it is not accurate, consult your human resources specialist.

The earnings statements you receive every pay period, as well as notices of personnel actions (SF 50's), contain your SCD for leave purposes. This date is used to determine how many hours of annual leave you earn each pay period. In many cases, the leave SCD and the retirement SCD are the same date. However, be aware that this is not always the case.

In general, all service you have had as a civilian employee of the federal government counts toward your CSRS and/or FERS retirement benefits, and should be reflected in your retirement SCD. Also, in general, all active duty military service - including active duty for training as a reserve member - can count toward CSRS and/or FERS retirement benefits, and should be reflected in your retirement SCD.

However, there are certain types of service that are not creditable toward your retirement benefits, or that are creditable only upon payment of certain deposits or redeposits of CSRS or FERS contributions. The following are the most common categories of service that may not be creditable. You may want to take a moment to review them and consider whether any of them apply in your personal situation.

Military Service

Active duty military service is generally creditable toward civilian retirement benefits, under the following provisions:

1. Service 1956 or earlier is creditable without payment of a deposit.
2. For employees first covered under CSRS before October 1, 1982, military service 1957 or later is creditable under CSRS. However, if you qualify for Social Security retirement benefits at age 62, then a CSRS deposit must have been made to continue receiving CSRS credit for the military service.
3. For employees first covered under CSRS on or after October 1, 1982, a CSRS deposit must be paid to obtain CSRS credit for military service.
4. For employees covered under FERS, a deposit must be made to obtain FERS credit for military service.
5. Military service for which you are receiving military retired pay is not creditable toward CSRS or FERS benefits. However, at the time of retirement from civilian service, you may waive your military retired pay and have the military service credited to CSRS or FERS retirement benefits instead. If you do waive military retired pay, the appropriate CSRS or FERS military deposits must be paid.
6. Deposits to obtain CSRS credit for military service are 7% of the military basic pay, plus interest since October 1985. Deposits to obtain FERS credit for military service are 3% of military basic pay, plus interest since October 1985. All military deposits must be paid before retirement from the federal government.

Non-Deduction Service

Non-deduction service is any period of civilian service during which CSRS or FERS retirement deductions were not made. Typically, this would have been service under temporary or intermittent appointments. The following rules apply to such service:

1. Non-deduction service before October 1, 1982 is creditable toward CSRS or FERS benefits. You can either (1) make a deposit of what the deductions would have been at the time, plus interest, or (2) choose not to make the deposit, in which case your annual benefits will be reduced by 10% of the outstanding amount. For example, if at retirement your outstanding deposit - plus interest - is $1,560, then your benefits would be reduced by $156 per year, or $13 per month.
2. Non-deduction service on or after October 1, 1982 is creditable toward CSRS benefits. In this case, however, the deposit plus interest must paid to obtain the credit.
3. Non-deduction service before January 1, 1989 is creditable under FERS. The deposit plus interest must be paid to obtain the credit.
4. Non-deduction service on or after January 1, 1989 is not creditable under FERS.

Deposits for non-deduction service vary depending on what the CSRS or FERS contribution rate was at the time the service occurred. Typically, CSRS deposits would be 6%, 6 1/2% or 7% of pay, plus interest. FERS deposits would be 1.3% of pay, plus interest.

Redeposit Service

Redeposit service is any period of service for which you received a refund of retirement contributions upon leaving federal service. The following rules apply to redeposit service:

1. For a refund taken for the service that was before October 1, 1990 is creditable under CSRS, you may either (1) make a redeposit for the refunded amount, plus interest, or (2) have your benefits reduced to take account of the outstanding amount. The amount of the reduction is based on a set of actuarial factors, designed to spread the benefit reduction over your average life expectancy when you retire.
2. For a refund taken on or after October 1, 1990, you must make the redeposit of the refunded amount, plus interest, to obtain CSRS credit for the service.
3. If you take a refund of FERS retirement deductions, you permanently forfeit any future retirement credit for the refunded service.

You may use this software to obtain benefit estimates based on the assumption that all necessary deposits and/or redeposits are paid prior to retirement. However, keep in mind that if any necessary deposits and/or redeposits are not paid, then certain periods of service may not be creditable, or your benefits may be reduced to account for the unpaid amounts.

