FERS Retirement Planning
STONEBRIDGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT • ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO
You’ve earned a federal retirement worth understanding clearly. We help federal employees across the Denver metro area coordinate CSRS, FERS, TSP, FEHB, FEGLI, and Social Security into one clear retirement plan, so you can make confident decisions about when to retire, how your income will work, and how to protect the benefits you’ve earned.
What FERS Retirement Planning Actually Covers
The Federal Employees Retirement System has three legs: your FERS basic annuity (the pension), the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), and Social Security. Each leg has its own rules, and the decisions you make about one affect the others.
FERS retirement planning is the process of working through every decision in the right sequence: confirming your service computation date and high-three salary; choosing your earliest unreduced retirement date; calculating your projected FERS annuity at multiple retirement dates; understanding the FERS Supplement bridge benefit between retirement and age 62; deciding how to handle your TSP at retirement; coordinating FEHB into retirement with Medicare at 65; making the Survivor Benefit Plan election; choosing what to do with FEGLI; and timing Social Security to optimize lifetime income.
That sounds like a lot because it is. Most FERS employees never see the picture in one place until the year they retire — and by then, several of the decisions have already been made by default. The point of working with a federal retirement specialist is to get ahead of those defaults.
What “Federal Retirement Specialist” Actually Means
the Denver metro’s federal workforce is unusually diverse — GS-9s at Fort Carson, GS-14s at Peterson, contractors with prior federal service, career military moving into civilian federal roles. What most of them share isn’t a common income level; it’s scattered advice from generalists.
Here is the difference in practice. A generalist sees a TSP and thinks “rollover.” A specialist asks first whether the G Fund — an instrument that exists nowhere else — should anchor your fixed-income allocation for life. A generalist sees a pension and plugs a number into software. A specialist computes the high-3 from your actual salary history, checks whether unused sick leave moves you across a service threshold, and verifies the FEHB five-year rule before you set a date — because at the SES and GS-15 level, the annuity being protected is large, and the Survivor Benefit election protecting it deserves real analysis, not a default checkbox.
A specialist also knows what changes at 62, what the Special Retirement Supplement pays a 30-year MRA retiree until then, and how the earnings test treats the board seats and consulting work that often follow senior federal careers. That level of fluency is the service. Everything else is generic.
For federal employees who want a broader educational overview before working through their own plan, our Federal Retirement Workshop is designed to help explain the major benefit programs and retirement decisions in plain language.
Our role is to help senior federal employees in the Denver metro area coordinate the federal benefits with the rest of the financial picture — including the corporate retirement on the other side of a dual-professional household — into one comprehensive plan, so that important decisions are made deliberately rather than by default. Learn more about our approach and what makes Stonebridge Capital Management different.
What You Get When You Work With Stonebridge
A Personalized FERS Retirement Report
The FERS Retirement Report is a written, personalized analysis of your federal retirement built around your service history, benefits, and timeline. It projects your FERS annuity at multiple retirement dates, spells out TSP strategy, FEHB and Medicare coordination, FEGLI decisions, the Survivor Benefit Plan election, and Social Security timing. You see the whole picture on one document, with the trade-offs made explicit. It’s free of charge and comes with no obligation.
Plain-Language Guidance, Not Sales Pressure
Federal retirement is complicated enough without jargon, sales tactics, or manufactured urgency.
We explain your options clearly, answer your questions honestly, and help you understand the trade-offs before making decisions.
Decisions happen at your pace, not ours.
A Local Team Who Knows FERS
Stonebridge is based in Englewood, Colorado, and our advisors have specialized training in FERS-covered federal employee benefits. We work with federal employees across the Denver metro and the Colorado Front Range — in person at our Inverness Parkway office, or by video from anywhere in Colorado. We see FERS clients every week, which means we know where the common mistakes happen and how to avoid them.
Ready to see what your FERS retirement actually looks like?
Topics We Help FERS Employees Navigate
The federal retirement decisions that drive lasting income are concentrated in a handful of benefit programs. Each has its own complexity, and each matters.
FERS Pension Planning
Your federal pension is likely the foundation of your retirement income. Understanding when you can retire, how much income your pension may provide, and how survivor benefit elections affect your family can have a lasting impact on retirement.
We help you evaluate your retirement eligibility, project your pension under different retirement dates, and understand the trade-offs involved in retiring sooner or working longer.
Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Strategy
For many federal employees, the TSP is their largest retirement asset. Decisions about investments, withdrawals, Roth conversions, and whether to leave funds in the TSP or move them to an IRA can have a significant impact on retirement income and taxes. We help you evaluate your options, understand the trade-offs, and coordinate your TSP strategy with your pension, Social Security, and overall retirement plan.
FEHB and Medicare Coordination
Your FEHB coverage may be one of the most valuable benefits you carry into retirement. Decisions about Medicare enrollment, which FEHB plan to keep, and how your coverage will work alongside Medicare can have a lasting impact on healthcare costs and coverage. We help you understand your options, evaluate the trade-offs, and make informed decisions about healthcare in retirement.
FEGLI Life Insurance Decisions
The life insurance decisions you make before retirement can have long-term consequences for both cost and coverage. As you age, certain FEGLI premiums can increase significantly, making it important to evaluate your options well before retirement. We help you understand your FEGLI elections, compare costs and benefits, and determine whether maintaining FEGLI, reducing coverage, or exploring private insurance alternatives may better support your family’s goals.
