OPM Retirement Backlog Posts Small Increase in October

After falling for two months in a row, the OPM retirement backlog reversed course in October, growing by 3% over the end of September.

The inventory of retirement claims at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) now stands at 14,908, 414 higher than at the end of September.

However, OPM received far more incoming retirement claims in October than in the previous month, 6,872 versus 5,618 (22% more). More claims were processed in October as well, and OPM also improved the average monthly processing time by 1 day, so all things considered the gain in the backlog was minimal as OPM appeared to keep pace with the incoming retirement claims.

As of October 2024, OPM estimates it will take 3-5 months from the date of separation for federal employees to receive their first regular monthly annuity payments. That is according to its Retirement Quick Guide, a free resource to help federal employees better understand and prepare for the retirement process.

The end of a calendar year is OPM’s busy season for incoming retirement applications. Based on the agency’s retirement data, more federal employees retire at the end of a year than at any other time.

With this in mind, how do the OPM retirement figures tend to look in the fourth quarter? The table below shows the data going back to 2020.

The OPM retirement backlog ended 2023 at 14,292, the lowest it had been in about seven years at that time. 2024 could close the year even lower. The average of the total inventory of retirement claims in 2023 through the end of October was 19,370. So far this year, it is 16,307, 16% lower, so it has the potential to decrease further before the end of the year which would help prevent it from ballooning as much as it so often does at the end of January.

The latest retirement processing statistics are included at the end of the article.

OPM Retirement Backlog Processing Status – October 2024

Disability determinations are included in the pending number after approval. Average Processing Time in Days represents the number of days starting when OPM receives the retirement application through final adjudication.

*Initial retirement cases produced in less than 60 days, on average took 39 days to complete; whereas cases that were produced in more than 60 days, on average, took 103 days to complete.