{"data":{"id":"us/5-cfr-841.402","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"5 CFR 841.402","heading":"Definitions.","body":"In this subpart—\nActuary means a professional who meets the qualification standards to issue a statement of actuarial opinion in regard to defined benefit retirement plans in the United States.\nAdministrative expenses means the normal cost loading applicable to the administration of FERS.\nAge means age, as of the beginning of the fiscal year, rounded to the nearest birthday.\nAgency head means, for the executive branch agencies, the head of an executive agency as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105; for the legislative branch, the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, or the head of any other legislative branch agency; for the judicial branch, the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts; for the Postal Service, the Postmaster General; for any other independent establishment that is an entity of the Federal Government, the head of the establishment.\nBoard means the Board of Actuaries of the Civil Service Retirement System.\nCategory of employees means a grouping of employees under § 841.403.\nChild survivor termination and death rates means the rate, by age of the child, at which child survivor benefits terminate.\nCSRS means subchapter III of chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code.\nDeath and recovery rates for disability annuitants means the rate, by age, sex, and duration on the roll, at which disability annuitants are removed from the annuity roll because of death; and the rate, by age, sex, and duration on the roll, at which disability annuitants are removed from the annuity roll because of recovery or restoration to earning capacity.\nDeath and remarriage rates for surviving spouses means the rate, based on the sex of the employee, age of the survivor annuitant, and the duration on the annuity roll, at which spousal survivor annuitants are removed from the annuity roll because of death; and the rate, based on the sex of the employee, age of the survivor annuitant, and the duration on the roll, at which survivor annuitants are removed from the annuity roll because of remarriage.\nDeath rates for non-disability annuitants means the rate, by age and sex of the annuitant, at which non- disability annuitants are removed from the annuity roll because of death.\nDisability retirement rates means the rate, by age, sex, length of service, and whether the employees are eligible for social security disability benefits, at which employees retire for disability.\nDuration on the roll means the number of full years on the annuity roll as of the beginning of the fiscal year.\nEconomic Assumptions means the assumptions used by the Board with respect to inflation, interest rates, and wage and salary growth.\nEmployee death rates means the rate, by age and sex of the employees and whether the employees are survived by spouses entitled to survivor annuities, at which employees die in service.\nEmployees means employees as defined in section 8401(11) of title 5, United States Code, and Members, as defined in section 8401(20) of title 5, United States Code.\nFamily characteristics of annuitants means, based on the annuitant's age and sex, and in some cases, on the type of annuity (regular, disability, or deferred), the number and average age of child survivors at the death of the annuitant, the percentage of annuitants with an annuity reduced to provide survivor benefits, the percentage of annuitants who actually leave a surviving spouse entitled to a survivor annuity at the annuitant's death, and the average age of the surviving spouse.\nFamily characteristics of employees means, based on the employee's age at death and sex, the number and average age of child survivors and the average age of the surviving spouse, per death of an employee with a survivor.\nFERS means chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code.\nInvoluntary retirement rates means, by age and sex of the employee, the rate of involuntary retirements (discontinued service and optional early retirements).\nMerit salary increases means salary increases, by age and length of service, that are not general salary increases. “Merit salary increases” include promotions and within-grade and similar increases based in whole or in part on employee performance, but do not include comparability increases, Postal Service COLA, or similar adjustments to entire pay scales; or premium pay.\nMilitary service rates means the fraction, by age and sex, of employees who have military service to all employees, and the average length of military service and the salary on which their deposits to receive credit for military service are based for these employees.\nNormal cost percentage or normal cost means the entry-age normal cost of the provisions of FERS which relate to the Fund, computed by the Office in accordance with generally accepted actuarial practice and standards (using dynamic assumptions) and expressed as a level percentage of aggregate basic pay.\nService means all creditable service, including military service, rounded to the nearest number of years as of the beginning of the fiscal year.\nSingle agency rate means a normal cost percentage for one category of employees in one agency. A single agency rate is set under § 841.412 as a result of a successful appeal.\nVoluntary retirement rates means the rate, based on the sex, age, and service of the employee, of regular longevity retirements.\nWithdrawal rates means the rate at which employees leave FERS-covered service without retiring, including employees who are paid refunds and employees who take deferred retirement. These rates are of two types: “not offset for reentry” and “offset for reentry.” These rates are by age and service.","path":["Title 5—Administrative Personnel","CHAPTER I—OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT","SUBCHAPTER B—CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS","PART 841—FEDERAL EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM—GENERAL ADMINISTRATION","Subpart D—Government Costs"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-5.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:23:53Z","sha256":"7442d388bbe93e7ca0338120490dbfea6ec442348663719f1d5b7a6820bdbbd6","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/5-cfr-841.401","next":"us/5-cfr-841.403"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}