How do you achieve retirement dreams and get an income that you can’t outlive in retirement? Micah is flying solo in today’s podcast to answer...
Read MoreHow do you achieve retirement dreams and get an income that you can’t outlive in retirement? Micah is flying solo in today’s podcast to answer...
Read MoreWhen we talk about your FERS Retirement, we’re really talking about several different benefits. FERS (Federal Employees Retirement System) has three main components: Basic FERS...
Read MoreSpecial Benefit for Some FERS Who Retire Before Age 62 Have you heard about the FERS Supplement? It’s an important benefit for FERS planning to...
Read MoreFERS retirement benefits are complex. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all of the details. But it’s important to remember that federal benefits are just...
Read More“I plan to retire in the next few months from USPS and take my health insurance with me. I am debating signing up for Medicare Part B and have Medicare Part A now. When I do retire, my understanding is that I can just take my Blue Cross Blue Shield into retirement and pay those co-pays as I do now. Or, I could pay the Medicare Part B premium out of my social security that I am already getting, Medicare becomes primary, BCBS becomes secondary, and there should be virtually no out of pocket costs.”
If you are a member of the America Postal Workers Union, your health insurance premiums are going to change in retirement. As a postal worker, the collective bargaining agreement assists union members with the cost of their health insurance premium. When you retire, your health insurance premiums will be adjusted accordingly; it can be a dramatic change for postal workers.
When you turn age 65, you have a 7-month window to sign up for Medicare Part A and/or Medicare Part B.
Yes. If you enroll in Medicare Part A you should probably enroll in Medicare Part B as well, even if you have FEHB.
Health insurance can change from policy year to policy year. What was once covered under FEHB may change down the line, and that just is not something that you can easily predict.
Choosing not to enroll in Medicare Part B when you are first eligible will result in penalties when you apply during an open enrollment period, later.
For every 12 months that you were eligible to enroll in Medicare Part B but chose not to, there is a 10% penalty.
Year 1 Penalty: | 10% |
Year 2 Penalty: | 20% |
Year 3 Penalty: | 30% |
Year 4 Penalty: | 40% |
Year 5 Penalty: | 50% and so on. |
Permanently — This is a permanent penalty.
Think about that for a moment. If you elected to not enroll in Medicare Part B and found out 5 years down the road that FEHB no longer covered something, you may be in a precarious situation.
In this circumstance, if you went back to enroll in Medicare Part B, you would pay a 50% penalty for the rest of your life. Not a one-time penalty — a permanent penalty.
If you are actively employed when you turn age 65, you have 8 months from the date you retire to enroll in Medicare Part A and/or Part B.
As a Federal Employee covered under FEHB, it is important to understand that while your health insurance coverage is fantastic, it is not all-encompassing. You cannot predict changes that may occur to reform in the future, so you want to make an educated decision on what you know today.
“Is there a way, I can find out how much I will receive at retirement and when I can collect? I worked 24 years, but I don’t know my high
“The question is the following: My wife and I are both federal employees. I will retire before her. Upon my death, she will receive a survivor annuity (50% of my
“From my understanding, those military retirees who are getting a military retirement aren’t eligible for the FERS Supplement. If I’m incorrect someone please let me know.” – Golfnut.
“I worked from 2010 to 2013 at VA Hospital. I quit/and then I work back in 2018 until now. My question is are those 3 years that I work before
Get the most out of your federal retirement benefits by taking advantage of the FERS resources created by Micah Shilanski, CFP®, and the team of independent financial advisors at Shilanski & Associates, Inc. Join the thousands of federal employees who trust us to guide them in their retirement planning journey because of our unique perspective of how your FERS benefits contribute to your comprehensive financial plan.
Year after year I see Federal Employees missing the same critical concepts in their federal retirement planning. That’s why I’ve created an online workshop to help educate Federal Employees on these critical concepts.
If you are a Financial Advisor looking to work with Federal Employees,
we are always looking for Advisors that want to deliver massive value to clients.
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7 CLASSIC RETIREMENT MISTAKES Federal Employees Make
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7 CLASSIC RETIREMENT MISTAKES Federal Employees Make
Your privacy is our top priority, and we promise to keep your email safe! For more information, please see our privacy policy.