Planning Federal Retirement: TSP and FERS, the Basics
How the Thrift Savings Plan and the FERS pension work together, and how to project your federal retirement before you get there.
Federal retirement rests on two pillars that work together: the FERS pension and the Thrift Savings Plan. Understanding how each is calculated makes the whole picture far less intimidating.
The FERS pension
Your FERS annuity is based on a simple formula: your years of creditable service, your "high-3" average salary (the highest average pay over 36 consecutive months), and a multiplier. For most employees the multiplier is 1% per year of service, rising to 1.1% if you retire at 62 or later with at least 20 years. More years and a higher high-3 both raise the number.
The Thrift Savings Plan
The TSP is the federal version of a 401(k). You contribute from each paycheck, the government matches a portion, and your balance grows across the funds you choose (the G, F, C, S, and I funds, or the Lifecycle funds). Because of the match and compounding, small changes to your contribution rate can have a large effect over a career.
How they fit together
The pension gives you a predictable monthly floor; the TSP gives you a growing balance you control. Planning retirement means projecting both — and seeing how retiring a year earlier or later, or nudging your TSP contribution, moves your outcome.
Project your numbers
We built two focused tools for this. TSP Pro tracks and projects your Thrift Savings Plan across every fund, and FERS Pro estimates your pension from your service, high-3, and retirement age. Together they turn a fuzzy "someday" into a number you can plan around.
General information only, not financial advice. Confirm specifics with your agency HR and the official TSP and OPM resources.
