[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 96 (Friday, May 17, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22525-22527]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-10294]


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OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT


Civil Service Retirement System; Present Value Factors

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is providing notice 
of adjusted present value factors applicable to retirees under the 
Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) who elect to provide survivor 
annuity benefits to a spouse based on post-retirement marriage; to 
retiring employees who elect the alternative form of annuity, owe 
certain redeposits based on refunds of contributions for service ending 
before March 1, 1991, or elect to credit certain service with 
nonappropriated fund instrumentalities; or, for individuals with 
certain types of retirement coverage errors who can elect to receive 
credit for service by taking an actuarial reduction under the 
provisions of the Federal Erroneous Retirement Coverage Correction Act. 
This notice is necessary to conform the present value factors to 
changes in the economic and demographic assumptions adopted by the 
Board of Actuaries of the Civil Service Retirement System.

[[Page 22526]]


DATES: The revised present value factors apply to survivor reductions 
or employee annuities that commence on or after October 1, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Send requests for actuarial assumptions and data to the 
Board of Actuaries, care of Gregory Kissel, Senior Actuary, Office of 
Healthcare and Insurance, Office of Personnel Management, Room 4316, 
1900 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20415.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karla Yeakle, (202) 606-0299.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Several provisions of CSRS require reduction 
of annuities on an actuarial basis. Under each of these provisions, OPM 
is required to issue regulations on the method of determining the 
reduction to ensure that the present value of the reduced annuity plus 
a lump-sum equals, to the extent practicable, the present value of the 
unreduced benefit. The regulations for each of these benefits provide 
that OPM will publish a notice in the Federal Register whenever it 
changes the factors used to compute the present values of these 
benefits.
    Section 831.2205(a) of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, 
prescribes the method for computing the reduction in the beginning rate 
of annuity payable to a retiree who elects an alternative form of 
annuity under 5 U.S.C. 8343a. That reduction is required to produce an 
annuity that is the actuarial equivalent of the annuity of a retiree 
who does not elect an alternative form of annuity. The present value 
factors listed below are used to compute the annuity reduction under 
section 831.2205(a) of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations.
    Section 831.303(c) of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, 
prescribes the use of these factors for computing the reduction to 
complete payment of certain redeposits of refunded deductions based on 
periods of service that ended before March 1, 1991, under section 
8334(d)(2) of title 5, United States Code; section 1902 of the National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, Public Law 111-84.
    Section 831.663 of Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, prescribes 
the use of similar factors for computing the reduction required for 
certain elections to provide survivor annuity benefits based on a post-
retirement marriage under section 8339(j)(5)(C) or (k)(2) of title 5, 
United States Code. Under section 11004 of the Omnibus Budget 
Reconciliation Act of 1993, Public Law 103-66, effective October 1, 
1993, OPM ceased collection of these survivor election deposits by 
means of either a lump-sum payment or installments. Instead, OPM is 
required to establish a permanent actuarial reduction in the annuity of 
the retiree. This means that OPM must take the amount of the deposit 
computed under the old law and translate it into a lifetime reduction 
in the retiree's benefit.
    Subpart F of part 847 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, 
prescribes the use of similar factors for computing the deficiency the 
retiree must pay to receive credit for certain service with 
nonappropriated fund instrumentalities made creditable by an election 
under section 1043 of Public Law 104-106. Subpart I of part 847 of 
title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, prescribes the use of present 
value factors for employees that elect to credit nonappropriated fund 
instrumentality service to qualify for immediate retirement under 
section 1132 of Public Law 107-107.
    Sections 839.1114-1121 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, 
prescribes the use of these factors for computing the reduction 
required for certain service credit deposits, Government Thrift Savings 
Plan contributions, or for previous payment of the FERS Basic Employee 
Death Benefit in annuities subject to the Federal Erroneous Retirement 
Coverage Corrections Act (FERCCA) under the provisions of Public Law 
106-265. Retirees and survivors who owe a larger deposit because of a 
retirement coverage error can choose to pay the additional deposit 
amount or their annuity will be actuarially reduced to account for the 
deposit amount that remains unpaid. Additionally, retirees and 
survivors of deceased employees who received Government contributions 
to their Thrift Savings Plan account after being corrected to FERS and 
who later elect CSRS Offset under FERCCA keep the Government 
contributions and associated earnings in their Thrift Savings Plan 
account. Instead of adjusting the Thrift Savings Plan account, FERCCA 
requires that the CSRS-Offset annuity be actuarially reduced. Also, 
survivors that received the FERS Basic Employee Death Benefit and elect 
CSRS Offset under FERCCA do not have to pay back the Basic Employee 
Death Benefit. Instead, OPM actuarially reduces the survivor annuity 
payable. These reductions under FERCCA allow the annuity to be 
actuarially reduced in a way that, on average, allows the Fund to 
recover the amount of the missing lump sum over the recipient's 
lifetime.
    The present value factors currently in effect were published by OPM 
(80 FR 18263) on April 3, 2015. On May 17, 2019, OPM published a notice 
to revise the normal cost percentage under the Federal Employees' 
Retirement System (FERS) Act of 1986, Public Law 99-335, based on 
changed assumptions adopted by the Board of Actuaries of the CSRS. 
Those changes require corresponding changes in CSRS normal costs and 
present value factors used to produce actuarially equivalent benefits 
when required by the Civil Service Retirement Act. The revised factors 
will become effective on October 1, 2019, to correspond with the 
changes in CSRS normal cost percentages. For alternative forms of 
annuity and redeposits of employee contributions, the new factors will 
apply to annuities that commence on or after October 1, 2019. See 5 CFR 
831.2205 and 831.303(c). For survivor election deposits, the new 
factors will apply to survivor reductions that commence on or after 
October 1, 2019. See 5 CFR 831.663(c) and (d). For obtaining credit for 
service with certain nonappropriated fund instrumentalities, the new 
factors will apply to cases in which the date of computation under 
sections 847.603 or 847.809 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, is 
on or after October 1, 2019. See 5 CFR 842.602, 842.616, 847.603, and 
Sec.  847.809. For retirement coverage corrections under FERCCA, the 
new factors will apply to annuities that commence on or after October 
1, 2019, or in the case of previous payment of the Basic Employee Death 
Benefit, the new factors will apply to deaths occurring on or after 
October 1, 2019. See 5 CFR 839.1114-1121 and 5 CFR 831.303(d).
    OPM is, therefore, revising the tables of present value factors to 
read as follows:

