Guide to getting your FERS contribution refund for former 18F employees

fers_contribution_refund_guide.md

For best results, all forms mentioned below must be printed out, filled out and signed in ink, and mailed directly to OPM at the following address:

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Attn: Federal Employee Retirement System 
Post Office Box 45
Boyers, PA 16017-0045

In order to send directly to OPM, you must wait 30 days after your last day at GSA. However, because part of the process requires you to mail some forms to your financial institution and wait for them to send them back, you can start the process about 15 days after your last day.

Here is the step-by-step process:

1. Download and print out form SF 3106
2. Download and print out form TSP-60

How to fill out form SF 3106:

Page 1

Page 1 should be self-explanatory, but just in case, here is what I entered for the items that might be ambiguous:

Part 6:

• Department or Agency: General Services Administration, Technology Transformation Service/18F
• Title of Position: Innovation Specialist [c]
• Indicate whether retirement deductions were withheld from your salary: Withheld
• Have you paid deposit or redeposit...: Not Paid

Part 7:

No

Reverse of page 1

Pay the INTEREST PORTION (Taxable Portion) of my Refund:

• Pay ALL to my Thrift Savings Plan Account

Pay the CONTRIBUTION PORTION (After-Tax Portion) of my Refund

• Pay ALL by check made payable to my IRA or Eligible Employer Plan Name of Financial Institution of Employer Plan: Vanguard

• This rollover is to a Roth IRA

  Mail the check:

  • to the above institution or plan

Page 2

Just my wet signature and date

Current/Former Spouse's Notification...

My wife signed this page, then took it to her office and had 2 colleagues sign it as witnesses

Certification by Financial Institution or Eligible Employer Plan

I called Vanguard to find out where I needed to send this form, and they said to send it to the address below, along with instructions.

Vanguard Group
P.O. Box 1110
Valley Forge, PA 19482-1110

Here is the letter I sent:

Letter of Instructions for Vanguard pertaining to form SF3106 for rolling over the refund of 
retirement deductions to Moncef Belyamani’s Roth IRA account (my account number)

To Whom It May Concern,

Please fill out the top portion of the form labeled “Certification by Financial Institution 
or Eligible Employer Plan”, and please send the original signed form with wet signature back 
to me at the following address:

Moncef Belyamani 
my address

Thank you, 
Moncef Belyamani

In retrospect, I should have included more details because I got an email (or a call?) from Vanguard asking for more details. The person I spoke to wasn't familiar with SF 3106 and I had to explain that I was expecting $X amount to be transferred to my Roth IRA account from OPM. They asked if there was an account number the money was coming from and I explained that there wasn't.

By the way, the amount you should expect to receive is listed on your last paycheck in Employee Express at the top under Cumulative Retirement Agency.

How to fill out form TSP-60

Just fill out Part I (1-11) and include it with SF 3106 when you send it to OPM

How long does it take to receive the money?

YMMV, but I mailed everything on January 21 or a few days later, and I got an email from Vanguard about the transfer on February 26.

Recent timing info, in case it's helpful for anyone: I mailed my paperwork to FERS in February 2022, certified mail, and the USPS tracking page indicated that it arrived on 2/15/22. I had heard that processing can take up to six months. In July 2022, I received a paper letter that said that as of 7/15/22, FERS had received my request and was processing it. Schwab notified me (I think by email? maybe a letter) that they processed it on 7/29/22, and TSP notified me by email on 8/9/22 that they processed it. Thank you Moncef for this guide!

@brittag You're welcome! I'm glad it's still helpful after all these years.

My experience with this: I mailed my SF3106 form to FERS at the end of November 2022. I didn't pay for tracking (huge mistake) so I was unsure if my application ever actually made it there. I called several times in December and early January, but always got the eternal hold. Over the course of this entire process, I must have called FERS over 50 times and never was able to get through to a human. I also sent many emails to [email protected] simply asking if my application had made it into their system and if it was going to be processed. They always respond, but they always request you send your SSN to them via email which I didn't feel comfortable doing. Sometime between January and February incoming calls to the FERS number (888-767-6738) were not being accepted at all due to high call volume. This was true at any time of day, even the ones noted here. In March, I got out the old pen and paper and wrote a handwritten letter, which was delivered on March 13, 2023. On their website it said: "We usually respond within 1 to 3 weeks after we receive your mail" so almost four weeks later I followed up via email to just see if they had received a letter from me. Again, they requested SSN via email. Attempts to call were still being disconnected after the high call volume automated message. Finally, on May 15th I received an email from a Program Manager at OPM 🙏 saying that my application had indeed been received in December and that they were currently working through November applications. So, someone would be getting to my application within a few weeks. In late June the money showed up in my account (I elected to have contributions paid out rather than transferred). I didn't receive a receipt or letter about it which I would have liked, since I wanted to confirm the expected amount, but I guess that's fine. So it was 7 months for me.