For information about payment of deposits or redeposits that might apply in your situation, contact your benefits office.

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Click on the down button, then click on the label for your current retirement coverage. Your possible selections are:

CSRS (Civil Service Retirement System) - generally applies if you were first hired by the government before 1984, have not had a break in service of more than a year since 1984, and did not voluntarily elect to transfer from CSRS to FERS in 1987.

CSRS-Offset (Civil Service Retirement System and Social Security) - generally applies if you were first hired by the government before 1984, had at least five years of service, but then had a break in service of more than a year. Upon re-entering the government in 1984 or later, you were covered under a combination of CSRS and Social Security and were given an opportunity to transfer to FERS. If you elected not to transfer to FERS, you remain covered under CSRS-Offset.

FERS (Federal Employees Retirement System) - generally applies if you were first hired by the government after 1983.

FERS Transfer - generally applies if you elected to transfer to FERS after a break in service of more than three days or during an open season for FERS transfers (1987-1988 or 1998).

If you have any doubt about which retirement system you are currently covered under, you should contact your personnel office immediately.

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If (1) your current appointment is your only career appointment or career conversion since January 1, 1984; and (2) you have never taken more than 6 months of leave without pay (LWOP) in a given calendar year; then enter the date of your current appointment in the format mm/dd/yyyy. Otherwise, contact your local personnel office to learn this date. It will be used for the software's calculations, and will determine whether part of your annuity would be calculated under CSRS rules if you elect FERS.

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Click on the down arrow, then click on the label describing your current employment status. Certain categories of employees have special eligibility rules or benefit formulas under CSRS and FERS. The possible selections are:

Regular employee (none of the groups listed below)
Congressional employee
Law enforcement or firefighter employee
Air traffic controller

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Enter your current annual salary, using number only without any additional symbols. Your entry should reflect your current "adjusted basic pay" including any locality pay. Do not include additional pay such as overtime with the exception of overtime paid as annual premium pay, and availability pay paid to law enforcement officers. The model uses the current annual salary in the Social Security and TSP calculations while the High-3 is used for annuity computation purposes.

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Under CSRS, your unused sick leave at the time of retirement is creditable as additional service in the computation of your retirement benefit. If you transfer from CSRS to FERS, you will receive credit for the amount of sick leave at the time you transfer or the amount of sick leave at retirement, whichever is lower.

If you transferred from CSRS to FERS, enter your sick leave balance at the time you transferred, using the number only. Do not include any symbols with the number. If you are now in CSRS, enter your current sick leave balance. Your current sick leave balance is listed on your most recent earnings statement.

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Enter the date of your possible transfer from CSRS to FERS. You have a six-month opportunity to make this transfer after a break in service of more than three days.

The software will automatically compute your estimated future benefits under two scenarios: (1) that you transfer to FERS as of the date you enter; and (2) that you remain in CSRS.

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The software will estimate your projected future benefits under CSRS and FERS based on any future separation date you select. Enter in mm/dd/yyyy format to show the month, date, and year of the separation date you wish to use in the computation of your benefits. For example, if you expect to retire on June 30, 2010, you should enter 06/30/2010.

If you wish, the software will automatically determine the future date at which you will first become eligible for immediate CSRS and FERS or retirement benefits. To use this option, do not enter a specific date. Instead, click on the circle labeled "use earliest eligible date."

You are eligible to retire voluntarily with immediate annuity benefits if you are at least the following age with at least the stated amount of creditable service:

If you don't qualify for an immediate annuity when you separate, deferred benefits are provided as follows:

Under early out/discontinued service retirement rules, you are eligible to retire with immediate annuity benefits if you are at least the following age with at least the stated amount of creditable service:

*FERS MRA is Minimum Retirement Age. MRA is:

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Enter your best estimate of what your average salary will usually be the three years immediately before you separate from the government. Use today's salary levels in making this estimate - do not try to factor in future inflation, which will be adjusted for automatically by the software.

For example, if you are currently a Grade 11, Step 1, but you expect to be a Grade 13, Step 10 by the time you retire, then use today's salary for a Grade 13, Step 10.

