Who qualifies for Disability Retirement?
If you are a disabled civilian federal worker in either the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) or a Postal Service employee, you may qualify. You do not have to have a work related injury in order to qualify for the benefit. To learn more about if you qualify for the benefit, watch our video on the OPM requirements and qualifications for Disability Retirement.
How Much Will I Get Paid on Federal Disability Retirement and for How Long?
First let’s look at how much will you receive if you are approved for Federal Disability Retirement from OPM.
Disability Retirement benefits are computed differently depending on your age and amount of service at the time of retirement.
Usually if you go out on Disability Retirement, you’ll be under the age of 62 and not eligible for an immediate voluntary retirement. Here’s the breakdown of your payments:
- For the first 12 months, you will receive 60% of your high-3 salary minus 100% of your Social Security benefit for any month you are eligible to receive that.
- After the first 12 months, you will receive 40% of your high-3 salary minus 60% of your Social Security benefit for any month you are eligible to receive that.
- When you reach age 62, you’ll switch over to your regular retirement and your annuity will be calculated including the years while you were on Disability Retirement. That’s because every year on Disability Retirement counts as a year of creditable service.
- If your years of service equal less than 20 years, you’ll receive 1% of your high-3 salary for each year of service.
- If your years of service equal more than 20 years, you’ll receive 1.1% of your high-3 salary for each year of service.
Federal Disability Retirement Annuity
Now, we’ll look at how long you can receive a Federal Disability Retirement annuity.
You’re eligible to receive your monthly annuity for as long as you remain disabled from your government job, even if you can work outside the government.
Your annuity will only stop if:
- You die unless you provided for a survivor’s annuity.
- The federal government re-employs you.
- You recover from your disability.
- Or, you are restored to earnings capacity. If you get a job in the private sector, you need to remain under the 80% earning cap.
Learn More
If you’d like to learn more about how much you could earn while on Federal Disability Retirement, watch this webinar on your earning potential. Or schedule a free consultation and we’ll talk it through together.
