Can LEO Employees Extend Their Service Outside of Law Enforcement to Become Eligible for the 1.1% Annuity Computation?

Can a law enforcement employee extend working years in a non-law enforcement capacity to become eligible for the 1.1% FERS annuity calculation?

Q: Is it possible for an employee who did the 20 year minimum in a law enforcement (LEO) agency to lateral over to a non-LEO capacity to continue working to 62, or earn 30 working years? If so, will said employee be eligible for the 1.1% annuity calculation instead of the 1%, earned after the 20 years of 1.7% as an LEO?

A:

  1. Yes it is possible to transfer to a non-LEO position to extend your service.
  2. No it will not make one eligible for the 1.1% factor.  Those covered under the special provisions for LEOs, etc. are specifically excluded from the 1.1% computation factor.

Agencies can request to have John Grobe, or another of Federal Career Experts' qualified instructors, deliver a retirement or transition seminar to their employees. FCE instructors are not financial advisers and will not sell or recommend financial products to class participants. Agency Benefits Officers can contact John Grobe at johnfgrobe@comcast.net to discuss schedules and costs.

About the Author

John Grobe is President of Federal Career Experts, a firm that provides pre-retirement training and seminars to a wide variety of federal agencies. FCE’s instructors are all retired federal retirement specialists who educate class participants on the ins and outs of federal retirement and benefits; there is never an attempt to influence participants to invest a certain way, or to purchase any financial products. John and FCE specialize in retirement for special category employees, such as law enforcement officers.