If you work part-time, your annuity will be prorated based on the number of hours you worked. For example, if you work 20 hours a week throughout your career with the government, then your retirement annuity would probably be 50% of what your annuity would have been if you had worked full-time. However, the actual computation of your annuity is complicated and differs for part-time service before 4/7/1986 and after 4/6/1986. As a rough rule of thumb, you can enter a high-3 salary based on working your typical part-time service throughout your government career to obtain an approximate annuity estimate. For a more accurate estimate, contact your personnel office.

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If you are married at the time you retire, you will be given an opportunity to elect a survivor benefit for your spouse. To build a survivor benefit election into your benefits projection, click on the down arrow, and then click on your selection.

If you click on "Full," the software will automatically compute the maximum survivor benefits allowed under CSRS (55% of your benefit) and FERS (50% of your benefit).

If you click on "None," the software will not compute any survivor benefit.

1. If you do not elect a full survivor benefit, your spouse must consent to the zero election in writing.
2. To be eligible to continue Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) based on your enrollment, your spouse must be entitled to a survivor benefit and must be covered under your Self and Family FEHB enrollment on the date of your death.

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Applies only to CSRS, CSRS Offset, and FERS Transfer employees. Enter your best guess of the sick leave balance you will have as of the date you expect to leave postal/government employment.

Projected sick leave balance = (current sick leave balance entered above) + (sick leave you expect to earn by the time you retire or leave employment) - (sick leave you expect to use by the time you retire or leave employment)

Note: career employees earn 104 hours of sick leave per year while in a pay status.

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If you are a FERS employee and have reached your minimum retirement age (MRA) and have at least 10 years of service, you are eligible for a MRA+10 annuity when you separate from employment. You may elect to postpone the start date to a later time. Postponing the annuity start date may reduce or eliminate the age reduction of 5% per year for each year you are under age 62. To display a postponed MRA+10 annuity, enter the date that you wish the annuity to begin.

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Use this feature if your service history contains part time service. Part-time work counts towards creditable service on a pro-rated basis. For example, if you work 20 hours a week throughout your career with the government, then your retirement annuity would probably be 50% of what your annuity would have been if you had worked full-time. However, the actual computation of your annuity is complicated.

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Enter the amount of part time service in years and months that you expect to have at the time of your separation. Also enter the average number of hours per week that you will have worked during all of your part time service. If your tour of duty has varied from time to time, you must compute an average.

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Enter your average high 3 projected salary at the time of separation as if you were a full time employee. For example, if you expect to be working 20 hours per week and your projected high 3 salary will be $25,000 per year (half time), enter a "deemed" high 3 salary of $50,000.

The program assumes that the part time service was continuous and, in some cases, that you will be in a part time status when you separate from Federal service. If you have a complicated service history, for example you are a CSRS or FERS Transfer employee and you have multiple periods of part time service interspersed with periods of full time service, the program may not provide an accurate estimate of your annuity. In this case, you should obtain a more accurate estimate from your personnel office.

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Enter - in whole dollars -- the amount of your current account balance in each of the five TSP funds. The funds are:

C Fund - Common Stock Investment Index Fund
F Fund - Fixed Income Investment Index Fund
G Fund - Government Securities Investment Fund
S Fund - Small Capitalization Stock Investment Index Fund
I Fund - International Stock Investment Index Fund

You can obtain these balances from your most recent TSP account statement (April or October each year), or by calling the Thriftline at 504-255-8777.

A reasonably close estimate of your current balances is sufficient. An exact, to the dollar, calculation of your account balances as of today is not necessary.

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You have already entered how much you plan to contribute to the TSP in the future. Now enter your best sense of how you expect to divide those future contributions among the five TSP funds:

C Fund - Common Stock Investment Index Fund
F Fund - Fixed Income Investment Index Fund
G Fund - Government Securities Investment Fund
S Fund - Small Capitalization Stock Investment Index Fund
I Fund - International Stock Investment Index Fund

Unless you allocate 0% to any of the funds, your allocations must be in multiples of 5% -- for example, 15%, or 30%, or 70%, not 22%, or 46%, or 83%. The total of the five allocations must add up to 100%.

The software will take your existing account balances in the five funds, then add in your future contributions according to the allocations you make. In the case of FERS, agency contributions will follow the same future allocation.

