Pay & Benefits

Survivor Benefit confusion: part one

Choosing a survivor benefit should be a very simple decision, but often it can be complicated.

Pay & Benefits

COLA adjustments will slim for federal retirees in 2024

The annual announcement that some retired federal workers will receive a 3.2% increase in their annuity payments, while others will get only a 2.2% boost, has revived calls to standardize annual adjustments across retirement systems.

Pay & Benefits

The federal retirement backlog just hit another recent record low

The Office of Personnel Management’s inventory of pending retirement claims from former federal workers reached its lowest level since 2017 for the second time this year.

Pay & Benefits

TSP funds continued to fall in September

For the second straight month, the vast majority of the portfolios in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program declined in value.

Pay & Benefits

Long term care insurance: Sharp hike in premiums for feds means enrollees face tough choices

Experts say although long term care is in the cards for most older Americans, an upcoming spike in LTC insurance premiums for feds who are enrolled is just part of a pattern that will remain unbroken until Congress and policymakers act on the neglected—but vital—broader issue of long term care and accompanying costs that will affect a majority of federal families. The program remains closed to new applicants.

Pay & Benefits

Most TSP portfolios stumbled in August

The only fund in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program that finished last month in the black was the G Fund, which increases at a statutorily mandated rate each month.

Pay & Benefits

IRS announces two-year delay to TSP catch-up contribution changes

New rules requiring high-income 401(k) participants to make catch-up contributions only to Roth accounts will not take effect until 2026.

Pay & Benefits

TSP contribution limits will increase again next year, consultants predict

This would mark the third straight year that the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings plan and similar private sector programs see a boost in their annual contribution limits.

Pay & Benefits

Do you know what your TSP is for?

When you were first hired, your retirement benefit may have been described to you as a three-legged stool: pension, Social Security, and TSP savings. One financial planner advises feds not to shortchange the last leg.

Pay & Benefits

These 4 things must be paid before you get your federal pension monies

COMMENTARY | One financial planner says it's best to head into retirement with your eyes open.

Pay & Benefits

Some of the biggest regrets of retiring federal employees

COMMENTARY | As they face the realities of life, retirement, and getting older, some federal employees have shared a few regrets with financial planner Dallen Haws.

Pay & Benefits

Most TSP funds continued their upward trend in July

Only one of the portfolios in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program ended last month in the red.

Pay & Benefits

OPM’s retirement backlog just hit its lowest level since 2017

The federal government’s HR agency’s efforts to modernize the retirement process have been buoyed by increased investment and renewed focus on customer service.

Pay & Benefits

TSP funds bounce back following debt limit uncertainty

Only one of the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings plan’s portfolios finished June in the red.

Pay & Benefits

Saving for retirement in your TSP with a federal annuity: How much is enough?

Planning for retirement with a federal pension is different from planning for retirement without one.

Pay & Benefits

Tips for juggling different retirement systems

Did you know there’s a separate retirement system for employees on military bases in self-funding "morale, welfare and recreation" operations?

Pay & Benefits

TSP Participants Sue Agency Over ‘Botched’ Recordkeeper Transition

A class action lawsuit filed last week alleges that the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program repeatedly failed to pay out participants’ withdrawal and loan requests for months following the transition to a new recordkeeping vendor.

Pay & Benefits

TSP Portfolios Report a Mixed Bag of May Returns

Most of the funds in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings plan finished last month down, amid concerns that the United States could breach the debt limit.