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Title 22, Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-110

§4065 Voluntary Contribution Account

Title 22 › CHAPTER 52 — FOREIGN SERVICE › SUBCHAPTER VIII — FOREIGN SERVICE RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY › Part I — Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System › § 4065

Last updated Sep 23, 2026|Official source

Summary

The voluntary contribution account is the total of any voluntary payments a participant or former participant made before February 15, 1981 that were not refunded, plus interest at 3 percent per year compounded up to the earlier of leaving the service, claiming the account, the start date of a deferred annuity, or death. When a person becomes eligible for an annuity or deferred annuity, they can choose one of four options: get a lump sum, buy an extra life annuity, buy an extra life annuity that also pays a cash death benefit to a named beneficiary, or buy an extra annuity that starts for a named beneficiary at the person’s death with a guaranteed cash return. Any annuity option chosen must equal in value the lump-sum amount. The value is worked out using mortality tables set by the Secretary of the Treasury. A lump-sum will be paid if the participant files an application before any extra annuity is paid. If not claimed earlier, it will be paid when the person leaves the service without an annuity, or when a former participant dies or withdraws compulsory contributions. If the person dies, payment follows the order of precedence in section 4055(f).

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §4065

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Composition; election and return
The voluntary contribution account shall be the sum of unrefunded amounts voluntarily contributed prior to February 15, 1981, by any participant or former participant under any prior law authorizing such contributions to the Fund, plus interest compounded at the rate of 3 percent per year to the date of separation from the Service or (in case of participant or former participant separated with entitlement to a deferred annuity) to the date the voluntary contribution account is claimed, the commencing date fixed for the deferred annuity, or the date of death, whichever is earlier. Effective on the date the participant becomes eligible for an annuity or a deferred annuity and at the election of the participant, his or her account shall be—
(1)returned in a lump sum;
(2)used to purchase an additional life annuity;
(3)used to purchase an additional life annuity for the participant and to provide for a cash payment on his or her death to a beneficiary whose name shall be notified in writing to the Secretary of State by the participant; or
(4)used to purchase an additional life annuity for the participant and a life annuity commencing on his or her death payable to a beneficiary whose name shall be notified in writing to the Secretary of State by the participant, with a guaranteed return to the beneficiary or his or her legal representative of an amount equal to the cash payment referred to in paragraph (3).
(b)Computation of benefits
The benefits provided by subsection (a)(2), (3), or (4) shall be actuarially equivalent in value to the payment provided for by subsection (a)(1) and shall be calculated upon such tables of mortality as may be from time to time prescribed for this purpose by the Secretary of the Treasury.
(c)Lump-sum payment; time; order of precedence
A voluntary contribution account shall be paid in a lump sum following receipt of an application therefor from a present or former participant if application is filed prior to payment of any additional annuity. If not sooner paid, the account shall be paid at such time as the participant separates from the Service for any reason without entitlement to an annuity or a deferred annuity or at such time as a former participant dies or withdraws compulsory contributions to the Fund. In case of death, the account shall be paid in the order of precedence specified in section 4055(f) of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Amendment of SectionEx. Ord. No. 12446, § 1(a), (c), Oct. 17, 1983, 48 F.R. 48443, set out as a note under section 4067 of this title, provided that the first sentence of subsection (a) of this section, applicable (i) to contributions for civilian service performed on or after the first day of Nov. 1983, (ii) to contributions for prior refunds to participants for which application is received by the employing agency on and after such first day of Nov. 1983, and (iii) to excess contributions under section 4055(h) of this title and voluntary contributions under section 4065(a) of this title from the first day of Nov. 1983, is deemed to be amended to provide that interest shall be compounded at the annual rate of 3 percent per annum through December 31, 1984, and thereafter at a rate equal to the overall average yield to the Fund during the preceding fiscal year from all obligations purchased by the Secretary of the Treasury during such fiscal year under section 4059 of this title, as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury.

Editorial Notes

Codification In subsec. (a), “February 15, 1981” substituted for “the

Effective Date

of this Act” pursuant to section 2403 of Pub. L. 96–465, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 3901 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 4065

Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Sep 23, 2026

Release point: 119-110