FERS, CSRS, TSP, and the hospital plans — retirement for federal employees, postal workers, and nurses, with the rules private-sector advice never touches.
If you work for the U.S. government, the Postal Service, the VA, a county hospital, Kaiser, or almost any other public-sector or healthcare employer, your retirement is not a 401(k). It’s a pension — FERS, CSRS, LACERA, UCRP, or a hospital plan — stacked with a Thrift Savings Plan or 403(b), and often Social Security on top. Each component has its own rules, and the plan only works when they’re read together. That is the work of this page.
By Sean Anees Saifi · Capital Wealth · Planning for federal, postal & healthcare workers
01At a GlanceFour systems · three legs · one gap
Know Your Bucket
Nearly every client here sits in one of four systems — FERS, CSRS, a county/university plan like LACERA or UCRP, or a private plan like Kaiser’s — each with its own formula.
The 62 Bump
Retiring at 62+ with 20+ years lifts the FERS multiplier from 1% to 1.1% per year of service — on a $92,000 High-3 with 30 years, that’s $30,360 a year.
The Match
FERS employees must contribute at least 5% of salary to collect the full agency 5% (1% automatic + 4% match). 2026 employee limit: $24,500, plus catch-ups at 50+ and 60–63.
The Bridge
Retire under MRA+30 or at 60+ with 20 years and FERS pays the Special Retirement Supplement to 62 — bridge income many retirees never realize they qualify for.
02The SystemsFERS · CSRS · USPS · the hospital plans
Four buckets. Everything starts with knowing yours.
“Federal retirement” is four different systems wearing one name — and “nurse retirement” isn’t one thing at all. A VA nurse is on FERS; a Kaiser nurse is on Kaiser’s cash-balance plan; a county-hospital nurse is on LACERA; a UC nurse is on UCRP. The first step of every plan we build is confirming exactly which system covers the service — then optimizing the supplemental savings, the survivor election, and the tax picture around it.
Bucket 1 — FERS
Federal Employees Retirement System. All federal hires on/after Jan 1 1984, including USPS. Three-component: Basic Benefit pension + Social Security + TSP (Thrift Savings Plan) with agency match up to 5%.
Bucket 2 — CSRS
Civil Service Retirement System. Federal hires before 1984 still on the old system. Richer pension (about 1.5–2% per year of service), NO Social Security through federal work, and a TSP with no match.
Bucket 3 — County / Public Hospital
County-hospital nurses and staff covered by a county system like LACERA, OCERS, or the University of California plan (UCRP). Same age-factor × service × final-comp formula as other county systems.
Bucket 4 — Private / Kaiser
Kaiser Permanente employees, non-profit hospital systems, and private hospital groups. Typically a pension (Kaiser Permanente Retirement Plan) plus a 403(b) / 401(k) — with Social Security through normal FICA.
How the FERS pension is calculated
FERS covers about 2.8 million federal workers, including postal employees, VA staff, and most civilian agencies. The pension is one of three legs; the TSP is how the income gap closes and real wealth gets built.
The FERS monthly pension formula (Basic Benefit):
High-3 Salary × Years of Service × 1% (or 1.1% at age 62+ with 20+ yrs)
High-3. The average of your highest three consecutive years of basic pay. Multiplier. 1% per year of service in most cases — bumps to 1.1% if you retire at 62 or older WITH 20+ years of service. MRA. Minimum Retirement Age ranges from 55 to 57 depending on birth year.
FERS multiplier matrix
Retirement Scenario
Multiplier
Age 62+ with 20+ yrs
1.10%
Age 62+ with < 20 yrs
1.00%
Age 60+ with 20+ yrs
1.00%
MRA+30 years
1.00%
MRA+10 (reduced)
1.00% − 5%/yr under 62
Special provisions apply to law enforcement, firefighters, air traffic controllers, and certain USPS safety categories.
Minimum Retirement Age (MRA) by birth year
Born
MRA
Before 1948
55 y 0 m
1953–1964
56 y 0 m
1965–1969
56 y 8 m
1970+
57 y 0 m
MRA matters because it sets the earliest date you can retire under MRA+30, MRA+20, or MRA+10 rules. Birth years between the rows step up in two-month increments — confirm your exact MRA with OPM.
