OPM creates online calculator for retirement payments

Federal employees who didn't have retirement contributions withheld from their paychecks during part of their government service can now take advantage of a handy online calculator from the Office of Personnel Management.

The calculator tells employees how much money they would need to deposit into their retirement accounts to make up for lost time. Employees enter information about their salary and time of service, and the calculator returns an estimated deposit amount.

The calculator is online at apps.opm.gov/deposit/index.cfm. It's one of a growing series of online tools OPM is offering to federal employees and retirees. Other tools help people compute the tax-free portion of their annuity payments and figure their monthly federal income tax withholding.

The tools are in the retirement section of OPM's Web site at www.opm.gov/retire.