Your FERS Retirement Pension
When you take a FERS Retirement – you’ll receive a monthly pension for the rest of your life. How do you calculate this amount? First – we need to calculate your ‘gross’ pension – then we’ll take a look at your ‘net’. Your gross FERS pension is calculated based on three things… Your High-3 Salary […]
Your High 3 Salary
Your High 3 Salary is an important part of your pension calculation for federal retirement. Your High 3 Salary is the highest average basic pay you earned during any 3 consecutive years of Federal service. You should also know that your High 3 Salary is calculated based on three *consecutive* years, NOT calendar years. So […]
Q&A RIF Need to Know
Video Transcription: Hi, I’m Micah Shilanski from Plan Your Federal Retirement. We just wrapped up a wonderful two days of teaching an eight-hour class about federal benefits. When we went through the class, the participants had some great questions on how your benefits work, and I thought I’d share several of those. Number […]
Your Retirement Savings: Questions about Your ‘Cash Bucket’
Your Retirement Savings: Questions about Your ‘Cash Bucket’ A portion of your retirement savings needs to be in a ‘Cash Bucket’. A well-funded Cash Bucket is an important part of your retirement plan. And it serves as the foundation for your other ‘Buckets of Money’. The idea of a Cash Bucket is new to many Federal […]
COLA Locality Pay Transition
What it Means for Federal Employees in Alaska, Hawaii & US Territories The COLA Locality Pay transition is in progress. It started in 2010, and will be complete in 2012. The Non-Foreign Area Retirement Equity Assurance Act of 2009 outlines the timeline for the COLA to Locality Pay change for Federal Employees in… Alaska Hawaii […]
Alaska COLA and Alaska Locality Pay Rates
New legislation means that Alaska COLA is being phased out, and the New Alaska Locality Pay Rate is being phased in. Federal Employees in Non-Foreign Areas are going from receiving COLA to Locality Pay. This change is taking place in 2010, 2011, and 2012. As Locality Pay is phased in, COLA is phased out. But […]
COLA to Locality Pay
Take Home Pay Concerns & Hidden Tax Increases The transition from COLA to Locality Pay for Federal Employees in Alaska, Hawaii and U.S. Territories brings concerns about take home pay and higher taxes. While the transition was designed to ‘protect take home pay’… many Federal Employees will see their take home pay going down. Why? […]
The Non-Foreign AREA Act of 2009: COLA to Locality Pay
The Non-Foreign AREA Act of 2009: COLA to Locality Pay The Non-Foreign AREA Act of 2009 spells out the transition from COLA to Locality Pay for Federal Employees in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. The shift has a big impact on your federal retirement plans, […]
Hawaii COLA and Locality Pay Rates
New legislation means that Hawaii COLA is being phased out, and Locality Pay is being phased in. Federal Employees in Non-Foreign Areas are now being transitioned from receiving COLA to Locality Pay. This change is taking place in 2010, 2011, and 2012. Locality Pay is being phased in, and COLA is being phased out. But […]
Financial Planning for Retirement
Retirement Planning for Federal Employees is Different Retirement planning for federal employees is unique. As a Federal Employee, you know you have one of the most complex benefits systems around. I also think it’s one of the best, if you can learn to navigate all of the rules, regs and unique twists and turns. Over […]
Your Federal Retirement Income Changes in Unique Ways
Planning your federal retirement? You need to know that Federal Employees have unique financial planning needs that most generic financial planning doesn’t address. One of those unique needs has to do with your retirement income. It will start, stop and change in ways that will not compute in most financial planning calculators. But understanding *how* […]
CSRS Voluntary Contributions
*The Best Kept Secret in CSRS* The CSRS Voluntary Contributions Program (VCP) is a special component of the Civil Service Retirement System. eBook Only $7.97 Available for Instant Download While the CSRS VCP program was originally designed to allow CSRS to put more money in and buy an additional retirement annuity, the big deal about […]