FERS Supplement
For eligible FERS retirees, the FERS Supplement can provide an important source of income between retirement and age 62. Understanding whether you qualify, how much you may receive, and how post-retirement earnings can affect the benefit is an important part of retirement planning. We help you evaluate how the FERS Supplement fits into your overall retirement income strategy and retirement timing decisions.
Survivor Benefit Plan
The survivor benefit election you make at retirement can affect both your retirement income and your spouse’s financial security for years to come. Because these decisions can be difficult or costly to change after retirement, they deserve careful consideration. We help you understand the costs, benefits, and trade-offs involved so you can make an informed decision based on your family’s needs and goals.
Social Security Timing for Federal Retirees
When to claim Social Security is one of the most important retirement income decisions you will make. Claiming earlier provides income sooner, while delaying can increase your monthly benefit for life. We help you evaluate your options and coordinate Social Security with your FERS pension and other income sources to create a retirement income strategy designed around your specific situation.
Frequently Asked Questions About FERS Retirement Planning
When can a FERS employee retire with an immediate, unreduced annuity?
You can retire with an immediate unreduced FERS annuity at your Minimum Retirement Age with 30 years of service, at 60 with 20 years, or at 62 with at least 5 years.
The MRA itself slides from 55 to 57 depending on your birth year — for anyone born in 1970 or later, the MRA is 57. There are also reduced options like MRA+10, deferred, and postponed retirement that come with various trade-offs.
What is the FERS annuity formula?
The standard FERS formula is 1% times your years of creditable service times your high-three average salary.
If you retire at 62 or later with at least 20 years of service, the multiplier increases to 1.1% — a significant bump that often justifies waiting. The high-three is the average of your highest 36 consecutive months of basic pay.
Should I buy back my military service under FERS?
It depends on the math. A military service credit deposit lets you count active-duty military service toward your FERS retirement, increasing your annuity for life. The deposit cost is typically 3% of military earnings plus interest.
For most career federal employees, the break-even is well under 10 years — meaning the deposit pays for itself early in retirement. But there are exceptions, especially for those receiving military retired pay.
How is the FERS Supplement calculated?
The FERS Supplement approximates the Social Security benefit you earned during federal service. It’s calculated by taking your estimated Social Security benefit at 62, multiplying by your years of FERS service divided by 40, and paying that monthly amount from your retirement date until you reach 62.
The Supplement is subject to a Social Security earnings test if you work in retirement — reduced $1 for every $2 earned above the annual limit.
Can I change my FERS retirement date once I have submitted my paperwork?
You can withdraw your retirement application up until the effective date if you change your mind. After the effective date, your retirement is final.
That said, the irreversible decisions made at retirement — Survivor Benefit Plan election, FEHB plan selection, FEGLI choices — are made once and are very difficult to reverse. Get them right the first time.
What happens to my unused annual leave when I retire?
Federal employees receive a lump-sum payment for unused annual leave at retirement, taxed as ordinary income.
For employees with large leave balances, the timing of the retirement date can move the lump sum into a different tax year — sometimes saving thousands of dollars. We factor this into the retirement date analysis.
Do I need a financial advisor specifically for FERS, or can a general advisor handle it?
Yes — free for every federal employee, with no obligation.
The Report doesn’t have a premium tier; everyone gets the full analysis. Whether you become a Stonebridge client after that is your decision, not a pre-conclusion.
Serving Federal Employees Across The Colorado Front Range
Stonebridge is based in the Denver metro area and works with federal employees throughout Colorado’s Front Range.
Our clients serve in a wide range of federal agencies and organizations across the state, including the Denver Federal Center, VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Buckley Space Force Base, the Internal Revenue Service, the United States Mint, NREL, NOAA, NIST, and many others.
We meet with clients in person at our Inverness office and virtually throughout Colorado.
Primary Service Area
Denver · Littleton · Highlands Ranch · Centennial · Lakewood · Englewood · Parker · Castle Rock · Aurora · Arvada · Westminster · Broomfield · Thornton · Wheat Ridge · Golden · Lone Tree
Extended Service Area
Colorado Springs · Boulder · Fort Collins · Loveland · Greeley · Pueblo
Related Federal Retirement Resources
Free calculators for federal employees:
- FERS Pension Calculator — estimate your federal annuity
- TSP Withdrawal Calculator — sustainable monthly withdrawals
- FERS Supplement Calculator — bridge income from MRA to age 62
- Retirement Income Calculator — combine your pension, TSP, and Social Security
For a broader overview of our approach, see our federal retirement planning hub or learn more about the Stonebridge team.
Get Your Federal Retirement Report
The Federal Retirement Report is designed to help you understand where you stand today and what decisions may lie ahead. Built around your service history, benefits, and retirement goals, it provides a personalized analysis of your pension, TSP, healthcare benefits, survivor elections, retirement income, and other key planning considerations.
There is no cost and no obligation. It is simply a practical way to gain clarity before making important retirement decisions.
Deepen your FERS knowledge
- Choosing Your Federal Retirement Date: Why the Month You Retire Matters
- The FERS Supplement Earnings Test: What Federal Retirees Need to Know
- Roth Conversions in the FERS Gap Years: Why the Early Years of Federal Retirement Are Golden
- FERS Survivor Benefit: What Federal Couples Need to Know Before Retirement
- FEGLI at Retirement: The Six-Figure Decision Most Federal Employees Botch
- Should Federal Employees Buy Annuities?
Federal retirement planning has a lot of moving parts. The pieces below go deeper on the specific decisions FERS employees have to make, from when to retire to how the pension interacts with Social Security, TSP, and health benefits.
Related resources: Federal Agencies with a Colorado Presence · Federal Retirement Terminology Glossary