Retirement & Financial Planning Report

Federal retirement applications have spiked recently, with the number of applications reaching OPM in May hitting levels typically seen only …More

There are big differences between being employed and retired. I’m not talking about obvious ones, like no longer needing to …More

Many types of assets ask you to name a beneficiary. They include IRAs, life insurance policies, annuities, payable on death …More

This year there will be well over 100,000 Federal Employees taking retirement from the various Deferred Retirement Buyout Programs.   There will …More

The TSP has added details to previously announced changes regarding the available lifecycle L funds and an upcoming option for …More

When it comes to your FERS pension, understanding the key factors that impact your retirement benefit is crucial for making …More

One of the least understood aspects of federal retirement policy involves capturing credit for military service after 1956. The military …More

The provision of federal retirement law requiring that cost-of-living adjustments for FERS employees be lower than those for CSRS employees …More

When you retire you’ll have to make some decisions about life and health insurance coverage, assuming that you are enrolled …More

Any trust created while the grantor is alive is a “living trust” but the term is often used to describe …More

Congress once again is working on proposals to reduce the cost to the government of retirement benefits for federal employees …More

With few exceptions, you can carry one of the government’s most valuable benefits, Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) or Postal …More

You may lose the ability to manage your own affairs as you grow older. Therefore, it’s necessary to have an …More

OPM has taken a step toward automating processing of federal retirement applications, by requiring agencies using one of the two …More

More than a few federal employees retire and shortly afterward conclude they made a mistake and look to return. In …More

Policies requiring that newly hired employees invest by default in retirement savings plans such as 401(k)s and the federal TSP …More

The time a retirement application spends at OPM for processing has received a lot of attention for many years. One …More

A study stresses the need for retirement savers to have a reserve of readily available cash to cover a major …More

Yes, the S&P 500 is down roughly 10% year-to-date. Does it matter? If your TSP and other investments are properly …More

As a federal employee, your financial life includes some unique features – steady paychecks, eventually a cost-of-living adjusted pension, the …More

While life expectancy figures largely in assessing “longevity risk” of retirees—the risk of outliving one’s money—a closer look at those …More

One reason the Thrift Savings Plan’s lifecycle L funds have grown in popularity is that they provide a mechanism to …More

Did you know that the children of deceased federal employees and retirees are entitled to a number of benefits? Well, …More

The Trump Administration is pursuing a wide scale reduction in the size of the federal workforce not seen in scale …More

Federal employees have access to a wide range of unique benefits, from pensions to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), Social …More

“Health plan knowledge is often lacking” among health insurance enrollees, with more than a tenth having misunderstandings about basic features …More

Awareness, Reserves, Mindset, Options and Risk Management are five steps you can take toward achieving a solid financial foundation for …More

When the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) was established, it differed from the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) in several …More