Retired USPS workers have been waiting months to receive their retirement benefits. The pension crisis leaves civil servants confused
You might think that having a long tenure in government would mean secure retirement benefits, but not so much for many recently retired United States Postal Service (USPS) workers.
Billy Wright, 60, worked 29 years as a postal worker in Waxahachie, Texas, and resigned last November. Like a number of his peers, he has been waiting months for his first annuity check to show up.
“I feel like they just forgot about you,” Wright told CBS News Texas. “It sounds like you are in the hands of the bureaucracy (1).”
He tried calling the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which oversees all federal retirement benefits, but got a message that they couldn’t help.
“No one answers your questions,” he said, and “you can’t find anyone.”
Currently, he is struggling to pay his debts. You get an interim payment — you get a portion of your benefits while your claim is being processed — but, for Wright, that only amounts to $400 a month.
He had to take a side job, dip into his retirement savings and borrow money from family and friends – which may not have been the way he expected his golden years to begin.
Scott Kupor, director of OPM, acknowledged that the program “hasn’t worked well for retirees” telling CBS News that “we have work to do (2).”
Under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), government employees hired after 1983 are eligible to receive a basic defined-benefit annuity, Social Security and Thrift Savings Plan (3).
As of March 2026, OPM was dealing with a backlog of nearly 55,700 federal retirement applications. They processed about 22,000 applications in March, but another 14,800 retirement applications entered the OPM system that month (4).
There is a whole storm of reasons for this. One of the biggest issues is the staffing shortage at OPM.
Last year, as part of the Trump administration’s drive to cut (5) federal employees, OPM laid off 129 employees. About 800 OPM employees took the buyout for early retirement or resignation. Another 150 quit. In all, the organization lost about 1,000 employees – or about a third of its workforce – last year (6).
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Unfortunately, the very cuts that have reduced OPM’s ability to process retirement benefits have increased the demand for those same benefits. Hundreds of thousands of government employees took the buyout last year.
In a book published on Jan. 23, OPM’s Kupor said the agency experienced “a historically high number of government employee retirements from September to December of last year,” estimating that retirement rates “will be about 50% higher” than normal (7).
In fact, more than 317,000 government employees are leaving their jobs by 2025, according to FedTools – and this has exceeded OPM’s processing capacity (8).
This has left thousands of federal workers in “administrative limbo,” “unable to reach their former company’s HR offices, unsure of their benefits and trapped in a processing backlog (9),” according to a release by Congressman James R. Walkinshaw (10).
It doesn’t help that existing OPM employees must contend with outdated technology. They are transitioning from the old paper-based system to a digital one.
Another concern? The USPS recently announced that it will temporarily freeze its employer contributions to the Federal Employees Retirement System to save money. Those contributions add up to $200 million a month — or $2.5 billion this year. The agency will still send employee contributions to the program.
If you are a retired (or recently retired) public servant, this is not exactly good news.
With the current backlog, processing an application takes 71 days on average, according to FedTools. However, paper applications take an average of 95 days, while digital applications average 34 days (11).
To speed up the process, consider submitting your application digitally, and ensure that your information is accurate and that you have completed all fields to avoid further delays.
But, as FedTools points out, it can still take an average of six to nine months at least to get your first full annuity check.
While government workers may receive temporary payments (a portion of their total benefits) while they wait for the paperwork to go through, it may not be enough to pay the bills – as Wright found out.
Even if you are not a government employee, it is a good idea to create a hard drive before you retire – one that covers up to six months’ worth of expenses so you can pay bills if there’s an unexpected delay in your pension or annuity.
Ideally, this money should be easily accessible, such as in a high-interest savings account.
Social Security retirement checks usually arrive 30 days after being approved, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA), which recommends applying four months early (12).
But delays can happen for many reasons – not just staff shortages or outdated technology. Even an error or incomplete information in your application can cause significant delays.
With a cash cushion, you won’t have to pay off your retirement savings before you’re ready (which can have tax implications and hurt your nest egg down the road).
If you don’t have a buffer – especially if you’ll be relying heavily on an annuity or pension in retirement – you may want to delay retirement or scale back your lifestyle until you have enough of a cushion to cover any gaps.
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CBS News (1),(2); US Office of Personnel Management (3),(4),(7); The New York Times (5); Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (6); FedTools (8),(11); Office of Congressman James R. Walkinshaw (9),(10); Public Security Administration (12)
This article appeared on Moneywise.com under the headline: Retired USPS workers wait months for retirement benefits. The pension crisis leaves civil servants confused
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. Offered without warranty of any kind.
