Expert’s View

Annual leave is one of the best benefits provided to federal employees. But the rules on how you accumulate it …More

When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be an archaeologist. One definition of archaeology is “the study of …More

If you are a CSRS employee who has, or will have, enough Social Security credits to be eligible for an …More

With all the bashings, brickbats and mistreatment that federal employees have had in recent times, it’s no wonder that a …More

Listen up all you CSRS and FERS employees who are eligible to retire and are trying to make up your …More

FEDVIP If you are enrolled in FEDVIP, you can continue that coverage without taking any action during the current Open …More

Open Season began on November 11 and runs through December 9. It’s your annual opportunity to exercise your right to …More

In my last few columns I’ve focused on retirement, which is the topic du jour for most federal employees these …More

Over the last two weeks, I’ve written about how to speed up the retirement application process if you are ready …More

Year after year, I get the same question. What’s the best date to retire? That was an easy question to …More

Last week I wrote about the legal requirement that a retiring employee who is married must elect a full survivor …More

It’s no fun thinking about death, especially when it’s your own. However, all married federal employees are required by law …More

While the population of CSRS-covered employees has dwindled to about a tenth of the workforce, the fact that most of …More

I’ve had a lot of e-mails from (and conversations with) recent retirees who are having second thoughts about their decision …More

Over the last weeks, I’ve written about the rules governing the retirement benefits of those employees who retire early under …More

Over the last few weeks, I’ve written about the rules governing those employees who retire under the Voluntary Early Retirement …More

Last week I wrote about employees who retire under the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA). This time I want to …More

As the sequestration has tightened its hold on federal agencies, increasing numbers of employees have been asking me about their …More

Last week I wrote about what happens to the annuities of federal employees who served in the armed forces after …More

If you served in the military after December 31, 1956, you can get retirement credit under both your civilian retirement …More

Last week I wrote about all the different kinds of service for which you can get credit in determining your …More

The number of employees who are planning to retire in the near future has increased greatly. If you are among …More

Do you know who will benefit from your Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) policy or Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) …More

Those of you who are considering retiring have heard horror stories about OPM’s processing of retirement claims. And those of …More

As I mentioned last week, if you are approved for phased retirement, you’ll receive additional credit for that service toward …More

OPM has finally published proposed regulations to implement phased retirement. While nothing will happen until those regs are final, at …More

I’m amazed at the number of questions I get from employees that begin with the assumption that they can make …More

I’ve been getting a lot of questions from employees wanting to know if their retirement contributions will be increased. Well, …More

Representative Paul Ryan’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2014 passed the House on March 21. It includes a provision that …More

One of the hottest proposals aimed at stemming the growth in entitlement spending is the Chained CPI. That’s the short …More