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An important factor affecting the expected future growth of your Thrift Savings Plan account is the assumption you make about investment returns from the five TSP funds. The software includes a default set of assumptions reflecting moderate expectations for each of the five funds. Those assumptions are as follows:

C Fund - 11.5 % annual rate of return
F Fund - 7.5 % annual rate of return
G Fund - 6.5 % annual rate of return
S Fund - 13.0 % annual rate of return
I Fund - 9.0 % annual rate of return

The following table shows actual average annual rates of return for the five funds for twelve months (as of March 2001), for 2000, and the past 10 years. To provide a longer-term perspective, the table also shows estimated average annual returns for the past 20 years, if the funds had been in operation since 1981, or since inception.

Only you can decide what assumed rates of return you choose to use in the estimate of your future TSP benefits. You should strongly consider doing a variety of calculations reflecting moderate, optimistic, and pessimistic assumptions about future returns.

To change any of the default assumptions, click on the "options" menu, then on the "rates" selection. A box will appear displaying the assumptions currently in use. With your cursor, drag the box into your screen, then move your cursor to any of the assumptions you wish to change.

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In the two fields provided, enter the level of your expected future TSP contributions.

1. Enter the level of your contributions if you elect to continue to be covered under CSRS or CSRS Offset. This must be a whole percentage amount.
2. Enter the level of your contributions if you were to transfer to FERS. This must be a whole percentage amount.

Under FERS, there are additional agency automatic and matching contributions to your TSP account. The software will automatically factor in these agency contributions, according to the level of your own contributions that you select.

The additional agency TSP contributions under FERS are as follows:

Or you may decide to use a higher contribution level under FERS, to see the greater potential TSP savings if you transferred to FERS. For example, you might contribute 6% if you stay under CSRS, and 11% if you transfer to FERS.  Beginning in January 2002, the contribution ceiling for CSRS is 7% and 12% for FERS. The contribution limits will increase an additional 1% each year until the limit is phased out in January 2006. However, maximum contributions will continue to be limited by the annual maximum contribution ceiling established by the Internal Revenue Service. See www.tsp.gov for more information.

Remember, enter only the level of your own contributions. The model will automatically factor in the value of agency automatic and matching contributions.

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Based on your current account balances, your future contributions, and how you allocate your future contributions among the five TSP funds, the model will automatically project the future value of your TSP account at retirement. You will receive an estimate of the lump sum value of your TSP account if you stay in CSRS and if you transfer to FERS.

The benefits estimate will also show the future value of your TSP account as an annual annuity - that is, as a guaranteed monthly payment to you, or to you and then your spouse if you die first, for the rest of your life or lives. Buying an annuity is one of several withdrawal options available to you under TSP. Most important, it provides the best long-term benchmark for the approximate lifetime value of your total TSP savings. The TSP annuity amount is useful for long-term retirement planning purposes, even if down the road you select some other TSP withdrawal option.

A TSP annuity may be based on a level payment amount that never changes during your retirement years. Or, it may be based on an increasing payment amount that includes an annual adjustment for inflation of up to 3%.

To see an estimated TSP annuity amount based on increasing payments with up to 3% inflation protection, click on the box labeled "inflation protection." To see an estimated annuity based on level payments that aren't adjusted for inflation during retirement, leave the box blank and move on to the next field.

See your servicing personnel office for other TSP payment options.

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A TSP annuity can be payable only to you for the rest of your life - a "single life annuity." Or, the TSP annuity payments can be made to you or spouse for as long as at least one of you is alive - a "joint life annuity."

The software is programmed to show you, if you choose one type of a joint life annuity called a "joint and 50%" annuity. Under this arrangement, a starting full payment will be made for as long as you and your spouse are alive. Then, when either of you dies, a continuing payment will be made to the surviving person, equal to 50% of the original payment.

To see an estimated annuity based on joint and 50% payments to you and your spouse, click on the box labeled "survivor benefit." Then, enter in whole years the age difference between you and your spouse, and indicate whether your spouse is older or younger than you. If you and your spouse are the same age, enter a zero in the box labeled "years."

To see an estimated annuity payable only to you during your lifetime, leave the survivor benefit fields blank and move on to the next screen.

