Open Season covers health benefits, but your FERS and TSP decisions deserve the same attention
Federal Benefits Open Season runs from Monday, November 9 through Monday, December 14, 2026. It is the annual window to review health coverage, dental and vision coverage and flexible spending accounts.1
Your Thrift Savings Plan and FERS pension are not Open Season elections, but looking at them at the same time makes sense. Health coverage, retirement income, savings and beneficiary decisions all shape the picture you will carry into retirement.
The goal is not to change everything. It is to make sure the decisions already in place still fit the retirement you are building.
That kind of review is really coordinated financial planning: looking at retirement, taxes, insurance and legacy decisions together rather than treating each one as a separate task.
What does Open Season actually change?
Open Season allows eligible employees and annuitants to enroll in or change coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, the Postal Service Health Benefits Program, the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program and the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program.1
Those elections are separate from the retirement savings and pension decisions many federal employees are also managing. That distinction matters.
Your TSP contribution election is not tied to Open Season. You can start, stop or change your TSP contributions at any time.2
A year-end benefits review can include your TSP, but you do not need to wait for Open Season to make a contribution change.
Why does your health coverage today matter for retirement?
One of the most important federal retirement rules involves carrying FEHB coverage into retirement. In general, you must be entitled to an immediate annuity and have been enrolled in FEHB for the five years of service immediately before retirement, or since your first opportunity to enroll.3
That makes health plan choices earlier in a federal career more significant than they may appear. A decision that feels routine during Open Season can affect the coverage options available to you later.
Medicare adds another layer around age 65. FEHB coverage can continue whether or not you enroll in Medicare, while Medicare Part B carries its own premium.4
The right approach depends on the plan available to you, expected healthcare needs, provider access, prescription coverage, retirement income and other personal factors. It is rarely a one-time decision, which is why coordinating federal health coverage with Medicare deserves a fresh look each year.
How is your FERS pension calculated?
The FERS basic annuity is based on three factors: your high-3 average salary, your creditable service and the applicable multiplier.5
For many employees, the calculation is high-3 average salary × years of creditable service × 1%. For someone retiring at age 62 or later with at least 20 years of service, the multiplier increases to 1.1%.5
Eligibility also depends on age and service. Your Minimum Retirement Age, or MRA, falls between 55 and 57 based on your year of birth.6
Retiring at your MRA with at least 10 years of service can make an immediate annuity available, but it can also bring a permanent age reduction unless you postpone the annuity or another exception applies.6
Some employees who retire before 62 under an eligible immediate retirement may also qualify for the FERS annuity supplement. The supplement is meant to bridge part of the income gap before Social Security eligibility, but it is subject to an annual earnings test and can be reduced when earnings exceed the exempt amount.7
These rules are why a retirement date is more than a calendar decision. One more year of service, a different separation date or a decision to postpone an annuity can change the income picture.
Your pension may be an important foundation, but it is only one part of the income you will rely on after federal service. Retirement income planning looks at how pension income, TSP withdrawals, taxes and healthcare costs work together over time. Our approach to FERS retirement planning starts with those pieces side by side.
Is your TSP allocation still right for your timeline?
The TSP offers individual funds with different investment exposures, including the G, F, C, S and I Funds. It also offers Lifecycle Funds, which combine the individual funds in a mix that becomes more conservative as the target date approaches.8
A year-end review is a useful time to ask whether your current allocation still matches your time horizon, income needs and comfort with market movement. It is also a good time to confirm that your contribution rate is intentional rather than simply unchanged.
For FERS participants, your agency contributes 1% of basic pay automatically and matches your contributions up to another 4% when you contribute 5% of basic pay.9
Contribution limits change from year to year, so it is worth checking the current IRS limit before making a payroll election. None of this requires an Open Season deadline.2
Do you have military service that could count toward your pension?
Military service may be creditable toward your FERS retirement, but the rules deserve a careful look. Under FERS, post-1956 military service generally requires a military service deposit before it can count toward eligibility or the annuity calculation.10
Timing matters. The deposit must be completed before you separate from federal service for retirement.10 Waiting until the last few months before retirement can create avoidable pressure, especially when records or pay information need to be gathered.
Military retired pay can also affect the analysis. In many cases, someone receiving military retired pay cannot use the same service in the FERS computation unless an exception applies or they waive the military retired pay.11 If this applies to you, our work on military retirement planning covers these decisions in more depth.
What should you review before the year ends?
- Does your FEHB or PSHB plan still fit your expected care, providers and premium budget?
- Do your FEDVIP and FSAFEDS elections still reflect your needs?
- Is your TSP contribution rate consistent with your savings plan and the current IRS limit?
- Is your TSP allocation still consistent with your time horizon and comfort with market volatility?
- Are beneficiary designations current for your TSP, FERS basic benefit and FEGLI coverage?
- Is your service computation date accurate, and are there unpaid deposits or military service questions that need attention?
The beneficiary forms for these benefits are TSP-3 for the Thrift Savings Plan, SF 3102 for the FERS basic benefit and SF 2823 for Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance.12
Beneficiary designations deserve a separate look because retirement accounts and life insurance can pass directly to the people you name, regardless of what your will says. Review them alongside your estate documents and family intentions as part of estate and legacy planning.
A complimentary federal benefits review can help you organize the questions that matter most, with no obligation.
This article is for educational purposes only and should not be considered individualized investment, tax or legal advice. Advisory, planning and brokerage services may differ in cost, scope, standard of care, compensation structure and conflicts of interest. Review your situation with a qualified financial professional before making decisions.
Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. No investment strategy can assure a profit or protect against loss in periods of declining values. Past performance does not assure future results. Individual situations can vary, so the information presented here should only be considered in coordination with individual professional advice.
Sources
1. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, “Federal Benefits Open Season”; U.S. Office of Personnel Management, “Benefits Officers: When Is the Next Open Season?”
2. Thrift Savings Plan, “Catch-up Contributions” fact sheet
3. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, “I’m Thinking About Retiring”
4. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, “I’m Turning 65”
5. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, “FERS Computation”
6. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, “FERS Eligibility”
7. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, “FERS Annuity Supplement Survey”
8. Thrift Savings Plan, “Fund Information”
9. Thrift Savings Plan, “Contribution Types”
10. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, “FERS Service Credit”
11. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, “Military Retired Pay”
12. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Standard Forms 3102 and 2823; Thrift Savings Plan, Form TSP-3