OPM has said that moving forward, all but about 5 percent of federal retirement applications will be made and processed through its Online Retirement Application portal, “eliminating paper from the process and significantly reducing processing times.”
In an announcement of what OPM called the “last day of paper,” it further made “a commitment to issue a retiree’s first pension payment within seven days of retirement for applicants who submit a complete retirement package by their separation date.”
OPM also touted “new pre-retirement application that allows employees and agency HR offices to complete much of the retirement process before an employee’s separation date” and “earlier processing of retirement applications while final payroll information is still being finalized, reducing unnecessary delays.”
The announcement marks the latest step in efforts to speed up processing of retirement applications, criticized for decades for delays that in many cases leave new retirees in financial difficulties awaiting full or even partial benefits for many months.
The Online Retirement Application portal was launched last summer, with usage growing over time as more agencies and employees adapted to it. According to the latest OPM data on processing there—required monthly under longstanding orders from Congress—of the 11,300 applications received there in May, 8,300 were in digital format. Digital applications were processed on average in 66 days, compared with an average of 105 days for paper applications.
Within those averages, though, are applications that take much longer—upwards of a year or more, in extreme cases. The data for May further showed an increase in processing times even as the inventory of applications returned to about the levels before the surge of applications last fall from employees who took deferred resignation offers into retirement and the annual spike in applications around the turn of the year.
In addition, before reaching OPM, applications pass through agency personnel and payroll offices—which OPM has said can take months. During the OPM processing time, new retirees are eligible for partial “interim” payments—whose value can vary widely, as well—with the difference made up once a final determination is made.
The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association called the announcement “a welcome development” for speeding up the process that NARFE—as well as other organizations—has sought for many years. “But this is just one part of the process and does not fix other problems in the customer experience for federal retirees.”
In addition to initial delays at the employing agencies, NARFE said, “Our members routinely report that it is difficult or impossible to get through on the phone to OPM to address issues, from delays processing health insurance changes to delays in processing retirement claims to inability to obtain 1099-R forms needed to file tax returns, and more.”
Successive presidential administrations and some newly elected members of Congress have focused on the applications processing issue after they “discover” the never-disguised fact that the paper-based process has included storing vast quantities of documents in a former mine in Pennsylvania.
Prior efforts had included a rollout of an online system during the Bush administration—highly touted at the time but quickly dropped after warnings from GAO about it proved true—and efforts by succeeding administrations to put more people, more technology, or both toward the task.
TSP and Post-Retirement Spending: It’s OK to Draw it Down
OPM Acts to Put Administrative Leave for Deferred Resignation into Regulation
Rule Finalized Giving OPM Power to Fire Federal Employees on Suitability Grounds
GAO Report Offers Accounting of Workforce Losses and Reasons for Leaving
See also,
Is the G Fund Really That Special?
A $45,000 Federal Pension May Provide Less Monthly Income Than Many Expect
How Your FERS, Social Security and TSP Payments Get Taxed
What Retirement Date Maximizes My Federal Benefits?
2026 FERS Retirement & Thrift Savings Plan Handbook
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