How does the CSRS Offset actually work?
What the offset reduces, when it applies, and how it interacts with your Social Security claim.
CSRS and CSRS Offset retirement planning
Fewer and fewer advisers still understand CSRS properly. If you have been told your situation is unusual, it is not — it is just that most people you speak to have never had to work with it.
The questions
The questions we get asked most
Do the Windfall and Government Pension Offset provisions still affect me?
What WEP and GPO were, what has changed, and what that means for your own numbers.
What did my voluntary contributions build up to?
The voluntary contribution account, what it can be converted into, and the deadlines that apply.
What does the survivor election cost under CSRS?
A different calculation from FERS, and the same one-way door.
I transferred from CSRS to FERS — which rules apply to me?
Transferees have a component of each. Both have to be worked out separately and then combined.
I have a large annuity and a small TSP. Does the usual advice apply?
Generally no. The withdrawal conversation is a different one when the annuity carries most of the income.
Where it goes wrong
The mistakes we see most
Each of these is recoverable if it is caught early, and most of them are not caught early.
- Assuming the CSRS Offset reduces the annuity when it reduces something else entirely — what we do about it
- Treating WEP and GPO as settled without checking the current position against your own record — what we do about it
- Missing the voluntary contribution conversion window — what we do about it
- Applying FERS-shaped TSP withdrawal advice to a CSRS income mix — what we do about it
- Declining the survivor election without understanding the FEHB consequence — what we do about it
The review
What a review covers for you
All reviews are done online and take about 30 minutes. There is no cost and no obligation afterwards.
- Your CSRS eligibility dates and what each one pays
- Whether you are CSRS, CSRS Offset, or a CSRS-to-FERS transferee, and what follows from that
- How the offset and any Social Security entitlement interact in your case
- Your voluntary contribution account, if you have one
- The survivor election, its cost under CSRS, and the FEHB consequence
- A withdrawal conversation built around an annuity-heavy income mix
- Which forms you need, in what order, and how long OPM is currently taking
Common questions
Questions we answer every week
What is the difference between CSRS and CSRS Offset?
CSRS Offset applies to employees who returned to federal service after a break, with Social Security coverage during the offset period. You pay into both systems, and your CSRS annuity is later reduced — offset — by a portion attributable to the Social Security you earned during that service. The total is not necessarily lower; it arrives from two places instead of one.
Do WEP and GPO still apply to me?
The treatment of the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset has changed in recent years. Rather than restate a moving position here, we check your own earnings and service record against the rules as they currently stand at the time of your review. [WEP / GPO CURRENT POSITION]
What can I do with my voluntary contribution account?
The CSRS voluntary contribution programme lets eligible employees contribute after-tax money above the standard deduction, which can then be converted or used to purchase additional annuity. The rules around conversion are specific and time-sensitive, and the option disappears once you have separated.
I have very little in the TSP. Is that a problem?
Not on its own. CSRS was designed to carry the income on its own, and many CSRS employees quite reasonably contributed little to the TSP. What matters is whether the annuity plus any survivor provision covers what you actually need, and how the TSP you do have is best used — often for flexibility and tax management rather than as the main income source.
The best time to look at this is before you have set a date.
A benefit review takes about 30 minutes. Getting the date, the TSP, or the survivor election wrong costs considerably more, and most of it cannot be undone.
Book a No Cost Retirement Review
Or call 800-484-5993 — we answer during business hours, 9:00AM - 5:00PM EST, and we will call you back if you leave a message.