Suggestions for anyone doing this:

• Definitely track your application packet 🤦‍♂️
• Keep in mind that the busiest time at OPM is the first 3-4 months of the year
• If you don't feel comfortable with SSN via email, try calling a few times, but if that doesn't work write a letter
• Expect it to take 6+ months

Thank you for this @monfresh

I am nearing a full year of trying to get my FERS earnings rolled over to an IRA. I submitted in March 2023, knowing I was to wait around 4-8 months for processing. An email came to me in October 2023, but was filtered to spam and I didn't see it. The email denied my request due to lack of wet signatures (having a very hard time believing that's true, but I'm not about to litigate that bit with OPM). By the time I figured out the email was there, the 30 day deadline on correcting the problem had expired and now my only recourse seemingly is starting the process over again.

I have had similar experience to @rileypeterson calling the FERS number. When I did finally reach someone, it was only by navigating the byzantine phone menu and claiming I was calling for a different reason, and then insisting to the person on the line that they were going to help me even though I hadn't gone through the proper phone channel (of which there wasn't one). I did learn on that phone call that there is record of the SF-3106 denial. It's filed in their system under my social security number.

The form is confusing on back of page 1 and front of page 2, but my conclusion right now, corroborated above, is that you leave Direct Deposit area completely blank if you are rolling the funds directly to an IRA.

This go-round I will be sending the form in certified mail because I can't have another 6-12 month delay at OPM because my form didn't get into the proper pile.

Prior advice I've received elsewhere, which I am also going to follow this time, is to involve your district's U.S. representative office in the filing. I am going to send a copy with a letter to them detailing my frustration with this process. I have heard this helps a great deal in expediting requests to OPM. Worth a shot.

Can't tell you how frustrating dealing with the faceless wall of OPM is.

I am currently having issues with this right now. The check was sent out to Fidelity and after a month they finally received it (the paper said it would only take 2 weeks). Fidelity said they cannot accept the check because it references a Roth IRA and not a Rollover IRA account and are sending the check to me with a notice. So now I have to somehow get BACK in contact with OPM to get the check corrected with either a reference to Rollover IRA or make a roth IRA and get the account number changed. This is all so dumb.

Since there is no option for a 'rollover IRA', the check was made to a Roth IRA. I have to send the check back to the treasury and wait for them to process the cancellation. They should then contact me to try and get updated information to correct the issue. The guy said I probably should get the check made out to ME and send the check myself to the financial institution to deposit into the rollover IRA. That is a checkbox on the reverse side of page 1.

Is there any benefit in transferring it to a ROTH ira? Seems like since ROTH is post tax and FERS after-tax is post tax, a check to yourself might be less convoluted?
Also at some income levels we can't even contribute to a ROTH (I don't think I can) so is there some exception for this FERS money?
(Hi moncef!)

So, to make the direct rollover of the interest portion of the FERS refund to the TSP, form SF3106 instructs to complete form TSP-60 and include it. However, https://www.tsp.gov/forms/ now says to “log in to My Account to start your rollover request. Paper forms TSP-60 and TSP-60-R are no longer necessary” and form TSP-60 no longer appears to be available. But, when I log in, the only option for "Roll over in" is to mail or scan a rollover check (indirect rollover).

Can anyone who has recently done this process share how they made a direct rollover of the interest portion to the TSP now that form TSP-60 does not seem to be available? Thanks!

So, to make the direct rollover of the interest portion of the FERS refund to the TSP, form SF3106 instructs to complete form TSP-60 and include it. However, https://www.tsp.gov/forms/ now says to “log in to My Account to start your rollover request. Paper forms TSP-60 and TSP-60-R are no longer necessary” and form TSP-60 no longer appears to be available. But, when I log in, the only option for "Roll over in" is to mail or scan a rollover check (indirect rollover).

