Retirement Processing Times

Authorities meanwhile admitted at the press conference that they are still working on nailing down key details in the case — including the victims’ time of death and even potentially finding the murder weapon. Even if prosecutors pursue the death penalty, Gov. Gavin Newsom ​has had a moratorium ​in place halting all executions in the Golden State ​since March 2019. “Prosecuting these cases involving family members are some of the most challenging and heart-wrenching cases that this office faces because of the intimate and often brutal nature of the crimes involved,” he said during a Tuesday afternoon press conference. For example, if your case involves a court order, special computation, workers’ compensation, missing documentation, or is a deferred or postponed application it may take longer to process. The federal government employs a unique system for calculating work hours and unused sick leave.

“I’m pretty happy that worked out, but getting there really required several months of working with my HR specialist,” said one now-retired employee with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). So happy holidays everyone. In some cases, retirements that otherwise would have been part of that surge may already have occurred due to retirements at the end of deferred resignation periods.

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During this period of transition, RS is still receiving many new retirement claims on paper. January is normally the busiest month for OPM in terms of incoming retirement claims, so it will be interesting to see how December fares. The total outstanding inventory of retirement claims has been high and grew even higher last month, going from 34,587 at the end of October to 48,396 at the end of November, a 40% increase. The digital processing time is also markedly better than the total average processing time.

In addition, many of these applications are still being sent in on paper, despite OPM saying it would no longer accept paper submissions earlier this year. OPM currently has about 48,396 applications awaiting final processing, compared to just 13,844 at the end of November 2024. Federal retirees are facing delays in retirement processing as the backlog swells to end 2025, triple the amount from last year.

The Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce are really starting to show up in the OPM retirement backlog which grew by a total of 13,809 new retirement claims in November. The processing times are averages, which means your application may take more or less time depending on your individual circumstances. Of the 23,393 claims received in November, roughly ⅓ or 7,833 were digital, and 15,560 were paper.

Nick Reiner officially charged with murder for grisly deaths of Rob, Michele — could face death penalty if convicted

• The Retirement Quick Guide can also provide you with information about the overall retirement application process when you retire from Federal service.
• Rob, 78, and his longtime wife, Michele, 70, were found dead inside their Brentwood mansion by their daughter Sunday afternoon, according to authorities and law-enforcement sources.
• Digital processing times were much faster, averaging 38 days in November.
• The Office of Personnel Management’s retirement application backlog decreased in August by approximately 4%.

Digital retirement claims are quickly becoming part of the process. Processing days reflect the cases processed in the month of November 2025. From in-depth analyses to practical tips, DailyFed empowers you to make well-informed decisions about your career, benefits, and retirement planning, keeping you connected and confident every step of the way. DailyFed is your premier daily resource dedicated to federal employees, delivering a wealth of news, insights, and updates tailored to your unique needs.

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Over the course of your federal career, you’re likely to build a healthy balance in your Thrift Savings Plan. Reach out to a Federal Retirement Consultant (FRC®) who understands your unique benefits. Not sure if you’re retirement ready? The most common mistakes include incomplete personal identification details, incorrect marital status documentation, and discrepancies in federal service records. But some employees who took the DRP told GovExec that is not the case, saying they felt they had no choice because they thought their unit was going to be shut and their job eliminated. Meanwhile, OPM says that 92 percent of the 317,000 departures in the federal workforce so far in 2025 were voluntary.

Retirement Processing Times

Overwhelmed by navigating the complex process of federal retirement? Though the deadline for the DRP was September 30, employees who would become retirement eligible by the end of the year were given an extension. This is due to a confluence of factors, including the thousands of workers exiting the federal government due to the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) and other reasons, and a switch to an online retirement system. The agency’s “steady state goal” of pending applications is 13,000. OPM\u2019s retirement backlog skyrockets as deferred resignees begin offboarding Retiree applications pile up as year-end approaches

Federal Retirement Backlog Triples; OPM Says Digital Processing Helping

The federal workforce deserves a retirement process that matches the demands of the 21st century. OPM Director Scott Kupor said in a recent interview that he expects about 300,000 federal employees to depart by the end of 2025, cutting the overall size of the federal workforce from about 2.4 million down to 2.1 million. The OPM retirement backlog has surged to levels not seen in over a decade. Rob, 78, and his longtime wife, Michele, 70, were found dead inside their Brentwood mansion by their daughter Sunday afternoon, according to authorities and law-enforcement sources. The coroner is still attempting to pinpoint a time of death, but prosecutors believe two were killed sometime early Sunday morning.

