Who is eligible for discontinued service retirement?

You need a qualifying separation and a qualifying age and service combination. The separation must be involuntary and not a removal for cause on charges of misconduct or delinquency, or a voluntary early out during a restructuring your agency has cleared with OPM. Then you need either 25 years of creditable service at any age, or age 50 with 20 years. The authority is 5 U.S.C. 8414(b) and 5 CFR 842.206 for FERS, and 5 U.S.C. 8336(d) for CSRS.

If I separate the day before my 50th birthday, am I 50?

Yes. For retirement purposes OPM counts you as reaching each age on the day before your birthday (OPM CSRS/FERS Handbook chapter 46: "an employee is considered to reach a year of age on the day before his or her birthday"; 5 CFR 842.502 defines age 62 the same way). So someone born October 1, 1976 who separates on September 30, 2026 with 20 years meets the age 50 test. The same rule applies to the 62-with-20 test for the 1.1 percent factor, to your minimum retirement age for the supplement, and under CSRS to the count of full months under 55.

Is a FERS DSR annuity reduced for being young?

No. The age reduction in 5 U.S.C. 8415(h) applies only to retirements under section 8412(g), which is MRA+10, and section 8413(b), which is deferred retirement. A DSR is paid under section 8414, which is not on that list. OPM Handbook chapter 44 says it directly: there is no annuity reduction in FERS for employees who retire on a discontinued service annuity under the age of 55. A 47-year-old with 25 years gets an unreduced pension.

Does CSRS reduce a DSR annuity?

Yes, and this is the single biggest difference between the two systems here. Under 5 U.S.C. 8339(h) a CSRS annuity for someone retiring under 8336(d) is reduced by one sixth of 1 percent for each full month the employee is under 55 at the date of separation, which works out to 2 percent a year. It is permanent. OPM Handbook chapter 44 confirms the rate does not increase when the annuitant reaches 55. If you transferred from CSRS to FERS, the reduction hits only the CSRS component.

Can I take severance pay as well as a DSR annuity?

No. 5 U.S.C. 5595(a)(2)(iv) removes from the definition of "employee" anyone who, at the time of separation, "has fulfilled the requirements for immediate annuity" under a federal retirement system. 5 CFR 550.704(b)(5) says the same. Being DSR eligible on your separation date rules out severance pay entirely. The two are alternatives, not a stack.

If I am not DSR eligible, can I get severance pay?

Only if no other bar applies, and the immediate-annuity bar is wider than DSR. It covers any immediate annuity on your separation date: under FERS, your MRA with 30 years, 60 with 20, 62 with 5, or your MRA with 10 years (5 U.S.C. 8412(a), (b), (c) and (g)); under CSRS, 55 with 30, 60 with 20, or 62 with 5 (5 U.S.C. 8336(a), (b) and (f)). 5 CFR 550.703 counts an MRA+10 annuity even if you postpone its start. Severance is also barred after a removal for cause (5 U.S.C. 5595(b)(2)), a resignation (5 CFR 550.706(b), unless you resigned after a written separation notice), a voluntary early out, or a declined reasonable offer (5 CFR 550.704(b)(2)). The calculator tests each of these and shows the immediate annuity you have instead.

When does a DSR annuity start?

It depends on the path. After an involuntary separation the annuity starts the day after you separate (5 U.S.C. 8464(a)(1)(B) and 5 CFR 842.206(d) for FERS; 5 U.S.C. 8345(b)(2) for CSRS). A voluntary early out under 5 U.S.C. 8414(b)(1)(B) starts on the first day of the month after separation (8464(a)(1)(A)(i)), and so does an ordinary FERS retirement under section 8412. OPM pays the monthly rate as one twelfth of the annual amount rounded down to the dollar.

When does the FERS supplement start if I take a DSR before my MRA?

At your minimum retirement age, not at separation. 5 U.S.C. 8421(a)(2) makes a section 8414 annuitant eligible for the supplement "if such individual is at least the applicable minimum retirement age", and 5 CFR 842.503(b)(2) says someone retiring under 842.206 before the MRA is not entitled to the supplement until they reach that age. It then runs until age 62 and is subject to the earnings test.

