text: The accrual rate for congressional service between 1984 and December 31, 2012, is covered by a FERS "special" computation that is similar to that for Federal employees such as First Responders, FBI Special Agents, and Air Traffic Control Officers. The accrual rate is 1.7% for the first 20 years and 1.0% for each year beyond the 20th. The basic retirement annuity under FERS is equal to the (Average High-3 Salary x .017 x Years of Service through 20 years)+(High-3 Salary x .01 x Years of Service over 20)= Annual Pension
  Members who began congressional service before 1984 and who elected to join FERS will receive credit under FERS from January 1, 1984, forward. Thus, at the close of the 108th Congress in December 2004, participants had a maximum of 21 years of service under FERS. Assuming that a Member retired at the end of 2004 with 20 years of congressional service under FERS, and a high-3 average salary of $154,267, the initial annual FERS pension in 2005 would be: [$154,267 x .017 x 20] = $52,451 There is no maximum pension under FERS. (It would take 66 years of service under FERS to reach the 80% maximum permissible under CSRS.) The smallest unreduced FERS pension is 8.5% of high-3 salary with five years of service (.017 x 5 years), which is payable no earlier than age 62. A Member with 10 years of service who takes a FERS pension at the earliest allowable age of 55 would receive a reduced pension equal to 11% of high-3 salary (.017 x 10 years, reduced by .05 times the seven-year difference between the individual's age at retirement and age 62).