FERS Survivor Benefits
When most people think of FERS survivor benefits – they think of the survivor annuity. But you should know that there are actually many different survivor benefits in the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS). FERS has several items with survivor benefit options or important beneficiary designations that you should know about, including: FERS Survivor Annuity […]
Taxation of Federal Retirement Benefits
How Will Your Federal Retirement Benefits Be Taxed?Many people simply forget – or perhaps just don’t understand the taxation of federal retirement benefits. Taxes will have a big impact on your federal retirement. And if you forget to factor taxes into your retirement plans, you could be in for a shock. Taxes and Your Federal […]
FERS Deferred Retirement vs. FERS Postponed Retirement
You may have heard of FERS deferred retirement – where you separate from service now, but start your FERS pension later. But you might also be eligible for a Postponed FERS Retirement. If you’re thinking about leaving federal service – it’s important to understand your options *before* you leave. In the FERS Pre-retirement classes I […]
FERS Deferred Retirement
You might be eligible to do a FERS Deferred Retirement if you separate from service before you are eligible to retire on regular FERS Retirement rules. Even though you don’t ‘retire from’ your federal job – you may still be able to draw a pension later. But only if you meet the requirements *before* separating from service. Let’s walk through the basics of FERS Deferred Retirement… FERS Deferred Retirement Rules: If you have at least 5 […]
The Importance of Your SF 50
The SF 50 is the official form the government uses to determine your retirement eligibility and to calculate your federal retirement pension. If there is a mistake or a typo on an SF-50, it will affect your federal retirement. Or if one of your SF-50s didn’t make it into your OPF, Official Personnel File, or […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Military Buyback 101
Military Buyback for Federal Retirement Getting ready for federal retirement? Could a military buyback towards your federal creditable service make sense for you? Lots of Federal Employees have had prior military service. When we talk about buying back military time in my federal retirement classes – most federal employees want to know, “Does it make […]