Can I keep FEHB after a DSR?

Yes, if you were covered for the 5 years immediately before retirement, or for the full period since your first chance to enrol, whichever is shorter. Time covered as a family member on a family member enrollment counts. The authority is 5 U.S.C. 8905(b), and 5 U.S.C. 8901(3)(A)(ii) is what makes a section 8414 retiree an annuitant for FEHB purposes. OPM can waive the 5-year rule in its sole discretion in exceptional circumstances.

What happens if I turn down another job offer?

It can cost you the annuity. Under 5 U.S.C. 8414(b)(2) you are not entitled to a DSR if you declined a reasonable offer of another position in your agency for which you are qualified, no more than 2 grades or pay levels below yours, within your commuting area. Note the bar reaches only the involuntary path. It does not apply to a voluntary early out. Refusing a directed reassignment to a job outside your commuting area is different. For CSRS, 5 U.S.C. 8336(d) says in terms that this is not a removal for cause. For FERS the same rule comes from OPM's Handbook chapter 44, which applies its involuntary-separation conditions (44A2.1-3) to FERS employees in 44B1.1-1(C). It qualifies only if the new site is outside your old commuting area and the move would force you to change residence, and not at all if you took the job under a mobility agreement, or accepted one relocation under an agreement added later.

Does unused sick leave count toward the 20 or 25 years?

No. Unused sick leave raises the annuity but cannot make you eligible. 5 U.S.C. 8339(m) (CSRS) and 8415(m) (FERS) add it to the service used to compute the annuity, "except that these days will not be counted in determining average pay or annuity eligibility". OPM Handbook chapter 44 repeats it for DSR: "Accrued and unused sick leave may not be used to meet either of the service requirements". So 19 years 8 months of service plus 6 months of sick leave is not 20 years. The calculator takes sick leave in hours in its own box, converts it on OPM's 2,087-hour chart, tests eligibility on your service alone, and adds the sick leave only to the computation. FERS credits 100 percent of it for a separation after December 31, 2013 (8415(m)(2)(B)). Under CSRS the sick leave credit is added on top of the 80 percent maximum, which 8339(m) lets it exceed.

Can military service get me to 20 or 25 years?

Partly. You need at least 5 years of creditable civilian service before anything else counts, under 5 U.S.C. 8410. Above that floor, OPM Handbook chapter 44 says creditable military service may be used to meet the balance of service needed for a discontinued service retirement. For FERS, post-1956 military service needs a paid deposit to be creditable.

Calculator

Discontinued Service Retirement

If you are being separated involuntarily, you may already be retirement eligible. DSR pays an immediate annuity at age 50 with 20 years, or at any age with 25, and under FERS it carries no reduction for your age. This checks every test and shows what the annuity comes with.

Reviewed by Jonathan D., 20-year federal employee · Formulas verified against OPM.gov · Updated October 2026

Rule snapshot

Reviewed October 3, 2026 · Sources: 5 U.S.C. 8414(b), 5 CFR 842.206, 5 U.S.C. 8336(d), 8339(f), 8339(h), 5 U.S.C. 8412, 5 CFR 550.704, OPM Handbook ch. 44 · Inputs stay in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.

Your retirement system

FERS covers almost everyone hired since 1984. The choice matters a lot here: CSRS reduces a DSR annuity for being under 55, and FERS does not.

Your numbers

Date of birth

Separation dateYour age on this date decides the age 50 test. OPM counts you as reaching an age on the day before your birthday.

High-3 average salary

Total creditable service

Years, then extra months. Include military service you have paid a deposit for. Do not include unused sick leave: it goes in its own box below, because it cannot count toward the 20 or 25-year test.

Of that, civilian service

Years, then extra months. You need 5 years of civilian service for any annuity. Military service can fill the rest, but never that floor.

Unused sick leave (hours)From your last leave and earnings statement. It is converted on OPM's 2,087-hour chart and added to the annuity computation only, never to the eligibility tests.

Why you are leaving

I turned down a written offer of another job in my agency, in my commuting area, no more than 2 grades or pay levels below mine.

