Pension contribution levels rise

The amount the government contributes to the pension plans of federal employees, including lawmakers, is increasing slightly this month.

For most federal employees, the amount agencies contribute to their pensions under the Federal Employees Retirement System rose from 11.7 percent to 11.9 percent at the start of fiscal 2012. The amount the government contributes to congressional members' pension plans increased from the current rate of 17.9 percent to 18.3 percent. Individual contribution rates -- 0.8 percent of their wages for most of the federal workforce and 1.3 percent of wages for lawmakers -- remained the same.

The total cost of FERS pensions, adding individual and agency contributions, for most federal employees will be 12.7 percent in fiscal 2012; for lawmakers, the total is 19.6 percent. The changes took effect at the beginning of the first pay period on or after Oct. 1.

Individual contributions to FERS are fixed in law. The law requires the rate of the government contributions to be equal to the cost of the FERS pension as estimated by the Office of Personnel Management minus the individual contribution. OPM computes the total amount of funding required for FERS plans, known as the "normal cost," based on economic and demographic data for the following categories of federal employees:

The government announced the new contribution levels this summer in the Federal Register.