OPM Missing Retirement Payment: What to Do When Your Annuity Doesn't Arrive

When You Should Start Worrying

Federal retirement annuity payments — both interim and fully adjudicated — are deposited on the first business day of each month. If that day passes and nothing hits your bank account, something's wrong. But "wrong" ranges from a one-day bank processing delay to a systemic issue with your OPM file, and the response should match the severity.

Here's how to diagnose what happened and what to do about it.

Step 1: Rule Out Banking Delays

Before calling OPM, check two things:

• Is today actually the first business day? If the first of the month falls on a weekend or federal holiday, the deposit posts on the next business day. New Year's Day, MLK Day, and other federal holidays can shift the expected date.
• Has your bank posted the transaction? Some banks take until mid-morning or even early afternoon to show federal direct deposits. If you check at 6 a.m. and see nothing, wait until the end of the business day before escalating.

If the expected deposit date has fully passed and your account shows no pending transaction, move to Step 2.

Step 2: Verify Your OPM Account Status

Log into Services Online and check your payment history. Look for:

• A payment record for the current month. If OPM's system shows the payment was issued, the problem is likely between OPM and your bank — a routing number error, a closed account, or a bank-side processing delay.
• No payment record for the current month. If OPM didn't issue a payment at all, the problem is on OPM's end. Common causes include returned mail (which can suspend payments as a fraud precaution), a pending address or direct deposit change that interrupted the payment cycle, or an error in the adjudication process.

If you can't access Services Online — maybe you haven't received your activation passcode yet, or your account is locked — skip directly to calling OPM.

Step 3: Call OPM

Contact OPM's Retirement Information Office at 1-888-767-6738. Have your seven-digit CSA claim number ready. You can report a missing payment through the automated system or speak with a representative.

When you reach a representative, ask specifically:

• Was a payment issued for the current month? If yes, what date was it transmitted, and to what bank account?
• Is there a hold, suspension, or flag on your account?
• Has any correspondence been returned as undeliverable?

Document the call: date, time, representative name, and exactly what they tell you. If OPM says a payment was issued but your bank doesn't show it, ask OPM for the trace number — your bank can use this to locate the deposit on their end.

Why Your Payment Might Be Lower Than Expected

A different problem: the payment arrived, but it's smaller than you anticipated. During interim pay, this is almost always normal. OPM calculates interim payments at 60–80% of your estimated net annuity, and the estimate is deliberately conservative to avoid creating an overpayment that OPM would later need to recover from you.

Specific reasons your interim payment may look low:

• FERS Special Retirement Supplement excluded. If you're under 62 and eligible for the SRS, it won't appear in interim payments. OPM pays it retroactively after final adjudication.
• Only federal income tax is withheld. No state tax, no FEGLI premiums, no survivor benefit reductions. This makes the gross-to-net math look different from your active paycheck, but the missing deductions still represent real costs that accumulate and are recovered later.
• High-3 average estimated low. OPM uses a preliminary estimate of your high-three average salary. If their estimate is lower than your actual high-3, the interim amount drops. This corrects at adjudication.

After adjudication, if your fully adjudicated annuity is lower than expected, the issue is usually one of these:

• Deferred premiums deducted. OPM collects all the FEHB, FEGLI, and survivor benefit premiums that weren't withheld during interim pay. The retroactive lump-sum adjustment check covers the difference, but it's reduced by these deferred costs.
• Service computation error. If OPM miscounted creditable service years, missed military service deposit credit, or applied the wrong multiplier, the annuity calculation will be off. Check the numbers in your "Your Federal Retirement Benefits" booklet against your own records.
• Survivor benefit cost. If you elected a full survivor annuity, the roughly 10% reduction applies to every monthly payment. This is easy to forget when estimating what you'd receive.

When to Escalate

Normal processing delays are one thing. Systemic problems require formal escalation:

• 90+ days with no interim payment at all. If you separated three months ago and OPM hasn't deposited a single interim check, something is stuck — possibly the IRR was never transmitted from your agency. Contact your former agency's payroll office and ask for the transmission date.
• Multiple months of missing payments after adjudication. If fully adjudicated payments stop arriving, OPM may have suspended your annuity — returned mail, a flagged fraud concern, or an administrative error. Call immediately.
• OPM is unresponsive. If you've called multiple times without resolution and your case has been pending well beyond the current average (98 days for digital applications, 156 days for paper), a congressional inquiry is the standard escalation path.

The Federal Retiree First-Year Toolkit includes a communication log for tracking every contact with OPM, your former agency, and congressional offices — plus pre-written escalation templates for each situation.