Who this tool does not fit. Congressional employees and Members (CSRS 2.5 percent under 5 U.S.C. 8339(b) and (c); FERS 1.7 percent for up to 20 years under 8415(c)), CSRS air traffic controllers (a 50 percent minimum under 8339(e)), CSRS service abroad for the CIA, DIA or NSA (OPM Handbook ch. 50 special computation), military technicians (dual status), whom 8415(i)(2) keeps off the FERS 1.1 percent rate, and FERS service credited while on workers' compensation (OWCP), which 8415(n) raises by 1 percentage point once it totals at least 2 months. The form has no input for these, so the figure is wrong for you.

Some of my service was as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, air traffic controller, nuclear materials courier, Capitol or Supreme Court Police, or CBP officer.Some of my service was part-time.My position is in Schedule Policy/Career, and my written notice gives unacceptable performance or misconduct as the reason for the separation. (This bars severance pay under 5 CFR 550.704(b)(6).)I have had FEHB coverage for the last 5 years, or continuously since I was first eligible to enroll if that is shorter. Time covered as a family member on someone else's plan counts.I have had FEGLI Basic life insurance for the last 5 years, or for all the time I was eligible for it if that is shorter.

You qualify for DSR

$2,041 a month

You qualify for DSR under the 25 years of service at any age rule, and the annuity is $2,041 a month ($24,500 a year) starting January 1, 2027, the day after you separate.

Rule applied: 5 U.S.C. 8414(b)(1); 5 CFR 842.206(a)

Every test, and how you did on it

Qualifying separation

Involuntary separation that is not a removal for cause on charges of misconduct or delinquency.

Age and service test

25 or more years of creditable service, so age does not matter. Unused sick leave is not counted here.

Five years of civilian service

25 years of creditable civilian service clears the 5-year floor.

Did not decline a reasonable offer

No reasonable offer was declined.

The annuity

Service used in the computation: 25 years
Before any age reduction: $24,500 a year
Age reduction: None
After the reduction: $24,500 a year
Monthly (rounded down, as OPM pays it): $2,041
Starts: January 1, 2027, the day after you separate

No age reduction. 5 U.S.C. 8415(h) applies the five-twelfths-of-1-percent-per-month reduction only to retirements under section 8412(g) or 8413(b). A DSR is paid under section 8414, which is not on that list. OPM Handbook ch. 44, 44B2.1-1(A) states it directly: there is no annuity reduction in FERS for a discontinued service annuity under age 55.

What comes with it

FEHB health insurance

Continues into retirement at the regular retiree share, with the government paying its part.

5 U.S.C. 8901(3)(A)(ii) makes someone retiring under section 8414 an "annuitant" for FEHB. 5 U.S.C. 8905(b)(1) then requires enrollment for "the 5 years of service immediately before retirement", the full period since the first chance to enroll, or since a pre-1965 enrollment, "whichever is shortest". 5 CFR 890.303(a)(2) tests this as of the annuity commencing date. Coverage as a family member counts under 8905(b)(2), and OPM may waive the rule in its sole discretion for exceptional circumstances.

FEGLI life insurance

Basic coverage continues or is reinstated, provided you did not already convert to an individual policy.

5 CFR 870.701(a): the employee must be "entitled to retire on an immediate annuity", must have been "insured for the 5 years of service immediately before the date the annuity starts, or for the full period(s) of service during which he/she was eligible to be insured if less than 5 years", and must not have converted to an individual policy (the statute is 5 U.S.C. 8706(b)(1)). A DSR is an immediate annuity, so the test turns on that coverage period: 5 years, or every period you were eligible if that is shorter. Note FEGLI measures to the date the annuity starts while FEHB measures to retirement.

FERS annuity supplement

Not payable yet. Your annuity starts now, but the supplement waits until you reach your MRA of 57 years on March 14, 2031. It then runs until age 62.

5 U.S.C. 8421(a)(2) makes a section 8414(a) or (b) annuitant eligible "if such individual is at least the applicable minimum retirement age under section 8412(h)". 5 CFR 842.503(b)(2) says an employee retiring under 842.206 "before attaining the minimum retirement age is not entitled to receive an annuity supplement until he or she attains that age". 5 U.S.C. 8421(a)(3) bars it entirely where the annuity does not commence before 62.

