22 U.S.C. § 4009 — Retirement benefits

(a) Entitlement. A Service member who retires under section 4007(c)(2), or who retires under section 4007(c)(1), 4008(b), or 4010a after becoming eligible for voluntary retirement under section 4051 or an applicable title 5, chapter 84 provision, or who retires from the Senior Foreign Service or while assigned to class 1 in the Foreign Service Schedule, must receive retirement benefits under section 4046 or 4071d, as appropriate.

(b) Computation of amount; refund; death of member. Any other Service member retired under section 4007(c)(1), 4008(b), or 4010a receives:

(1) One-twelfth of a year’s salary at the current salary rate for each full year of service, and a proportional amount for a partial year, up to a total of one year’s salary. The Foreign Service Retirement and Disability Fund pays this amount without interest in three equal installments on January 1 of each of the first three calendar years after retirement. In special cases, the Secretary of State may speed up or combine the installments.

(2)(A) A participant in the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System receives a refund under section 4055 of that participant’s contributions to the Fund. Instead, a participant with at least five years of retirement service credit under that system, not counting military or naval service, may choose an annuity calculated under section 4046 beginning at age 60.

(B) A participant in the Foreign Service Pension System receives the benefits provided by section 4071.

If a member who chose benefits under paragraph (2) dies before age 60, for a Retirement and Disability System participant, or before age 62, for a Pension System participant, the death is treated as a death in service under section 4049.