Worked example. FERS employee retires at age 62 with 30 years of service, High-3 of $92,000:
$92,000 × 30 × 1.10% = $30,360/year ($2,530/mo)
Add FERS Social Security (roughly $2,400/mo at 62) and a well-funded TSP (say $400K producing $1,400/mo at 4% SWR) and you’re at $6,330/mo gross — a replacement rate near 82% of High-3. The TSP is what makes that math work. Without it you’re at 55%.
fig.01
The Three Legs of FERS — Same Career, With and Without the TSP
Worked example: age 62, 30 years, $92,000 High-3; TSP income at a 4% withdrawal rate.Formulas per OPM; illustration only.
CSRS — the older, richer federal pension
CSRS covers federal hires before 1984 who didn’t elect to switch. The pension is much larger per year of service, but there is no Social Security from federal work — and for four decades, Social Security earned outside federal work was cut by the WEP and GPO. No longer: the Social Security Fairness Act repealed both in January 2025. If you’re CSRS with an outside Social Security record, your benefit now pays in full — a raise many legacy retirees still haven’t priced into their plan.
CSRS monthly pension formula:
1.5% × first 5 yrs + 1.75% × next 5 yrs + 2.0% × remaining yrs × High-3
A 35-year CSRS career produces roughly a 66.25% replacement rate on High-3 — significantly higher than FERS — but the retiree must plan the survivor benefit separately and now has a restored Social Security benefit to coordinate.
Special note: CSRS Offset covers a small group re-hired between 1984–1987 who have both a CSRS pension and Social Security. The pension is reduced by roughly the Social Security amount earned during that offset service. We see this in a handful of VA and postal clients and the accounting is specific.
What makes postal retirement different
USPS employees are federal employees — they retire under FERS (or CSRS for pre-1984 hires). The rules are the same as any other federal agency, but the retirement path has a few Postal-specific wrinkles worth knowing before you file papers.
VERA / VSIP Offers
Early-out windows
The Postal Service periodically offers Voluntary Early Retirement Authority and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments. Rules, penalty waivers, and lump-sum amounts change case by case — run the numbers before accepting.
Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB)
Post-2025 health system
Retiree healthcare for USPS moved out of FEHB into the separate PSHB program. Medicare Part B enrollment rules and the PSHB premium structure now drive the retiree health decision at age 65.
Special Supplement
FERS bridge to 62
If you retire under MRA+30 or at 60+ with 20+ years, FERS pays a monthly Special Retirement Supplement roughly equal to your Social Security benefit earned to that point — until age 62.
Survivor Election
Pension Max opportunity
Federal and postal retirees choose between a full, partial, or no survivor annuity. The spousal consent rules are strict. Pension Maximization can often replace the survivor election with life insurance at a lower total cost.
Retirement plans for nurses and hospital staff
“Nurse retirement” depends entirely on the employer. A VA nurse is on FERS. A Kaiser nurse is on the Kaiser Permanente plan. A county-hospital nurse is on LACERA. A teaching-hospital nurse is on CalPERS. Knowing which plan you have is the first step.
VA / Federal Nurses
FERS + TSP
Department of Veterans Affairs nurses and federal hospital nurses are federal employees. FERS pension + Social Security + TSP. Same math as any other FERS employee.
Kaiser Permanente
Cash Balance Pension + 401(k)
Kaiser’s Retirement Plan is a cash-balance formula that grows with pay credits and interest credits, supplemented by a 401(k)/403(b). Union contracts (SEIU, CNA) set the pay-credit rate.
LA County Hospital (LACERA)
Plan D / Plan E / Plan G
Los Angeles County hospital nurses retire under LACERA General tiers — Plan E is contributory, Plan D is the older non-contributory legacy, Plan G is post-2013 PEPRA. Same age-factor system as other LACERA members.
UC Health / UCRP
University of California Retirement Plan
UCLA Health, UCSF, UCSD, and other UC hospital nurses retire under UCRP. Pension + DC Plan + 403(b) + 457(b). Generous formula, but the pension start date matters.
CalPERS Hospital Districts
2% at 55 / 2% at 62
Many California municipal and district hospitals contract with CalPERS for the pension. Same age-factor schedules as CalPERS General.
Private / For-Profit Hospitals
403(b) or 401(k)
For-profit hospital systems (HCA, Tenet, Sutter, etc.) typically run a 403(b) or 401(k) with a company match, no pension. Your retirement math becomes standard DC-plan math — contributions, match, investment selection.
