Expert’s View

It’s December 13th. Near the end of a calendar year, only a couple of weeks away from the end of the leave …More

At the end of each year, readers start asking me if they can burn off their unused annual leave. In …More

As the end of the year approaches, some of you are thinking seriously about retiring. In fact, a few of …More

A Medigap plan is designed to fill in benefit gaps in Medicare coverage. While every state has a standardized Medigap …More

Last week I talked about the kick-off of the 2018 Federal Employees Health Benefits Open Season and encouraged you to …More

One of the best features of the Federal Employees Health Benefits program is your annual opportunity to select a plan …More

In my last two articles, I wrote about the age and service combinations governing CSRS and FERS retirement. In both …More

Last week I went over the retirement eligibility rules for CSRS employees. This time I’ll focus on the ones for …More

More than any other federal employees, those who are covered by CSRS are the most likely to be eligible to …More

On October 4, OPM announced that the 2018 Federal Employees Health Benefits Open Season will run from November 13 to …More

Last week I wrote about the life and health benefits available to your children if you die. This week I …More

Over the last two weeks, I’ve written about survivor annuities provided to children who meet the necessary criteria, including those …More

In most cases, the survivor benefits for children end at age 18. Although they can be extended to age 22 …More

On April 26 and May 3 I wrote about the survivor benefits provided to the spouses of deceased federal employees …More

Last week I wrote about the benefits implications for federal employees and retirees who get married. This time I want …More

With all the uncertainty surrounding this year’s Republican budget proposals and their potential effect on federal employees and retirees, I …More

The other day, a federal employee who had just put in enough time to move from career-conditional to career status …More

Last week I wrote about the dates that control the creditability of military service in determining your eligibility to retire …More

Last time I wrote about birth dates and service computation dates. This time I want to point out the dates …More

The dog days of summer coupled with the stumbling start of a new administration make this a good time to …More

As a federal employee, you are blessed with a benefit that’s often denied to those in the private sector – …More

No, this isn’t going to be a run down on all the age and service combinations needed to retire under …More

When you work for the federal government, there’s a standard answer to most questions: It all depends. That’s especially true …More

I’ve written about the rules governing the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA), deferred annuities, and the MRA+10 provision. This time …More

Over the last two weeks, I’ve spelled out the rules governing employees who retire on an immediate annuity under the …More

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

Since the opening days of the Trump administration, tensions have continued to rise in the workforce. Employees are asking, “Are …More