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One of the most important parts of your comparison of CSRS and FERS benefits is obtaining as accurate as possible an estimate of your possible future Social Security retirement benefits. If you stay in CSRS, you may end up not eligible for Social Security benefits at all, or eligible only for a small benefit. Transferring to FERS and acquiring future Social Security credits could help you qualify for a benefit, or increase the size of the benefit for which you are eligible.

A key aspect of how Social Security fits into your personal transfer equation is how much prior Social Security coverage you already have. In general, most CSRS employees have more prior Social Security earnings credits than they realize.

You may already have a Social Security Statement from the Social Security Administration. If not, you can obtain one from SSA over the internet at www.ssa.gov , or by contacting SSA at 1-800-772-1213.

The Social Security Statement is the best source for your Social Security information. Using the earnings history shown on your Social Security Statement, you can enter a detailed record of your prior Social Security earnings credits. To do so, click on the circle labeled "enter year-by-year earnings." Enter in the corresponding table each year's Social Security covered earnings. The software will automatically take your prior Social Security earnings credits, add in future credits you may obtain by transferring to FERS and/or from work after leaving government employment, and compute an estimated Social Security benefit for you based on current eligibility rules and benefit formulas.

If you do not have a Social Security Statement and don't know your exact amount of prior Social Security credits - or if you have your Social Security Statement but want to do a quicker and simpler estimate - click on the circle labeled "approximate earnings." Enter in the corresponding box your best estimate of the total number of prior credits covered under Social Security, the total amount of covered earnings you received while earning those credits, and your earnings during the most recent year spent under Social Security. The software will use this information to construct an approximated past earnings history, and factor this history into an estimate of your potential future Social Security benefits.

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The Social Security Statement summarizes your Social Security earnings history on file with SSA. You may request a Social Security Statement by calling SSA at 1-800-772-1213 or making an on-line request at SSA's website: www.ssa.gov. You select one of the following options depending on factors listed below.

Enter Year By Year Earnings - Using the earnings history shown on your Social Security Statement, you can enter a detailed record of your prior Social Security earnings credits. The software will automatically take these prior earnings credits, add in future credits you may obtain by transferring to FERS and/or from work after federal retirement, and compute an estimated Social Security benefit for you based on current eligibility rules and benefit formulas.

Earnings Approximation - Click here if you have 0 Social Security earnings, or if you don't have your Social Security Statement and you don't know your Social Security earnings for each year you worked under Social Security. The fields presented will help you to get a reasonable approximation to your Social Security earnings.

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Your Social Security retirement benefits will also reflect any covered employment you might have after separating from the government. If you do plan to work after separating from government employment, and want to see how that additional Social Security coverage will affect you benefits, enter the age you expect to begin receiving Social Security benefits. This age must be no earlier than age 62. The software will compare the age you expect to begin receiving Social Security benefits to the age you expect to leave government employment, and from this will determine the number of additional years you will work after you leave government employment.

Then enter your best estimate of what your typical annual salary will be during the period of work after you leave government employment. Use today's dollars and salary levels for the type of work you expect to do then. Do not try to guess what that type of work will earn in the future.

The software will automatically combine any work after you leave government employment with your prior Social Security credits and credits you would earn by transferring to FERS. The software will display your projected Social Security retirement benefit starting at the age you have specified to begin receiving Social Security benefits.

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You do receive Social Security Credits when you pay Social Security tax on your earnings. Therefore, you cannot receive Social Security Credits for earnings under CSRS. You receive Social Security Credits for earnings under CSRS Offset.

Starting with 1978, you have received from 1 to 4 Credits each year if you earned a minimum amount (which changes every year) and paid Social Security tax on your earnings. In 2001, for example, you received 1 Credit for every $830 you earned, and received up to a maximum of 4 Credits if you earned at least $3,320 ($830 x 4). Before the use of Credits in 1978, you received 1 "Quarter of Coverage" if you earned at least $50 in a specific 3-month period and paid Social Security tax on your earnings. You could receive a maximum of 4 Quarters of Coverage per year. Now that the Credit system is being used, you earn all 4 credits in a calendar year as soon as you have earned 4 times the required earnings. You don't have to wait to complete 4 three-month periods as you did under the old Quarters of Coverage rules. For example, if you earned at least $3,480 ($870 x 4) in January of 2002, then within one month you had earned a full year's worth of Social Security Credits. In 2002, $870.00 is the amount needed to earn 1 credit.

