Health Insurance Choices, Part One (9/29/06)

Federal Employee's Health Benefit Plan (FEHB) Open season is approaching and this week will be dedicated to a general explanation of the options and a look at the oldest type of insurance available: traditional fee-for-service coverage.

Life Insurance Options, Part Two (9/22/06)

FEGLI - Continued and Tammy answers the remaining questions that were presented last week.

Tax Changes: Part One (8/18/06) (Tammy and Bob Leins)

Excerpt: "The recently passed laws involve changes to employer-sponsored retirement plans. Their provisions will need to be separately applied to the government's 401(k)-style Thrift Savings Plan. This week, we'll look at the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (H.R. 4), a massive new law with a host of changes. If the measure, which President Bush signed into law on Thursday, had not been enacted, some of the benefits related to retirement savings that we have become accustomed to would end on Dec. 31, 2010........"

Tax Changes: Part Two (8/25/06) (Tammy and Bob Leins) 

Excerpt: "But Bob Leins, a respected accountant and my colleague, convinced me to write about taxes last week and this week. If these changes result in lower taxes or if they make it easier to save my hard-earned dollars for my retirement, then I'm all ears. So listen up -- it's important........"

The Long Haul: Part One (7/28/06) 

Excerpt: "There's a lot of buzz these days about the need to consider purchasing long-term care insurance as part of retirement planning. Before buying any kind of insurance, it is important to be clear about exactly what is being insured. So this week, I'll focus on what long-term care is, and when it becomes necessary. Next week, I'll cover the insurance aspect of the equation......."

The Long Haul: Part Two (8/4/06)  

Excerpt: "Most people can agree on one thing when it comes to insurance: No matter what kind we purchase, we really don't want to get our money's worth. Long-term care insurance is no different since no one wants to be cared for in such a personal way. But some of us will need this kind of personal care.

This week, I'll recommend some things to think about when deciding whether you need long-term care insurance. Next week, I'll write about purchasing a long-term care policy."

The Long Haul: Part Three (8/11/06)  

Excerpt: "Most of the parents of people approaching retirement today didn't have long-term care insurance. Most didn't need it. When family members lived closer together and weren't as busy, they stepped in when Mom got a little forgetful or Granddad needed assistance getting around. But people are living longer now, and there's a big difference between being a little forgetful and needing help with activities of daily living such as eating, using the toilet and bathing. This new kind of long-term care is more than most families have bargained for and more than one person can handle......."

Single Concerns (7/21/06) 

Excerpt: "Here are some of the questions single people face in planning for retirement:

• What happens to my retirement benefits when I die?
• How much life insurance should I carry into retirement?
• Is long-term care insurance necessary?"

Are You Ready? (7/14/06) (Tom Shoop) 

Excerpt: "This week, Tammy Flanagan, the regular writer of this column, appeared at the Excellence in Government conference (co-sponsored by Government Executive) for a lively, informative session on the subject of "Retirement: Are You Ready?" She and Raymond Kirk, manager of the Benefits Officers Training and Development Group at the Office of Personnel Management, addressed a standing-room-only crowd of folks who clearly had the idea of preparing for life after government on their minds."

Federal Couples (7/7/06)

Excerpt: "Are you a federal employee who is married to another fed? If so, you've got some unique issues to deal with in planning for retirement. They mostly revolve around two fundamental questions:

• Do we need to provide each other with survivor's benefits?
• Should we be enrolled in self and family health benefits, or should we each carry self only (if we don't have dependent children)?"

Mixing Civilian and Military Retirement (6/30/06)  (Military to Civilian - Article 1)

Excerpt: "What comes after a career in the military services? Sometimes, a second career in the civilian service is the next logical step. But as the second career nears completion, an important decision needs to be made between two retirement options:

1. Combine military and civilian careers into one civilian retirement and forfeit military retirement. This decision also requires making a military service credit deposit of 3 percent of military base pay (Federal Employees Retirement System) or 7 percent of military base pay (Civil Service Retirement System) plus interest, as described in my Feb. 24 column on military service credit deposits.
2. Retire from CSRS or FERS using only civilian federal service and continue receiving a separate military retirement benefit."

