Your Annuity Estimate Might Be Wrong—Here’s How to Double Check It

Key Takeaways

• Your FERS annuity estimate may not reflect your true retirement income if it includes outdated salary data, excludes unused sick leave, or overlooks service time.

• Verifying your annuity involves checking your SF-50 forms, calculating your high-3 average correctly, and confirming military or temporary service credit.

Why Annuity Estimates Can Be Off the Mark

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Your annuity estimate is supposed to give you a reliable picture of what you’ll earn in retirement. But in 2025, more and more public sector employees are finding that their estimates are miscalculated due to system errors, outdated records, or misunderstood service history. While automated tools from your agency can provide projections, they rely on data inputs that may not be up to date or complete.

Errors in annuity estimates can lead to unexpected reductions in income when you retire. That’s why it’s critical to review the components of your estimate yourself.

What Goes into Your FERS Annuity Calculation

To double check your estimate, you need to understand what contributes to it:

• High-3 Average Salary: This is the average of your highest-paid 36 consecutive months of basic pay. Overtime and bonuses aren’t included.

• Years of Creditable Service: This includes your federal civilian service and may include military service if you’ve made a deposit.

• Multiplier: Typically 1% of your high-3 times years of service, or 1.1% if you retire at age 62 or later with 20+ years of service.

If any of these factors are off, your estimated annuity will be inaccurate.

1. Validate Your High-3 Average Salary

Many miscalculations begin with an incorrect high-3 salary figure. In 2025, your agency might use pay records from several years back or average across the wrong time period. To double check it:

• Review your most recent earnings and identify your 36 highest-paid consecutive months.

• Use official salary data from your personnel folder, not estimations.

• Be cautious of salary changes from promotions, step increases, or locality pay shifts that might affect the calculation.

If you worked part-time, held temporary positions, or had periods of unpaid leave, these could all distort the high-3 estimate if not properly recorded.

2. Confirm Creditable Service Years

Creditable service is often another source of discrepancy. Here’s how to verify yours:

• Check your SF-50s: Your Notification of Personnel Action forms are the most direct proof of federal employment.

• Temporary Service: Service before 1989 may count if you made a deposit. Service after 1989 usually doesn’t count unless it was converted.

• Military Service: If you served in the military, ensure that you’ve made the required deposit to credit those years toward your annuity.

• Breaks in Service: Periods of separation or non-creditable time won’t count, but if you had a break followed by reemployment, those prior years may still count if re-deposits were made.

Errors in service credit can reduce your annuity by thousands of dollars annually, especially if years are missing.

3. Account for Unused Sick Leave

As of 2025, any unused sick leave at retirement gets converted into service credit—but many estimates fail to include it.

• 2,087 hours of sick leave = 1 year of service credit.

• You can find your current sick leave balance on your earnings and leave statement.

• Add this time to your total service when estimating the annuity.

Keep in mind that sick leave cannot be used to reach eligibility for retirement—it only increases your annuity after you qualify.

4. Evaluate Your Retirement Eligibility

The timing of your retirement affects how your annuity is calculated:

• Minimum Retirement Age (MRA): Between 55 and 57 depending on your birth year.

• Immediate Retirement: Available with 30 years of service at MRA, 20 years at age 60, or 5 years at age 62.

• MRA+10: You can retire with at least 10 years of service at MRA, but your annuity is reduced unless you postpone.

Make sure your estimate reflects the right scenario. MRA+10 cases are especially prone to misestimates because of the early retirement penalties that may not be applied in the calculator.

5. Don’t Rely Solely on Automated Calculators

Your agency might offer annuity calculators or estimates through platforms like GRB Platform or EBIS. While convenient, they may rely on outdated or incorrect personnel data. These tools often:

• Assume default retirement dates that don’t match your actual plans.

• Ignore sick leave unless manually entered.

• Exclude military service unless the deposit is already on file.

Always cross-reference calculator results with manual computations and personnel records.

6. Verify Special Retirement Provisions

If you work in a position covered by special retirement provisions (such as law enforcement or air traffic control), your annuity uses a different formula:

• 1.7% of high-3 for the first 20 years.

• 1% for remaining service.

In 2025, many employees nearing retirement find that their agency estimate reflects the standard FERS formula instead. That could mean a serious underestimation.

Also, confirm whether you’re eligible for the FERS Annuity Supplement. It’s available until age 62 for those who retire under immediate retirement rules—not MRA+10. Many estimates omit this entirely.

7. Consider Redeposits and Deposits

If you withdrew retirement contributions during a past separation from service or have non-deduction service, this can affect your annuity.

• Redeposit: If you had a break in service and took your contributions with you, you must redeposit them with interest to get credit.

• Deposit: For temporary or military service, a deposit allows that time to count toward your annuity.

Check with your agency or OPM to verify if deposits have been made. Your annuity estimate won’t be accurate without this data.

8. Request a Certified Estimate from HR

Once you’ve done your own review, you can request a certified annuity estimate from your Human Resources office. These differ from automated estimates because:

• HR staff manually review your records.

• Service history, sick leave, and deposit payments are confirmed.

• The calculation is tailored to your intended retirement date.

Request this 6 to 12 months before you plan to retire. In 2025, agencies are encouraging earlier reviews to accommodate longer processing times and ensure corrections can be made.

9. Review Your Summary of Federal Service

Your Summary of Federal Service (SFS) is a document you receive during the retirement application process. It includes:

• Dates of federal service.

• Total creditable service.

• Notations about deposits, sick leave, and unused leave.

Review it line by line and flag any inconsistencies. This is often your last chance to catch errors before OPM finalizes your annuity.

Taking the Time to Double Check Pays Off

An inaccurate annuity estimate can result in long-term financial consequences. Whether you plan to retire this year or in five years, the best time to review your numbers is now. With so many moving parts—high-3 average, sick leave, service history, and special provisions—it’s essential to approach your retirement calculations like a personal audit.

Get in touch with a licensed agent listed on this website for professional help reviewing your estimate and making sure you’re fully prepared for retirement.