Quarters of Coverage earned before 1978 count the same as Credits received since 1978.

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Based on the information you enter elsewhere, this software will estimate whether you will qualify to receive Social Security benefits and the estimated benefit amount if you do qualify. Enter the age you want to begin receiving Social Security benefits. Do not enter any age below 62.

If you elect to begin receiving Social Security benefits at Social Security Normal Retirement Age (SSNRA), full Social Security benefits are paid. If you elect to begin receiving benefits from age 62 up to SSNRA, reduced benefits are paid; if you elect to begin receiving benefits after SSNRA, increased benefits are paid. SSNRA is based upon year of birth, as follows:

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Your Social Security benefit is based on either your own Social Security earnings or upon your spouse's Social Security earnings. If you qualify for a spousal benefit, it is 50% of your spouse's Social Security benefit. Any benefit based upon your spouse's earnings may be reduced because of the Social Security Government Pension Offset, also called the Public Pension Spousal Offset. This comparison software will use information you enter in this section to estimate any future reduction from the Government Pension Offset. If your spouse is also a CSRS employee, this software will overestimate the spousal Social Security benefit because it is not taking into account the Windfall Elimination Offset. If this applies to you, you may want to call Social Security for assistance at 1-800-772-1213.

Your spouse may already have a Social Security Statement from the Security Administration. If not, you can obtain one from SSA over the internet at www.ssa.gov , or by contacting SSA at 1-800-772-1213.

The Social Security Statement is the best source for your spouse's Social Security Information. Using the earnings history shown on your spouse's Social Security Statement, you can enter a detailed record of your spouse's prior Social Security earnings credits. To do so, click on the circle labeled "enter year-by-year earnings." Enter in the corresponding table each year's Social Security covered earnings. The software will automatically take your spouse's prior Social Security earnings credits and compute whether the Government Pension Offset applies to your own future Social Security benefit.

Alternatively, you can directly enter the monthly retirement estimate shown on Page 3 of your spouse's Social Security Statement, by clicking on the circle labeled "Enter Benefit Override". Type in the salary, using only the number, into the box labeled "Benefit Override" Do not enter any symbols into this box.

If your spouse does not have his or her Social Security Statement and doesn't know his or her exact amount of prior Social Security credits - or if you have your spouse's Social Security Statement but want to do a quicker and simpler estimate - click on the circle labeled "approximate earnings." Enter in the corresponding box your best estimate of the total number of prior Credits covered under Social Security, the total amount of covered earnings your spouse received while earnings those Credits and your spouse's earnings during the most recent year spent under Social Security. The software will use this information to construct an approximated past earnings history for your spouse, and factor this history into determining whether the Government Pension Offset applies to you.

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Enter Benefit Override - Click here if you have your spouse's Social Security Statement. Enter the monthly retirement estimate shown on page 3 of your spouse's Social Security Statement in the "Benefit Override" box that appears. Enter the number only; do not enter any symbols with the number.

Enter Year-By-Year Earnings - Click here if you don't have your spouse's Social Security Statement but you know the Social Security earnings for each year your spouse worked under Social Security You will get a table to enter each Year and corresponding Earnings for that year.

Approximate Earnings - Click here if your spouse have 0 Social Security earnings, or if you don't have your spouse's Social Security Statement and you don't know your spouse's Social Security earnings for each year your spouse worked under Social Security. The fields presented will help you to get a reasonable approximation to your spouse's Social Security earnings.

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The FERS Supplement is a special retirement supplement for employees who retire under FERS prior to reaching age 62. This supplement is designed to approximate an employee's Social Security benefit earned while a federal employee and to compensate the employee until Social Security benefits begin. FERS employees must meet the age and service requirements needed to retire with an immediate annuity to be eligible for the supplement. Regular employees who retire under the "early" retirement rules, who are less than MRA, and who are eligible for an immediate annuity begin receiving the FERS supplement the month after reaching their minimum retirement age (MRA).

This feature allows the user to compute a future FERS supplement. There are three methods for entering data to compute this benefit.