Smoothing the Transition (6/23/06)  

Excerpt: "There's little question that the kind of benefits federal employees enjoy in retirement play a major role in their decision to work for Uncle Sam. A 2003 Office of Personnel Management survey showed that the availability of retirement and insurance benefits influenced the decision of 68 percent of respondents to pursue a career with the federal government.

Employees expect their well-earned retirement benefits will seamlessly appear upon the completion of a career of dedicated federal service. But sometimes the transition isn't as smooth as they hope. Consider the following comment of a recent retiree:"

Ensuring a Healthy Retirement (6/16/06) 

Excerpt: "Maintaining adequate health care coverage is a very important element in retirement planning. The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program is designed to cover not just federal employees and their families, but retirees and their family members as well. Employees and survivor annuitants may continue FEHBP coverage through their CSRS or FERS retirement or survivor benefit."

Offsetting Penalty (6/9/06)  

Excerpt: "If you receive a pension under the Civil Service Retirement System, based on income from which Social Security taxes were not withheld, the Social Security benefits that you may be entitled to receive from your spouse (or former spouse) may be reduced due to the effects of what's known as the Government Pension Offset. Let's take a look at how the GPO works and its implications for your retirement planning."

A Thoroughly Modern Retirement System (6/2/06) (Karen Rutzick) 

Excerpt: "About a year ago, when Linda Springer took over as director of the Office of Personnel Management, she pledged to fix the lag time in retirement benefits processing.

When federal employees first retire, the pension check they receive is often just an estimate -- a lowball estimate -- of the benefit they actually accrued.

If you've moved from place to place, several agencies -- and by and large we've been in a paper environment for a lot of your records -- it will take time for your actual annuity amount to be finalized," Springer said last July. "That's a system that needs to be fixed."

The Early Way Out (5/26/06)  

Excerpt: "Voluntary early retirement goes by various names. Informally, it's called taking an "early out." Officially, it's sometimes called VERA (Voluntary Early Retirement Authority), often coupled with VSIP (Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment)."

Leaving Early (5/19/06)  

Excerpt: "According to the Office of Personnel Management, more than 5,000 federal employees resign every month. If you've considered leaving your job before you're eligible to retire, have you considered what benefits you will take along?"

Who's Your Beneficiary? (5/12/06) 

Excerpt: "One important tasks in retirement planning is thinking about how you want to designate who will get lump-sum benefits related to your federal service. Beneficiary forms are among the most litigated pieces of paperwork in the federal government. Designations of beneficiaries must be in writing, signed by the designator, witnessed and filed with the Office of Personnel Management, the Thrift Savings Plan or your agency, depending on the type of benefits."

Voluntary Benefits (5/5/06)  

Excerpt: "Would you want a safe place for your savings that will provide a 4.125 percent rate of return this year with tax-deferred growth? Are you looking for a way to invest more than the annual limit on Individual Retirement Arrangement contributions? Would you want to buy yourself an increase to your CSRS retirement benefit without working longer?

The federal Voluntary Contributions program provides all of the above, if you qualify. To do so, you must: ........"

Medicare ABCs (4/21/06)

Excerpt: "Medicare is nothing more than health insurance, primarily for people 65 or older. But the program remains a mystery to many federal employees, beyond the 1.45 percent hospital insurance tax deducted from their salaries. The relationship between Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) can be especially puzzling.

This week's column will describe the benefits available under Medicare Parts A, B and C, and will explain how each fits with FEHBP......."

More on Medicare (4/28/06) 

Excerpt: "This week, we'll address the military health benefit known as TRICARE for Life, which coordinates with Medicare A and B. And we'll finish up by looking at the new Medicare Part D program, covering prescription drug benefits."