03The TSPThe leg you control
The most under-used tool in federal retirement.
The Thrift Savings Plan is the federal 401(k). It has the lowest fund expenses of any major retirement plan (often under 5 basis points). Most federal and postal workers under-contribute, leave the agency match on the table, or let the money sit in the wrong fund. Fixing those three levers alone can swing a retirement by six figures.
2026 TSP contribution limits
Category
Limit
Employee contribution
$24,500
Age 50+ catch-up
+$8,000
Age 60–63 super catch-up
+$11,250
Agency automatic (FERS)
1% of salary
Agency match (first 5%)
+4% match
To capture the full 5% match you must contribute at least 5% of salary yourself. Many FERS employees miss this.
TSP fund menu
G Fund
Govt securities, no NAV risk
F Fund
Bloomberg Agg bonds
C Fund
S&P 500
S Fund
US small/mid cap
I Fund
International developed
L Funds
Target-date lifecycle
Roth TSP is available alongside the traditional pre-tax. Most FERS employees should blend both.
04The PlanSix mistakes · six steps
Six mistakes we see constantly — and the process that avoids them.
1. Leaving agency match on the table
If you’re FERS and contribute less than 5%, you’re giving up free money every paycheck. The first 5% from the agency compounds the same as your own money — and you’ve already “paid” for it with tax dollars.
2. Sitting in the G Fund for 30 years
G Fund never loses value — and barely grows. A 30-year-old with a FERS career ahead should not have 100% in G Fund. We see this constantly, especially among postal clients.
3. Still planning around WEP / GPO
The Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset were repealed in January 2025. If your plan — or your expected Social Security number — was built around the old haircut, it’s now wrong in your favor. Re-run the benefit; CSRS retirees gain the most.
4. Defaulting to full survivor annuity
Electing the maximum survivor benefit costs you ~10% of your pension for life. In some marriages the math says to elect it — but in many, Pension Maximization via life insurance wins. Run both.
5. Missing the Special Retirement Supplement
Many FERS retirees under 62 don’t realize they qualify for the monthly Special Supplement, which fills the gap until Social Security kicks in. Confirm eligibility before retiring or you may leave 2–5 years of bridge income unclaimed.
6. Rolling TSP out too fast
TSP’s low fees are hard to beat. Rolling to an IRA at retirement isn’t automatic gospel — sometimes it costs you basis points forever. We evaluate the rollover math before we recommend it.
How we design the plan
1. Confirm the system
FERS, CSRS, CSRS Offset, LACERA Plan E, UCRP, Kaiser — each has different calculators. We start by confirming exactly which plan covers your service.
2. Project the pension at three ages
We model your pension at MRA, age 60, and age 62 (or similar) — so you can see the cost of leaving early vs. the benefit of staying longer.
3. Identify the gap
Pension + Social Security + Special Supplement rarely cover 100% of your pre-retirement income. We calculate what the TSP / 403(b) / 457(b) must produce.
4. Right-size the TSP
We reallocate across G / F / C / S / I / L funds based on your time horizon and risk profile. And we make sure you’re capturing the full agency match.
5. Model the survivor decision
Max survivor vs. partial vs. none — compared with life-insurance-based Pension Maximization. We run the math under realistic mortality assumptions for both spouses.
6. Layer the repeal and the taxes
If you’re CSRS or have a non-federal Social Security record, we model the post-repeal benefit and design withdrawals around it — Roth TSP, basis rules, and state-tax considerations included.
The Takeaway
Your pension formula was set the day you were hired; the TSP allocation, the survivor election, and the retirement date were not. Those are the three levers still in your hands — and the difference between pulling them well and pulling them by default is often six figures over a retirement.
Bring the TSP statement. We’ll read the whole system.
Fifteen minutes, one conversation — your annuity estimate, your TSP or 403(b) balance, your retirement date. We’ll model the pension at multiple ages, check the multiplier and the Special Supplement, and show you the exact dollar gap your supplemental savings must close.
FERS, CSRS, and TSP figures reflect published OPM and IRS rules; contribution limits are 2026 IRS figures. Plan features for Kaiser, LACERA, UCRP, and CalPERS reflect the plans’ standard published terms — confirm your tier and benefit with the plan administrator. All analysis is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions. Disclosures · Privacy