FERS Retirement Application Errors

In both months, OPM processed about 8,700 claims, with processing of claims from the portal—which is in growing, but not universal, use across agencies—accounting for about 4,400 of those, compared with the 1,700 of October. According to the new data, OPM received 6,176 new digital claims in October and 7,833 in November. By harnessing modern technology and inter-agency collaboration, OPM has been working to deliver a retirement process that is fast, user-friendly, and responsive to the needs of our employees.

• The sharp increase in incoming retirement claims over the last few months has pushed the total OPM retirement backlog to a level not seen since 2012.
• Though the deadline for the DRP was September 30, employees who would become retirement eligible by the end of the year were given an extension.
• DailyFed is your premier daily resource dedicated to federal employees, delivering a wealth of news, insights, and updates tailored to your unique needs.
• The processing times are averages, which means your application may take more or less time depending on your individual circumstances.
• In comparison, in the same two months of 2024, OPM received only 13,680 applications for processing.

The number of applications, the backlog and the average processing time have been increasing in recent months, largely reflecting those who retired at the end of deferred resignation periods—which in general ended September 30, although some were later. On average thus far, OPM has received 7,005 digital retirement claims per month and processed 3,025. OPM said that the processing times for paper claims are nearly 3 times longer than digital; it took 38 days on average in November to process digital claims versus 94 for paper. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) received nearly 44,000 retirement applications at its retirement operations center in Pennsylvania in October and November 2025. At the end of November 2024, OPM had an inventory of 13,844 retirement applications waiting for final processing. In contrast, the average processing time for paper claims was 94 days.

He has over 20 years of combined experience in media and government services, having worked at two government contracting firms and an online news and web development company prior to his current role at FedSmith. It topped 60,000 that year, so while it is not at an all time high, it is still a standout to be sure. It processed 1,686 and 4,363 of those and did so in 45 and 38 days, respectively.

If there is some reprieve in the incoming claims and OPM beaxy review can get some of the backlog reduced, particularly if the pace of processing digital applications continues to increase, that will certainly help to manage what could be an even busier January than usual. When the ORA system was launched, OPM said that it would only accept digital retirement applications in the future, so as of July 15, 2025, OPM has only been accepting digital applications. The introduction of the Online Retirement Application (ORA) was intended to streamline the antiquated method of manual processing of federal retirement claims. As the fallout from the Deferred Resignation Program and the uncertainty surrounding the federal workforce continue to play out, OPM received 23,393 federal retirement claims in November. During the same two months of 2024, OPM received 13,680 applications for processing.

Federal employees nearing retirement are encouraged to review the data below in order to lessen the possible delay in receiving their benefits after the application is submitted. Average Processing Time in Days represents the number of days starting when OPM receives the retirement application through final adjudication. OPM processed more than 7,700  retirement claims last month, reducing the inventory to about 15,178. The Office of Personnel Management’s retirement application backlog decreased in August by approximately 4%. There are thousands of employees who have entered retirement since the Fork in the Road began the process of massive federal downsizing but have not yet begun to receive their full retirement benefits.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0

OPM shifts retirement applications fully online In comparison, in the same two months of 2024, OPM received only 13,680 applications for processing. Retirement Services (RS) is working towards a fully digital retirement application process; RS is working with agencies and payroll offices to update legacy processes. The sharp increase in incoming retirement claims over the last few months has pushed the total OPM retirement backlog to a level not seen since 2012.