DSR versus severance pay

You cannot take severance pay as well.

Being eligible for an immediate annuity on the day you separate takes you outside the definition of "employee" for severance pay. The annuity is instead of severance, not on top of it. Compare the lifetime value of the annuity against the one-time severance before you do anything that changes your eligibility.

5 U.S.C. 5595(a)(2)(iv) excludes "an employee who is subject to subchapter III of chapter 83 of this title or any other retirement statute or retirement system ... and who, at the time of separation from the service, has fulfilled the requirements for immediate annuity under such a statute or system". 5 CFR 550.704(b)(5) bars anyone "eligible upon separation for an immediate annuity", and 5 CFR 550.703 counts a benefit payable at separation or within 1 month, or later "solely because the employee elected a later commencing date (such as allowed under § 842.204)".

How we got this

Age on your separation date: 52 years 9 months.
Creditable service for every eligibility test (no sick leave): 25 years.
Eligibility rule applied: Eligible: 25 years of service at any age (5 U.S.C. 8414(b)(1); 5 CFR 842.206(a)).
Annuity before any reduction: $98,000 high-3 x 25 years x 1 percent = $24,500 a year.
Age reduction: none. A DSR is paid under 5 U.S.C. 8414, and the reduction in 5 U.S.C. 8415(h) reaches only sections 8412(g) and 8413(b).
Service factor: 1 percent (5 U.S.C. 8415(a)). The 1.1 percent factor in 5 U.S.C. 8415(i) needs you to be 62 or older with 20 years at separation, which you were not.
Monthly: $24,500.00 divided by 12 is $2,041.67, rounded down to the dollar = $2,041 (OPM Handbook ch. 50, FERS Example 1).
Annuity starts: January 1, 2027, the day after you separate (5 U.S.C. 8464(a)(1)(B); 5 CFR 842.206(d)).

Your agency must give you a specific written notice of the involuntary separation. A general rumour of a reorganisation is not enough (OPM Handbook ch. 44, 44A2.1-1).
Unused sick leave adds to the service used to compute the annuity, but it cannot be used to reach the 20-year or 25-year eligibility test (OPM Handbook ch. 44, 44A1.1-2(B) CAUTION), so the tool tests eligibility on your service alone and adds the sick leave only to the computation.
A survivor election reduces the annuity. This tool shows the figure before any survivor reduction.
If you transferred from CSRS to FERS and your annuity has a CSRS component, the under-55 reduction of 2 percent a year applies to that CSRS component even though the FERS part is unreduced (OPM Handbook ch. 44, 44B2.1-1(A)).