Using the first method to compute the FERS supplement, enter the employee's earnings history for FERS service. To begin click on "Create" and enter the first year in which the employee had a full calendar year of creditable civilian service under FERS. The model will automatically fill the table with years up to the current year. Enter FERS earnings in the table for every year in which there was a full calendar year of creditable civilian FERS service. To add additional lines for future years, hit the Tab key. Leave the earnings field blank for any year in which there was a break in service of greater than three days. The model will compute "deemed" earnings for years in which no earnings are entered in the table. The model also will automatically project future earnings prior to retirement.

An alternate procedure, if you have entered year-by year Social Security earnings, would be to use these earnings for the FERS Supplemental computation by clicking on the button at the bottom of the screen. You may edit these earnings to ensure that they accurately reflect only your FERS earnings by making entries in the FERS earnings table. These entries will override those transferred from the Social Security earnings table.

A third way to compute a FERS supplement is to make no entries in this tab. The program will compute an approximate benefit based on your FERS salary in the current year.

The supplement is subject to an earnings test, similar to the test used for Social Security below the age of 65, reducing the supplement by half the retiree's income above an annual exempt amount. In 2002, the first $11,280 is exempt from the earnings test. Earned income over this limit reduces the FERS supplement by $1 for every $2 over the limit.

Special rules apply to law enforcement officers, firefighters, and air traffic controllers who retire before the FERS minimum retirement age (MRA). For these employees the FERS supplement begins immediately, but is not earnings tested until the employee reaches the MRA for regular employees (55-57). Generally speaking, the MRA for regular employees born before 1948 is 55; the MRA for employees born between 1953 and 1964 is 56, and the MRA for employees born after 1970 is 57.

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The Social Security administration rate uses 3.3 percent as their "Moderate Scenario" assumption for future inflation. Inflation is important because it reduces the future buying power of today's dollars. If you choose a lower number than 3.3 percent, that means you believe future inflation will not be as high as 3.3 percent and the earning power of today's dollars will drop less quickly in the future. If you choose a higher inflation rate than 3.3 percent, that means you believe future inflation will be higher that 3.3 percent, and the earning power of today's dollars will drop more quickly in the future.

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It is important to see how inflation affects your retirement benefits over your retirement years. For this reason, estimated retirement benefits are presented for:

1. Your first year of retirement
2. The age at which you begin receiving your Social Security benefits (if eligible)
3. Ten-year intervals following the start of your Social Security benefits.

CSRS annuities and Social Security do not show a loss in purchasing power because each of these benefits receive an annual adjustment fully indexed to inflation.

A FERS annuity shows a loss in purchasing power because it is not fully protected against inflation. There is no annual cost-of-living adjustment until you reach age 62. After that, you will receive:

• The Consumer Price Index (CPI) minus 1% if the CPI is 3% or more
• 2% if the CPI is between 2% and 3%
• The full CPI if the CPI is 2% or less.

Note that Social Security Benefits will reflect the Windfall Elimination Provision where applicable.

For FERS Employees, the Benefits Report also shows the FERS Supplement which is a special retirement supplement for employees who retire under FERS prior to reaching age 62. This supplement is designed to approximate an employee's Social Security benefit earned while a federal employee and to compensate the employee until Social Security benefits begin. FERS employees must meet the age and service requirements needed to retire with an immediate annuity to be eligible for the supplement. Retirees separated involuntarily before reaching their minimum retirement age become eligible for the supplement once they reach their minimum retirement age.

The FERS supplement is subject to an earnings test, similar to the test used for Social Security below the age of 65, reducing the supplement by half the retiree's earned income above an annual exempt amount. An earnings test can potentially reduce your Social Security benefit (including any spousal benefit) and your FERS supplement. The test is applied as follows: In 2002, under age 65 the first $11,280 is exempt from the earnings test.   Earned income over these limits reduces the Social Security benefit -- $1 for every $2 you're over the limit.  In 2000, Congress eliminated the earnings test for beneficiaries 65 or older.

The Benefits Projection report also shows how inflation may affect the purchasing power of your TSP benefit over your lifetime. It shows the estimated value of a level annuity payment that will gradually lose purchasing power because of inflation. You are also able to elect increasing annuity payments that start out lower but are indexed during retirement for inflation of up to 3% per year. The report also projects the estimated lump sum value of your TSP account in this year's dollars.

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