FERS

I was a financial planner for many years before I retired in 1995 and I specialized in retirement planning. Before 1984 federal employees belonged to something called Civil Service and they had their own retirement plan. At that time the system changed over to social security but they had the option of choosing the new system called FERS (federal employee retirement system) or staying with the Civil Service. Almost all stayed with the Civil Service but all employees hired since were required to join FERS. FERS members pay into social security but can pay in extra for extra benefits. Congressmen were all required to join Social Security. This means that congressmen who have been in office starting before 1984 may still be in Civil Service or some combination of Civil Service and social security but all those who were elected for the first time after 1984 are in social security.