What this models

The honest boundary of this tool. Anything in the right column changes your real number and is not in the math above.
Modeled	Not modeled
Both eligibility tests (25 years at any age, age 50 with 20 years), the 5-year civilian floor, the removal-for-cause exclusion and the reasonable-offer bar. Every age test counts you as reaching an age on the day before your birthday, as OPM does (Handbook ch. 46).	Whether your agency actually issued the specific written notice the rules require, and whether OPM approved the early-out window. Both are facts only your HR office can confirm.
Refusing a directed reassignment outside your commuting area, and the mobility-agreement exception that disqualifies it (OPM Handbook ch. 44, 44A2.1-3(D) and (E)).	Whether the new site is really outside your commuting area and would force a move. Your agency draws the commuting area under its RIF rules.
The FERS annuity at 1 percent of high-3 per year, or 1.1 percent if you are 62 or older with 20 years (5 U.S.C. 8415(i)), with no age reduction.	Any CSRS component in a transferred FERS annuity. The under-55 reduction hits that component even though the FERS part is unreduced.
A flag for special retirement coverage (law enforcement, firefighter, air traffic controller and similar) and for part-time service, with a warning on the result.	The special annuities themselves (FERS 8412(d) and (e) at 1.7 percent for the first 20 years, which replace DSR under 8414(b)(3); CSRS 8336(c) and (e)), and the part-time proration in 5 U.S.C. 8415(g) and 8339(p). If either applies, the figure is wrong.
The CSRS tiered formula (1.5, 1.75 and 2 percent), with the 8339(a) alternative of "1 percent of his average pay plus $25" substituted for any tier it beats (it only can below a $5,000 high-3, OPM Handbook ch. 50 NOTE 2), the 5 U.S.C. 8339(f) maximum of 80 percent of your high-3 (reached at 41 years 11 months of service), and the 8339(h) reduction counted in full months under age 55 (reached the day before your 55th birthday, read the way OPM's Chart 5 reads), applied after the cap.	The CSRS 1-out-of-2 requirement, and CSRS Offset computations.
Regular FERS and CSRS employees under the general formulas.	Congressional employees and Members. CSRS: 8339(b) pays a Congressional employee with 5 years of Congressional or Member service "2½ percent of his average pay" for that service, and Members are under 8339(c). FERS: 8415(c) pays 1.7 percent on up to 20 years of Congressional or Member service, except for a revised or further revised annuity employee (8415(d)), and 8415(i)(2) keeps Congressional employees off the 1.1 percent rate. The figure uses the general formula and is wrong for them.
A flag and warning for special retirement coverage.	Other CSRS special computations: the air traffic controller minimum, under which the annuity "may not be less than 50 percent of the average pay" (8339(e)); Capitol and Supreme Court Police (8339(q), (r)); and certified CIA, DIA or NSA service abroad after 1986, which OPM Handbook ch. 50 (50A3.1-1 C) computes "at the 2% rate in place of the 1.5% and 1.75% rates, for up to 10 years of such service".
The FERS 1.1 percent rate at 62 with 20 years under 8415(i).	Military technicians (dual status). 8415(i)(2) says the 1.1 percent rule "does not apply in the case of a Congressional employee, military technician (dual status), law enforcement officer, ... firefighter, ... air traffic controller", so a dual-status technician at 62 with 20 years gets 1 percent and the tool overstates the annuity. CSRS technicians separated for a disability retire under 8337(h), which is not modeled.
Service as you enter it. Time on workers' compensation counts as service (FERS 8411(d), CSRS 8332(f)), so include it.	The FERS OWCP enhancement. 8415(n): where a computation includes "at least 2 months of credit under section 8411(d) for any period while receiving benefits under subchapter I of chapter 81, the percentage otherwise applicable ... for that period so credited shall be increased by 1 percentage point." The tool applies the regular rate to that period, so it understates the annuity.
FEHB and FEGLI continuation on the 5-year rule, including its shorter alternative: FEHB coverage since your first opportunity to enroll if that is shorter ("whichever is shortest", 5 U.S.C. 8905(b)(1)), and FEGLI coverage "for the full period(s) of service during which he/she was eligible to be insured if less than 5 years" (5 CFR 870.701(a)(2)). Also the FERS supplement starting at your MRA.	Survivor annuity elections and their cost, the earnings test on the supplement, FEDVIP, and any OPM waiver of the 5-year FEHB rule.
Every severance bar the tool can test: DSR, the ordinary immediate retirements (FERS MRA with 30, 60 with 20, 62 with 5, MRA+10 even if postponed; CSRS 55 with 30, 60 with 20, 62 with 5), removal for cause, resignation, a voluntary early out, a declined reasonable offer, a mobility agreement, and the Schedule Policy/Career bar of 5 CFR 550.704(b)(6) (E.O. 14410, June 10, 2026: a Schedule Policy/Career employee whose written notice cites "unacceptable performance or misconduct" gets no severance pay). When DSR is out but an ordinary immediate annuity is open, the tool shows that annuity.	The severance amount itself, the 12-month continuous service and qualifying-appointment tests, and an immediate annuity from military retired pay or another system. Use the severance calculator for the amount.
When each annuity starts (the day after an involuntary separation, the first of the next month for an early out or an ordinary FERS retirement) and the monthly rate rounded down to the dollar, as OPM pays it.	Cost-of-living adjustments, survivor reductions and tax withholding on the monthly payment.
Service and civilian service in whole years and months, as you enter them. OPM also drops extra days and uses whole years and months. Unused sick leave in hours, converted on OPM's 2,087-hour Chart 2 (next highest number), added to the computation only and never to the 20/25-year test, the 5-year civilian floor, the 62-with-20 test for 1.1 percent, the ordinary immediate retirements or the severance bar (5 U.S.C. 8339(m), 8415(m); OPM Handbook ch. 44, 44A1.1-2(B)). FERS credit is 100 percent after 2013, 50 percent from October 28, 2009 through 2013 and none before (8415(m)(2)(B)). Under CSRS it sits outside the 80 percent cap.	Counting your service from the dates on your SF-50s. Sick leave days left over after the chart lookup are dropped, because the form has no service-days field; OPM first adds them to your service days, so the tool can understate by a month. A February 29 birthday: in a common year the tool treats February 28 as the birthday, so you reach each age on February 27. No OPM rule we found settles it; if your agency uses March 1, you reach the age on February 28.