  CSRS Present Value Factors Applicable to Annuity Payable Following an
   Election Under Section 8339(j) or (k) or Section 8343a of Title 5,
United States Code, or Under Section 1043 of Public Law 104-106 or Under
    Section 1132 of Public Law 107-107 or Under FERCCA or Following a
    Redeposit Under Section 8334(d)(2) of Title 5, United States Code
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Present value
                           Age                                factor
------------------------------------------------------------------------
40......................................................           351.8
41......................................................           347.1
42......................................................           342.2
43......................................................           337.2
44......................................................           332.1
45......................................................           326.9
46......................................................           321.6
47......................................................           316.4
48......................................................           311.1

[[Page 22527]]

 
49......................................................           305.9
50......................................................           300.7
51......................................................           295.3
52......................................................           289.8
53......................................................           284.1
54......................................................           278.2
55......................................................           272.2
56......................................................           266.0
57......................................................           259.7
58......................................................           253.3
59......................................................           246.8
60......................................................           240.2
61......................................................           233.5
62......................................................           226.7
63......................................................           219.8
64......................................................           212.9
65......................................................           206.0
66......................................................           199.0
67......................................................           192.0
68......................................................           184.9
69......................................................           177.8
70......................................................           170.7
71......................................................           163.6
72......................................................           156.5
73......................................................           149.5
74......................................................           142.5
75......................................................           135.6
76......................................................           128.8
77......................................................           122.1
78......................................................           115.5
79......................................................           109.0
80......................................................           102.7
81......................................................            96.6
82......................................................            90.6
83......................................................            84.9
84......................................................            79.4
85......................................................            74.1
86......................................................            69.0
87......................................................            64.1
88......................................................            59.6
89......................................................            55.3
90......................................................            51.3
91......................................................            47.7
92......................................................            44.2
93......................................................            41.1
94......................................................            38.2
95......................................................            35.6
96......................................................            33.2
97......................................................            31.1
98......................................................            29.2
99......................................................            27.4
100.....................................................            25.9
101.....................................................            24.4
102.....................................................            23.1
103.....................................................            21.8
104.....................................................            20.5
105.....................................................            18.9
106.....................................................            17.0
107.....................................................            14.2
108.....................................................             9.5
109.....................................................             6.4
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  CSRS Present Value Factors Applicable to Annuity Payable Following an
 Election Under Section 1043 of Public Law 104-106 or Under Section 1132
                  of Public Law 107-107 or Under FERCCA
                   [For ages at calculation below 40]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Present value
                   Age at calculation                      of a monthly
                                                              annuity
------------------------------------------------------------------------
17......................................................           443.1
18......................................................           439.8
19......................................................           436.4
20......................................................           432.9
21......................................................           429.4
22......................................................           425.9
23......................................................           422.3
24......................................................           418.6
25......................................................           414.9
26......................................................           411.2
27......................................................           407.4
28......................................................           403.5
29......................................................           399.6
30......................................................           395.6
31......................................................           391.5
32......................................................           387.4
33......................................................           383.2
34......................................................           378.9
35......................................................           374.6
36......................................................           370.2
37......................................................           365.7
38......................................................           361.2
39......................................................           356.5
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Alexys Stanley,
Regulatory Affairs Analyst, Office of Personnel Management.
[FR Doc. 2019-10294 Filed 5-16-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6325-38-P