What are the current years-of-service and age thresholds for House members to receive a federal pension under the FERS and CSRS systems?

1. FERS eligibility rules: “Three routes to an immediate annuity”

Under FERS you can qualify for an immediate (unreduced) annuity by meeting any of these combinations: age 62 with five years of service; age 60 with 20 years of service; or your Minimum Retirement Age (MRA — which ranges from 55 to 57 depending on year of birth) with 30 years of service. Workers who reach MRA with at least 10 years of service can retire immediately but typically receive a reduced annuity ^[1]. This summary of the FERS age/service thresholds is repeated in multiple federal‑retirement explainers and calculators ^[1].

2. CSRS: legacy system, different formulas and less commonly used thresholds in excerpts

CSRS is the older, legacy defined‑benefit system that covered most federal employees hired before 1987; it generally provides a larger single annuity and historically did not include Social Security coverage for federal service ^[3]. The provided OPM CSRS page describes contribution levels and the system’s history but the excerpts here do not list a compact set of age/service “test” thresholds for CSRS retirees the way FERS summaries do ^{[2] [3]}. Available sources do not mention a single, concise CSRS age‑and‑service threshold table in these excerpts; further detail (e.g., CSRS normal retirement age and special provisions) should be sought directly from OPM’s full CSRS documentation ^[2].

3. Reduced vs. unreduced benefits and the role of MRA

Under FERS the MRA acts as a pivot: employees who have reached MRA and 30 years of service get unreduced benefits; those who have MRA and 10 years can take an immediate annuity but it is reduced for early commencement ^[1]. The FERS Special Retirement Supplement and disability rules can affect timing and amounts; those complexities are mentioned in broader guidance though not detailed in the excerpts here ^[5]. For CSRS, age reductions and specific early‑retirement reductions exist historically, but the specific reduction rates or MRA interplay are not laid out in the provided CSRS snippets ^{[2] [3]}.

4. Why the systems differ: design tradeoffs and practical effects

FERS (established 1987) is a three‑part package — smaller defined benefit, Social Security, and Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) with agency matching — designed to be more portable and sustainable than CSRS, which was a pension‑only plan and typically provided a larger guaranteed annuity without Social Security credits for federal service ^[3]. That structural contrast explains why FERS eligibility rules emphasize combinations of age and service with options that tie into Social Security timing, while CSRS traditionally relied on a stronger, standalone annuity formula ^{[3] [4]}.

5. How to proceed if you need a definitive CSRS table or individualized answer

Because the provided excerpts do not include a single CSRS age/service threshold table, readers who need an authoritative, case‑specific answer should consult the Office of Personnel Management’s full CSRS pages or ask an HR/benefits counselor; OPM’s CSRS information page contains the system history and contribution rules and is the primary agency source for CSRS specifics ^[2]. For FERS, multiple federal guidance and calculator pages summarize the immediate retirement combinations cited above and are adequate for a general threshold answer ^[1].

Limitations: This piece relies only on the supplied excerpts. The source material clearly states the standard FERS thresholds (age 62/5, 60/20, MRA/30, MRA/10 reduced) ^[1]. The supplied CSRS snippets describe the system and contributions but do not contain a concise set of age/service thresholds in the excerpts provided here, so a definitive CSRS threshold table is not quoted above ^{[2] [3]}.