Can anyone who has recently done this process share how they made a direct rollover of the interest portion to the TSP now that form TSP-60 does not seem to be available? Thanks!

I just completed this portion and can walk you through. After you receive the check and the paper from OPM stating the authorization of refund (the paper that says how much your refund is and how much interest and to keep the paper for your records), you need to go to tsp.gov and start a self service rollover. You get here by clicking 'Roll Over In' at the top after you log in. Click 'Self Service Rollover-in'.

On here,

• the source is: Prior ER Plan,
• Name of the prior Employment plan or dist. financial institution: "United States Treasury",
• put the amount listed on the check, and
• select the TSP account to put the funds in.

It will take a few days for it to get processed, but once it does you will get the documents in your TSP messages (the bell icon in secure messages).

It will tell you the next steps. What I did:

• Gather the check, the OPM letter, and print out page 1 of the documents you got from TSP
• On each document, write your name and the numbers they say on the top right of each of the pages (the page 1 of the TSP documents and the OPM document)
• Scan the two documents or take a picture of them with your phone (I used my Iphone and used the notes app to scan the documents in as a PDF to my phone.
• Download the TSP app and log in
• Click on your savings plan
• Scroll down to Quick links and click View All
• Go to Withdrawals and rollovers
• Scroll down to the bottom to Self Service and Rollover-in
• Scroll down and click 'How do i send my documents' link
• On the second bullet, you will see a link 'Send Your Documents'
• Here you add the two pictures of the two papers you took with your phone
• Click Upload
• After it has been uploaded, return to the main screen
• Click the link to the Rollover check scan
• Follow the instructions to scan your check in (Be sure to sign the back of the check and next to your signature, put your rollover id that is noted on page 2 of the TSP documents that were sent to you)
• After a few days, you will get a text or email saying the funds were successfully deposited

Hi,

What did you do with reverse of page 1?

1. I need additional information before I decide
2. Payment instructions
3. Direct Deposit

I left 1 and 2 blank and picked "Please send my annuity payments directly to my checking or savings account.

@Toastedcranium thanks for your detailed response. However, I still must be misunderstanding something. Which option did you choose on the SF3106 for your interest portion?

I don't want to choose "Pay ALL by check made payable to me, with 20% federal income tax withholding", because then I would have to come up with other money to make up that 20% to roll it over (see 2nd column of last page of SF3106, 2nd paragraph). But, if I choose "pay ALL to my Thrift Savings Plan account" it doesn't sound like they will send a check at all, and your instructions reference using a check from the US Treasury. Or did you choose that option and they sent a check anyway?

@Toastedcranium thanks for your detailed response. However, I still must be misunderstanding something. Which option did you choose on the SF3106 for your interest portion?

I don't want to choose "Pay ALL by check made payable to me, with 20% federal income tax withholding", because then I would have to come up with other money to make up that 20% to roll it over (see 2nd column of last page of SF3106, 2nd paragraph). But, if I choose "pay ALL to my Thrift Savings Plan account" it doesn't sound like they will send a check at all, and your instructions reference using a check from the US Treasury. Or did you choose that option and they sent a check anyway?

20% is only for the interest portion. You can pay yourself via check. Then OPM is required by law to withdraw 20% tax. You will get tax forms once you will be submitting your tax returns and will be able to get tax back if you are in lower bracket. Alternatively you can put it in ROTH IRA, which requires you to pay tax (whatever bracket you fall into). I don't know for sure but I suspect rolling over interest portion into ROTH IRA would count towards your annual IRA contribution limit.

@Toastedcranium thanks for your detailed response. However, I still must be misunderstanding something. Which option did you choose on the SF3106 for your interest portion?

I don't want to choose "Pay ALL by check made payable to me, with 20% federal income tax withholding", because then I would have to come up with other money to make up that 20% to roll it over (see 2nd column of last page of SF3106, 2nd paragraph). But, if I choose "pay ALL to my Thrift Savings Plan account" it doesn't sound like they will send a check at all, and your instructions reference using a check from the US Treasury. Or did you choose that option and they sent a check anyway?

I selected Pay the INTEREST PORTION (Taxable Portion) of my Refund:
Pay ALL to my Thrift Savings Plan Account

They directly sent me a check payable to my TSP that I had to send (take picture of the check) to the TSP to be deposited.