Retirees overall started claiming their Social Security benefits at earlier ages due to the economic downturn but while such a decision can provide a source of money earlier it comes at a long-term cost, a recent study found.

The report by the Center for Retirement Research noted that during the worst of the downturn in 2008 and 2009, the percentage of people claiming Social Security at the earliest possible optional age of 62 rose, reversing a long-term trend of delaying benefits.

Under Social Security, the "full" or "normal" retirement age currently is 66. Continue ›

You might lose your FEGLI life insurance coverage, but only under certain circumstances. Continue ›

When you're saving for your children's college education, 529 plans offer some outstanding tax advantages. Continue ›

GAO has issued another in a series of grim assessments of OPM's record in processing retirement applications, saying that even though OPM long has recognized that it needs to improve timeliness and accuracy, "the agency has thus far been unsuccessful in several attempts to develop the capabilities it has long sought."

"For over two decades, the agency's retirement modernization efforts were plagued by weaknesses in management capabilities that are critical to the success of such endeavors. Continue ›

If you are in good health and applying for a non-disability retirement, you are eligible to elect an insurable interest annuity for someone who would benefit from your continuing to be alive. Continue ›

What kind of life insurance should you buy? Continue ›

While defined benefit retirement plans have been steadily eroding in the private sector for years, large employers remain the most likely to offer such plans, according to a study by the TowersWatson consulting firm.

The federal government most commonly is compared with large employers, not smaller ones, for benefits purposes and the persistence of defined benefit plans among such employers could work to lessen pressures on the CSRS and FERS defined benefit plans within the government.

However, even among those companies, the availability of such plans is hardly universal. Continue ›

Planning for retirement is a crucial step in assuring that your transition from employment to retirement is free from last-minute bumps in the road. Continue ›

Many consumers are cutting back on debt these days. Continue ›

While much information about retirement saving focuses on investment strategies such as asset allocation "even perfect investing is unlikely to have a significant effect" on the retirement financial security of large numbers of people, according to the Center for Retirement Research.

That's because the typical household approaching retirement has less than $100,000 in financial assets, it said. Continue ›