The Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) is a public

pension fund A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any plan, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income. Pension funds typically have large amounts of money to invest and are the major investors in listed and priva ...

organized in 1920 that has provided retirement, disability, and survivor benefits for most civilian employees in the

United States federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fed ...

. Upon the creation of a new

Federal Employees Retirement System The Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) is the retirement system for employees within the United States civil service. FERS became effective January 1, 1987, to replace the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and to conform federal ret ...

(FERS) in 1987, those newly hired after that date cannot participate in CSRS. CSRS continues to provide retirement benefits to those eligible to receive them. CSRS is a defined-benefit plan, akin to a

pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

. Notably, though, CSRS employees do not participate in Social Security (unless having worked in the private sector beforehand, and then subject to penalties). Employees hired after 1983 are required to be covered by the

(FERS), which is a three tiered retirement system with a smaller defined benefit (pension), Social Security, and a

401(k) In the United States, a 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored, defined-contribution, personal pension (savings) account, as defined in subsection 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Periodical employee contributions come directly out of the ...

-style system called the

Thrift Savings Plan The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is a defined contribution plan for United States civil service employees and retirees as well as for members of the uniformed services. As of December 31, 2020, TSP has approximately 6.2million participants (of wh ...

(TSP). The defined benefits of both the CSRS and the FERS systems are paid out of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, which had a projected balance of $898 billion as of September 30, 2017.Budget of the United States Government, FY2019
published February 12, 2018.

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

, Retrieved February 15, 2018 With changes in the determining retirement coverage of federal employees under FERS or CSRS, those employees who are later rehired that were previously covered under CSRS will retain their CSRS coverage if they meet certain service rules. In general, if rehired employees have 5 years of civilian service as of December 31, 1986, they will retain CSRS coverage. However, if the break in service is greater than 365 days, the employee is also covered under Social Security and will be deemed CSRS Offset. Overall benefits paid to CSRS or CSRS Offset employees will remain equitable based on the number of years of creditable service and CSRS formula upon retirement. CSRS and CSRS Offset employees with a break in service more than three days are also eligible to elect coverage under FERS within the first six months of rehire. Employees who were previously covered under CSRS and do not meet the 5 year retirement coverage rule are automatically covered under the FERS upon rehire. Employees under CSRS (and CSRS Offset) may contribute to TSP as well, but participate as a supplement to their designated pension benefit.Separation and Retirement Incentives in the Federal Civil Service
Rand Corporation, Contributions to the TSP are not matched.

References

{{Authority control Civil service in the United States Defunct agencies of the United States government Public pension funds in the United States