Military buy back - CSRS vs FERS

[dingalings99]

Hello everyone,

I recently checked out so I'm in the process of getting all my stuff together to buy back the time. I was looking at the "fed employees benefits statement" on employee express and saw that I'd have to pay 7% of my pay which went against the 3% that I had been seeing from doing research. I did some digging and apparently CSRS retirement plan people pay 7% and FERS pays 3%. What's the difference between these two plans and which one is better?

On my LES the deductions are towards FERS/FRAE so does that mean this is some clerical error; either I'm CSRS and the LES has been wrong for the deduction type or I'm FERS and the buyback should be 3% instead of 7%?

Thanks

 

[Soul_Controller]

You're definitely not CSRS

 

[SolicitSVFR]

Hello everyone,

I recently checked out so I'm in the process of getting all my stuff together to buy back the time. I was looking at the "fed employees benefits statement" on employee express and saw that I'd have to pay 7% of my pay which went against the 3% that I had been seeing from doing research. I did some digging and apparently CSRS retirement plan people pay 7% and FERS pays 3%. What's the difference between these two plans and which one is better?

On my LES the deductions are towards FERS/FRAE so does that mean this is some clerical error; either I'm CSRS and the LES has been wrong for the deduction type or I'm FERS and the buyback should be 3% instead of 7%?

Thanks

CSRS ended a long time ago back in early 90s I think. Was a sweet deal I heard 50% pension for 20 years service. But following because I am buying time back soon too

 

[dingalings99]

dang what the heck is this then lol

guess i'll call the LES people and see if its a mistake or something

 

[MJ]

FAA has nothing to do with msc. DFAS will calculate the amount you owe, nothing else you see matters.

Defense Finance and Accounting Service > CivilianEmployees > militaryservice > militaryservicedeposits

 

[Brotallion]

Kind of an atypical situation. I am in the National Guard, with 7 years of service. Half of which have been spent on active orders. I plan on doing 25-30 total. Assuming a couple deployments and various schools and activations for stateside stuff, still a fair amount of active time to build up.

Can you even buy back time if you plan to retire from the military and the FAA?

 

[rugbydog11]

Kind of an atypical situation. I am in the National Guard, with 7 years of service. Half of which have been spent on active orders. I plan on doing 25-30 total. Assuming a couple deployments and various schools and activations for stateside stuff, still a fair amount of active time to build up.

Can you even buy back time if you plan to retire from the military and the FAA?

I don't think you can buy back until you are separated. You can not buy back if you retire, unless you forgive your mil pension.

 

[Brotallion]

I don't think you can buy back until you are separated. You can not buy back if you retire, unless you forgive your mil pension.

That would make sense. I appreciate the reply.

 

[JM4994]

You can absolutely buy back if you have a guard retirement.

 

[Brotallion]

You can absolutely buy back if you have a guard retirement.

It seems as though I’d lose credit for the years of service on the guard retirement. Do you know where I could read up on it or should I just do one of the retirement briefings?

 

[JM4994]

It seems as though I’d lose credit for the years of service on the guard retirement. Do you know where I could read up on it or should I just do one of the retirement briefings?

Nope. Your civilian retirement has no bearing on your guard pension. But only certain time counts, not drills. You should definitely do a retirement briefing for all the other reasons but they aren't always well versed on the uniqueness of guard life. I think it's mentioned in the FERS handbook.

 

[Brotallion]

Nope. Your civilian retirement has no bearing on your guard pension. But only certain time counts, not drills. You should definitely do a retirement briefing for all the other reasons but they aren't always well versed on the uniqueness of guard life. I think it's mentioned in the FERS handbook.

I’ll check that out. Thanks for your help. Have a couple guys at the facility who have or will retire from the NG, so I’ll see what they say.

 

[MosesRichards]

Hello everyone,

I recently checked out so I'm in the process of getting all my stuff together to buy back the time. I was looking at the "fed employees benefits statement" on employee express and saw that I'd have to pay 7% of my pay which went against the 3% that I had been seeing from doing research. I did some digging and apparently CSRS retirement plan people pay 7% and FERS pays 3%. What's the difference between these two plans and which one is better?

On my LES the deductions are towards FERS/FRAE so does that mean this is some clerical error; either I'm CSRS and the LES has been wrong for the deduction type or I'm FERS and the buyback should be 3% instead of 7%?

Ask AI Mod APK Premium Unlocked

To answer your question, CSRS and FERS are two different retirement systems for federal employees. CSRS (Civil Service Retirement System) was created in 1920 and FERS (Federal Employees Retirement System) was established in 1986. The main difference between the two is that CSRS is a defined benefit plan that provides a fixed, monthly retirement benefit based on years of service and average salary, while FERS is a combination of a defined benefit plan and a Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), which is similar to a 401(k) plan.

CSRS employees pay 7% of their salary towards their retirement benefits, while FERS employees pay 0.8% towards their defined benefit plan and an additional 4.4% towards their TSP. The FERS contribution rate is scheduled to increase by 0.1% each year until it reaches 4.9% in 2025.

Based on the information you provided, it sounds like you are enrolled in the FERS retirement plan since your deductions are towards FERS/FRAE. If that's the case, then the 7% deduction you saw on the benefits statement for CSRS would not apply to you. It's possible that the information on the statement is not accurate or is meant for another employee with a different retirement plan.