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 retire@opm.gov 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.