Precision limits: service is handled in whole years and months, the same unit OPM uses once it drops the extra days, and the figure shown is before any survivor reduction. Your official number depends on the service OPM credits from your records. This is an estimate for planning, not an OPM determination.

The benefit people do not know they have

DSR is not something you apply for in advance or negotiate. It activates when an involuntary separation lands on someone who already meets the age and service test. A 47-year-old with 25 years of service who gets a RIF notice is retirement eligible that day, with a pension that starts immediately and carries no reduction for being under 55.

The common mistake is assuming early retirement always costs you something. Under FERS it does not. The reduction in 5 U.S.C. 8415(h) reaches MRA+10 retirements and deferred annuities. It does not reach section 8414, which is where DSR lives.

Where CSRS differs, and it is expensive

CSRS employees do take a hit. 5 U.S.C. 8339(h) reduces the annuity by one sixth of 1 percent for every full month under age 55 on the separation date, which is 2 percent a year. Separate at 52 and you are roughly 36 months short, so the reduction is about 6 percent, permanently. It does not unwind when you turn 55.

Two details matter here. The count is in full months under 55, with the partial month dropped, and OPM treats you as reaching 55 on the day before your 55th birthday. That is how its own reduction factor table (Handbook ch. 50, Chart 5) reads. And if you transferred from CSRS to FERS, only the CSRS component of your annuity takes the reduction.

DSR or severance, never both

This is the trade that catches people out. 5 U.S.C. 5595(a)(2)(iv) writes anyone who has “fulfilled the requirements for immediate annuity” at separation out of the definition of “employee” for severance pay purposes. If you are DSR eligible, severance is not available, full stop.

Failing the DSR test does not reopen severance on its own. The bar reaches every immediate annuity, so a RIF'd FERS employee at 62 with 15 years (5 U.S.C. 8412(c)), or at the minimum retirement age with 10 years (8412(g), which 5 CFR 550.703 still counts as immediate when the start is postponed), gets no severance either. A removal for cause, a resignation, a voluntary early out or a declined reasonable offer bars it too. The calculator checks each of these and, where an ordinary immediate annuity is open, shows what it pays.

For most eligible employees that is the right outcome anyway. A $2,000 monthly pension paid over 30 years is $720,000. A severance payment for the same person is usually a five-figure number. Run both and see: Severance Pay Calculator.

Watch the reasonable offer

Under 5 U.S.C. 8414(b)(2), declining a reasonable offer of another position kills the annuity. A reasonable offer has to be in writing, in your agency, in your commuting area, at a grade or pay level no more than 2 below yours, and one you are qualified for. Turn that down and you are not DSR eligible, even with 30 years in.

Refusing a directed reassignment to a job outside your commuting area is the opposite case. For CSRS, 5 U.S.C. 8336(d) says plainly that such a separation is not to be treated as a removal for cause. For FERS, OPM's Handbook chapter 44 applies the same involuntary-separation conditions (44A2.1-3, made applicable to FERS by 44B1.1-1(C)). Two limits: the new site must be outside your old commuting area and the move must force you to change residence, and a mobility agreement you accepted with the job takes the protection away.