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 program, fund, or scheme which provides pension, retirement income. The U.S. Government's Social Security Trust Fund, which oversees $2.57 trillion in assets, is the ...

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 of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

. 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 r ...

(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 (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

. 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. Periodic employee contributions come directly out of their ...

-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, 2023, TSP has approximately 7million participants (of which ...

(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. 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. The fund was utilized as an extraordinary measure in 2015 and also in the 2023 United States debt-ceiling crisis by Janet Yellen, the Secretary of the U. S. Treasury to deal with scarcities in federal funds caused by prolonged congressional debates over raising the national debt ceiling.Reuters. (26 May 2023). "Treasury's Yellen says June 5 is last date for debt ceiling to be raised"
Reuters website
Retrieved 31 May 2023.

References

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