Public Sector Retirement Educators, LLC (PSRE) offers a comprehensive traning on FEGLI (Federal Employee Group Life Insurance ), FERS (Federal Employee Retirement System ), CSRS (Civil Service Retirement System ), and TSP ( Thrift Savings Plan ).
Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS)
Eligibility for Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) retirement benefits is determined by your age at retirement, your number of years of creditable service, what type of retirement you choose and in some cases, other special requirements. There are several categories of retirement. In all cases, you must have served in a position subject to CSRS coverage for one of the last two years before you take retirement.
The Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS)
The Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) is the current retirement system for US federal civilian employees. FERS was enacted in 1986 to replace the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), whose costs were thought to be too high for the long term. FERS was designed to conform federal retirement plans more closely with those in the private sector. It became effective in 1987 but has been applied to employees who joined federal service in 1984.
While the benefits under FERS are not as generous as under CSRS, FERS is more generous than virtually all corporate plans.
While most current federal and postal retirees remain under CSRS, the majority of federal employees working today – about 80% — are under FERS.
The Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI)
The Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) program is a group life insurance program administered by the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Participation in FEGLI is entirely voluntary and all full-time employees are eligible to participate in the insurance plan. Part-time Federal and Postal employees who have an appointment of more than one year are also eligible. Eligible employees are automatically covered for Basic Life insurance unless they waive this coverage. The decision to waive or elect life insurance coverage should be based on the employee’s evaluation of his or her personal needs (including long- and short-term plans), family situation, and other existing life insurance coverage.
Currently The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) contracts with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) to provide this life insurance coverage to eligible employees. The Office of Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (OFEGLI) was established by MetLife to process and pay claims and perform other administrative functions needed to run the program. Therefore, many employees, especially those over 45 years old, could be eligible for significant cost savings by ‘shopping’ for FEGLI comparisons. We highly recommend that all eligible FEGLI recipients review their potential cost savings at least annually.
Coverage Options
There are a number of different coverage options under FEGLI.
- Basic Life – An amount equal to the employee’s annual salary rounded up to the next $1,000, plus $2,000.
- The Government pays one-third of the premium cost for Basic and you pay two-thirds. The U.S. Postal Service pays the entire cost of Basic insurance for its employees.
- Option A – Standard $10,000 coverage for the employee
- Option B – 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 times multiples of the employee’s annual salary.
- Option C – Coverage for eligible family members. The employee may elect Option C – Family Life Insurance to provide coverage for his or her spouse and eligible children. When an employee elects Option C, all of his or her eligible family members are automatically covered. Coverage multiples of 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 times the employee’s salary are available. Each multiple is equal to $5,000 for the employee’s spouse and $2,500 for each eligible dependent child.
Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)
The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is a retirement savings program for federal employees and members of the uniformed services. It provides you with the opportunity to participate in a retirement savings plan similar to 401(k) plans offered to private sector employees.
Saving for your retirement through the TSP provides many advantages, including:
- Automatic payroll deductions;
- A diversified choice of investment options, including professionally designed lifecycle funds;
- A choice of tax treatments for your contributions:
- Traditional (pre-tax) contributions and tax-deferred investment earnings, and
- Roth (after-tax) contributions with tax-free earnings at retirement if you satisfy the IRS
Requirements;
- Low administrative and investment expenses;
- Agency contributions, if you are an employee covered by the Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS);
- Under certain circumstances, access to your money while you are still employed by the federal
Government;
- A beneficiary participant account established for your spouse in the event of your death; and
- A variety of withdrawal options.
If you are covered by FERS, the TSP is one part of a three-part retirement package that also includes your
FERS basic annuity and Social Security. If you are covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or are a member of the uniformed services, the TSP is a supplement to your CSRS annuity or military retired pay.

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PSREducators.com / Public Sector Retirement Educators, LLC (PSRE) is not affiliated with or endorsed by The Office of Personnel Management of any government agency. Content is not personalized financial advice and should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the author on the date of publication and may change in response to market conditions. You should consult with a professional advisor before implementing any strategies discussed. Tax and legal information provided is general in nature and should not be construed as legal or tax advice. Always consult an attorney or tax professional regarding your specific legal or tax situation. Hyperlinks on this website are provided as a convenience. We cannot be held responsible for information, services or products found on websites linked to ours. There may be tax penalties for distributions from your retirement account prior to age 59 ½. The firm is not engaged in the practice of law or accounting. Any guarantees discussed require the purchase of an insurance product. Insurance product guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuing company. Life and disability insurance products are offered based application processes, not all applicants will be approved. Insurance and Annuity products made available by independent insurance professionals and are completely unrelated to any services provided by PSRE.