YOUR RETIREMENT MONTHLY

Congress is considering legislation (S-1756) designed to overturn a U.S. Read more.

Coverage of non-federal workers in retirement programs continues to slip regardless of certain differences in how such trends are measured, according to a new study, potentially putting more pressure during tight budgetary times on programs such as FERS and CSRS and even the TSP where counterparts elsewhere are increasingly scare and less generous.

The report by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College notes that various data-gathering methods produce somewhat differing results regarding coverage in retirement plans. Read more.

Meanwhile, a similar report on another retirement benefit, health insurance coverage, shows a similar trend of decreasing coverage of retirees outside the federal government, where virtually all retirees are eligible to continue FEHB coverage for life after retiring.

The report, by the Employee Benefits Research Institute, shows that in 1994, “32 percent of retirees ages 65–69 had retiree health benefits, while 28 percent of those ages 70–79 had benefits, and 21 percent of those age 80 and older had them. Read more.

The Defense Department’s policies regarding offering buyouts for restructuring purposes could be in for change in the light of a recent internal review finding indications of misuse of that policy.

DoD has standing authority to offer buyouts either for restructuring or downsizing purposes without seeking permission from either OPM or Congress. Read more.

To be eligible to carry your FEGLI coverage into retirement, you must either have been enrolled in it for the five consecutive years immediately before you retire or from your first opportunity to enroll in the program.

If you are eligible to carry your coverage into retirement, you'll be given some choices. Read more.

If you’re enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program but have fewer than five years of continuous coverage, there are ways to continue health benefits coverage in retirement.

If you retire under an agency’s early-out authority, your agency will attach a memorandum to your retirement application stating that you meet the requirements for a pre-approved waiver of the five-year requirement. Read more.

A discontinued service retirement is one in which you are forced to retire, usually in the face of a specific notice of separation generated by a reduction-in-force. Read more.

In general, if you retire before the end of a leave year, you’ll be given a lump-sum payment for all the annual leave you have to your credit when you retire. Read more.

If you withdraw money from your IRA before age 59 1/2, you probably will owe income tax plus a 10 percent early withdrawal penalty. Read more.

If you (or your parents) have a life insurance policy you no longer need, you might be able to sell it to an investor who’ll keep it in force. Read more.

In many areas where home values are down from several years ago, home assessments may not have declined at the same rate. Read more.

Parents should not neglect their own retirement funds when saving for college on behalf of children. Read more.

If there’s one consistent lesson each year as the COLA for retirees and the pay raise for employees for the following January are decided, it’s that large percentages of employees and retirees don’t seem to know the difference between the two. Read more.