Best of Both Worlds (4/14/06)

Excerpt: "CSRS Offset is a version of CSRS established for employees who have completed at least five years of civilian federal service creditable under CSRS, but who also have come under the Social Security system at some point. Individuals covered under CSRS Offset pay Social Security taxes and a reduced CSRS contribution. CSRS retirement and survivor benefits are offset by the value of the offset service in their Social Security benefits."

CSRS vs. FERS: The Reaction (4/7/06) 

Excerpt: "In general, the responses fell into four categories: Mistrust of FERS, basic retirement benefits, Thrift Savings Plan issues and Social Security concerns. Let's look at each of these areas of concern."

CSRS vs. FERS (3/31/06)  

Excerpt: "Which federal retirement system is better? If you ask most employees, they seem to think the Civil Service Retirement System provides more generous benefits than its newer counterpart, the Federal Employees Retirement System. Even though most employees don't have any control over which system they're in, there are several reasons why this remains a subject of discussion......."

Withdrawal Options (3/24/06) 

Excerpt: "A big decision you will face when you begin retirement planning is what to do with the funds in your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) account. The procedure appears painless because your choices are laid out on one easy form, TSP-70. There are three basic options for a full withdrawal: a cash payment, a series of monthly payments or an annuity...."  Options discussed.

Really, You Can Retire! (3/17/06) 

Excerpt: "My recent column on projecting your retirement income attracted a lot of reader feedback. Here are excerpts from some of the messages I received, with my responses."

Spousal Benefits (3/10/06)

Excerpt: "If you are married, have you begun to evaluate the kinds of benefits under CSRS and FERS that your spouse will be eligible for if he or she lives longer than you? Providing an annuity for a surviving spouse is generally a win-win situation, and the federal government has very generous benefits in this area.

The catch is that these benefits come at the price of a reduction in your retirement annuity of either 10 percent (in FERS) or a little less than that (in CSRS). Also, you need to think about what happens if your spouse dies first, and to remember that health benefits for surviving spouses are connected to the choice of survivor benefits. Also, keep in mind that under the law, you need your spouse's notarized consent not to sign up for spousal benefits when you retire....."

You Can Afford To Retire! (3/3/06) 

Excerpt: "Some federal employees who have met the age and service requirements for retirement after a full career don't know whether they can afford to retire. No matter what career stage you're in, it makes sense to improve your financial literacy and evaluate your retirement readiness."

Military Service Payback (2/24/06) Military Payback

Excerpt: "This week, in the last of our three-part series, we'll look at military service credit deposits. Deposits for military service credit work differently from civilian service credit payments. They must be paid by an employee's retirement date, because initial payment processing occurs in each agency's payroll system before the funds are transferred to the Office of Personnel Management. If you might be making both civilian and military deposits, it's important to understand the distinctions between how the two are handled....."

Redepositing CSRS Refunds (2/17/06) 

Excerpt: "This week, we'll look at redeposit of CSRS refunded contributions. Redeposits are sums of money paid into the retirement fund by an employee or survivor to cover a period of service during which CSRS deductions were withheld but later refunded. Refunded FERS contributions cannot be redeposited."

Buying Retirement Credit (2/10/06)  

Excerpt: "Of all the federal retirement planning topics, service credit deposits -- involving payments into your retirement fund -- is probably the most technical. You will need to get assistance from your Office of Human Capital (personnel office) if you have a deposit decision to make. To help you get started, we'll look at the three basic kinds of service credit deposits over the next three weeks."

This article covers the deposit for nondeduction service.

A Great Date to Retire (2/3/06)

Excerpt: "Every year, thousands of federal employees consider whether and when to retire. If you don't know the rules, you could select the wrong date and cost yourself hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Here's what you need to know to pick the best date for you."

Getting Credit (1/27/06)

Excerpt: "Did you work for another federal agency before the one you work for now? Did you have a summer job working for a federal agency when you were in high school or college? Did you serve in the military or ROTC? Did you volunteer in the Peace Corps or VISTA? These are examples of potentially creditable service that may not be documented in your official personnel file.