Federal Employee Advisor Match

Federal Employee Retirement Savings Target Calculator (2026)

Generic retirement calculators ignore the most important variable for federal employees: your guaranteed FERS pension. Because FERS provides a fixed income floor, your TSP savings target is much lower than what a private-sector worker with the same salary needs. This calculator accounts for that — it starts with your income goal, subtracts your pension and Social Security, and tells you exactly how much TSP you need to fund the gap.

How this fits with your other tools. Use the FERS Retirement Calculator to estimate your annual annuity, and the FERS Supplement Calculator if retiring before 62. Enter those results here to see your TSP savings target and whether you're on track.

Income Goal

Used to pre-fill your income target. A GS-14 Step 5 in the Washington-Baltimore locality earns approximately $171,000 in 2026; Rest of U.S. approximately $149,000.
Most planners target 75–90%. Federal retirees often need less because FEHB continues in retirement (no employer benefit to replace) and commuting costs end. 85% is a reasonable starting point.

Guaranteed Income Sources

Use the FERS Retirement Calculator or the High-3 Calculator to estimate this. Formula: high-3 salary × 1.0% (or 1.1% at age 62+ with 20+ years) × service years. Enter the annuity before survivor reduction for now — the FERS calculator handles survivor math separately.
Check your SSA.gov My Social Security account for your personalized estimate. Full Retirement Age is 67 for those born 1960 or later. Enter 0 to see what TSP must cover without Social Security. FERS employees receive full Social Security — WEP and GPO were repealed in January 2025.

Your TSP

Log in to TSP.gov or check your most recent statement. Use your total traditional TSP balance — the calculator treats it as pre-tax. If you have a significant Roth TSP balance, consider that taxes won't reduce it in retirement.
Include your own contribution plus agency match. If you contribute 5% of your salary, FERS provides a 1% automatic deposit plus up to 4% matching — total agency match is up to 5% of salary. Example: $145,000 salary × 10% (you 5% + agency 5%) ÷ 12 = $1,208/mo. Include any catch-up contributions (2026 IRS limit: $24,500 base; $8,000 catch-up at 50–59 and 64+; $11,250 super catch-up at 60–63 per SECURE 2.0).
Count from today to your planned retirement date. If you are 53 and plan to retire at 65, enter 12.
Historical average TSP C Fund (S&P 500 index): approximately 10% over the long run. A blended TSP portfolio (60% stocks / 40% bonds) has historically returned 6–7%. The G Fund has recently returned approximately 4.4%. Use 5–7% for a diversified portfolio approaching retirement.

Why the FERS pension changes everything

The "you need 25× your annual spending in retirement savings" rule (the inverse of the 4% SWR) was built for private-sector workers with no pension. For federal employees, the FERS pension is the equivalent of having already "saved" a large lump sum — you just don't see it on your statement.

Example: GS-14 with a $52,000/yr FERS annuity. To replicate that guaranteed income from a portfolio at a 4% withdrawal rate, you would need $52,000 ÷ 0.04 = $1,300,000 in additional savings. If your retirement goal is $120,000/yr and you have a $52,000 FERS pension and $28,000 in Social Security, TSP only needs to cover $40,000/yr — which requires $1,000,000 in TSP, not $3,000,000. The pension shrinks your savings burden by more than half.

The 4% safe withdrawal rate

The 4% rule comes from the Trinity Study (1998, updated 2011) and subsequent research by Bengen, Morningstar, and Kitces: a portfolio withdrawing 4% of its initial balance annually (adjusted for inflation each year) has historically sustained withdrawals for 30 years in nearly all historical market environments, including the Great Depression and 1970s stagflation.1

For federal retirees, who typically retire at 55–62 and have 30–35 year horizons, 4% is reasonable but conservative. The pension and Social Security guarantee income regardless of sequence-of-returns risk, which means your TSP is less exposed to bad early market conditions than a private-sector retiree's portfolio — so 4% may actually be conservative for you. A federal benefits specialist can run a Monte Carlo analysis on your specific income mix.

FERS supplement: the bridge before Social Security

If you retire before age 62, the FERS Special Retirement Supplement provides income approximating what Social Security will pay — but only until you reach 62, at which point it stops entirely regardless of when you file for actual SS. The supplement is subject to the 2026 earnings test ($24,480 exempt).2

This calculator shows steady-state income (pension + SS + TSP). If you're retiring before 62, the supplement replaces some or all of your SS income before age 62. Use the FERS Supplement Calculator to estimate your supplement amount, then use the Social Security Timing Calculator to see the income gap between age 62 (when supplement ends) and when you actually start SS.

TSP contribution limits (2026)

The IRS sets annual limits on TSP contributions. Agency match does not count against your employee limit.3

If the gap-closing calculation above requires a contribution that exceeds these limits, the only paths forward are to work longer, adjust your income goal, build other savings outside TSP (IRA, taxable brokerage), or accept a slightly lower withdrawal target from TSP.

What this calculator doesn't capture

Related tools and guides

Get a personalized retirement income analysis

This calculator gives you the direction. A federal benefits specialist gives you the plan: your actual high-3 from your SF-50 history, the optimal retirement date, survivor annuity modeling, FEHB and Medicare coordination, and a complete after-tax income picture. Free match, fee-only advisors only.

Fee-only · No commissions · Federal specialists · Free match

  1. Kitces — The 4% Rule and Safe Withdrawal Rates in Retirement (kitces.com). The 4% withdrawal rate originated in Bengen (1994) and the Trinity Study (Cooley, Hubbard, Walz 1998, updated 2011). At 4%, a diversified 60/40 portfolio has historically sustained 30-year withdrawals in >95% of historical scenarios. Federal retirees with guaranteed pension and Social Security income are less exposed to sequence-of-returns risk than pure-portfolio retirees, making 4% a conservative (and reasonable) planning benchmark. Also: Morningstar Safe Withdrawal Rate Study (2024).
  2. OPM — FERS Special Retirement Supplement (opm.gov). The supplement ends at age 62 regardless of SS filing status. It is subject to an earnings test: for 2026, the exempt amount is $24,480 (SSA annual earnings test threshold); every $2 of earnings above that reduces the supplement by $1. Also: SSA — Earnings Test Amounts. Values verified June 2026.
  3. TSP.gov — Contribution Limits (tsp.gov). 2026 elective deferral: $24,500 base (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-67); age-50 catch-up $8,000 (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-67); ages 60–63 super catch-up $11,250 (SECURE 2.0 § 109, effective 2025). Agency matching contributions (up to 5% of basic pay for FERS employees) do not count against the elective deferral limit. Verified against TSP Bulletin 25-3, June 2026.
  4. OPM — FERS Annuity Computation (opm.gov). FERS basic annuity: high-3 average salary × 1.0% × years of creditable service (1.1% multiplier if retiring at age 62+ with 20+ years per 5 U.S.C. § 8415). Sick leave credit adds to service months but does not count toward the 20-year 1.1% threshold. FERS COLA: zero before age 62; diet COLA (CPI or CPI−1pp) after 62 per 5 U.S.C. § 8462. Values verified June 2026.

Safe withdrawal rate uses a 4% annual drawdown heuristic per financial planning literature. TSP contribution limits are per IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-67 and TSP Bulletin 25-3. FERS annuity formula per 5 U.S.C. § 8415 and OPM Computation guidance. Social Security FRA and benefit factors per SSA.gov (born 1960 or later: FRA = 67). All values verified as of June 2026.