Temporary Service or Prior Service - You May Owe a Deposit or Redeposit to the Retirement System

You may owe money to the retirement fund if one of the following applies to you:

  • You performed temporary service not covered under the retirement system. This is known as deposit service. (Employees covered under FERS can make deposits only for temporary service performed prior to January 1, 1989).
  • You received a refund of your retirement contributions when you had a break in Federal service. This is known as redeposit service.

Paying a deposit and/or redeposit is optional. However, making the payment could give you additional service credit for retirement to increase your annuity. You may pay a deposit and/or redeposit to “buy” service credit for certain periods of service. To view detailed information on deposit and redeposit service and for other information, visit the Retirement & Employee Benefits website.

If you wish to pay a deposit and/or redeposit, you must complete the appropriate application and provide it to your Benefits Contact for submission to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for processing. OPM will allow you to make a lump sum payment or monthly payments. Interest will continue to accrue on any unpaid deposit/redeposit balance until the amount due has been paid in full.

Questions may be directed to your Benefits Contact or AskBenefits@nih.gov.