Federal retirement under FERS has three parts: a pension annuity, the Thrift Savings Plan, and Social Security. This course explains each in plain English, one idea per lesson, with visuals drawn from the same rules the RetireCiv calculator applies.
Start with your career stage
0 to 10 years of service
Early Career
Build the foundation: how FERS works and why your first decade matters most.
10 to 25 years of service
Mid Career
Optimize the plan: eligibility, High-3, allocation, and the trade-offs ahead.
25+ years · within 5 years of retiring
Late Career
Land the plan: SRS, timing, withdrawals, and your readiness checklist.
Or go deep on a topic
Taxes, Insurance & Special Cases
The cross-cutting topics: health and life insurance in retirement, how your income is taxed, and special situations.
Public Safety & Special Provisions
The enhanced-pension rules for law enforcement, firefighters, and air traffic controllers.
Retiring This Year
The application, the OPM timeline, and what your first year of retirement income looks like.
Benefits & Insurance
The benefits nobody briefs you on: dental and vision, long-term care, spending accounts, and what your survivors get.
Workforce Change
What a reduction in force or an involuntary exit means for your pension and benefits.
TSP Mastery
The deep dive on the Thrift Savings Plan: loans, in-service withdrawals, the mutual fund window, and rolling to an IRA.
Prefer to see your own numbers?
The RetireCiv calculator turns everything in this course into a personalized estimate: your pension, TSP projection, and readiness score. No account required.
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