{"id":28045,"date":"2023-10-26T11:29:23","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T11:29:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/10\/26\/why-are-fers-benefits-so-inferior-to-csrs\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:24:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:24:34","slug":"why-are-fers-benefits-so-inferior-to-csrs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/your-career\/2023\/10\/26\/why-are-fers-benefits-so-inferior-to-csrs\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are FERS benefits so inferior to CSRS?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cIs there any way to get the two federal retirement systems \u2014 The Federal Employees Retirement System and the Civil Service Retirement System \u2014 on the same pay level? I retired under the FERS plan, and it [is not great]. Some of my coworkers are civil servant retirees and they get twice as much as me. I walked the same miles and put in the same time as a USPS carrier. Just ain\u2019t right.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Reg\u2019s Response<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

FERS was designed to mirror the best practices of private sector businesses. Unlike CSRS, which had a single defined benefit, FERS has three parts: a defined benefit, which is smaller than that for CSRS, Social Security, and the Thrift Savings Plan. While the first two can be tracked and serve as a base, the third depends in large part on how much an employee invests while working. Employees who maximize their contributions to the TSP can boost their retirement income substantially. Those that don\u2019t may find that their retirement benefits fall short of their needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\t