How Much Do You Deserve?

• By Tammy Flanagan
• 1:00 AM ET
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Last week, I started answering some questions I received recently following a webinar I conducted on short- and long-term retirement planning. This week, I’ll finish up by answering a few more.

It is very scary trying to calculate just how much you will receive, especially when there is no human resources assistance locally and everyone says that retirement computations provided are just an estimate. What happens if after you retire, your estimate is too far off and you really can't afford to retire? Can you come back without a break in service?

Once you separate from federal service, it can be very difficult to be reinstated. If your agency made a mistake by processing your retirement when you weren’t eligible to retire, then it’s possible you can get your job back. But if you simply miscalculated the amount of income you need to retire comfortably, you would have to get rehired, which might not be so easy.

Keep in mind your retirement estimate is based on two factors: the average of your highest three years of salary and your length of creditable federal service. You know what your salary rates have been and where and when ...

Rates and Returns

• By Tammy Flanagan
• May 18, 2012
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In April, I wrote about a webinar I had conducted on the subject of long- and short-term planning for retirement. Following the webinar, participants posted hundreds of questions about topics I had covered. I decided that over the next two weeks, I’ll try to address some of them. So let’s get right to it.

Is it true that the recent change in the retirement contribution rates (2.3 percent) affects new hires with less than five years of federal service?

Under a law President Obama signed in February, federal employees hired after Dec. 31, 2012, with less than five years of federal service must contribute an additional 2.3 percent of salary to their defined benefit plan, bringing their contribution to a total of 3.1 percent. Under the law, current employees -- most of whom contribute 0.8 percent now to their defined benefits under the Federal Employees Retirement System -- would not see their contribution rate rise. But last week, the House passed a bill requiring current federal workers to pay 5 percent more toward their retirement, with the increase introduced incrementally over the next five years. The Senate is not expected to go along with this move ...

Best Dates to Retire 2013

• By Tammy Flanagan
• May 11, 2012
• comments

Download the Calendar: Best Dates to Retire 2013

It’s that time of year again. Are you thinking about setting your retirement date for 2013? This column is designed to help you find the most advantageous date for your departure.

If you’re planning to retire sometime this year, you can read my Best Dates to Retire 2012 column.) Also, if you need a primer on what times of the month are generally best to retire (depending on what retirement system you’re in), see my March 9 column, Best Date to Retire Tips.

In general, the last day of the month is good under both the Civil Service Retirement System and the Federal Employees Retirement System, and the 1st, 2nd or 3rd of the month are good under CSRS, too.

The end of a leave period also is an opportune time. That’s because leave accrual is not pro-rated. Retiring in the middle of a leave period means you don’t accrue any sick or annual leave for that period. In 2013, three months end at or next to the end of a leave period: May, June and November. Notice that for some of these months, the last day ...

TSP, Pensions and More

• By Tammy Flanagan
• May 4, 2012
• comments

There has been a fair amount of activity on Capitol Hill and in the executive branch lately with regard to provisions that could affect the retirement planning process for federal employees.

In case you missed them, here are links to some important recent news stories that are worth taking into consideration as you weigh your options.

Retirement claims backlog shrinks

The Office of Personnel Management received fewer retirement claims in April than expected, after a spike in applications submitted during the first three months of 2012.

OPM received 6,616 claims last month -- 1,384 less than the 8,000 claims expected and 474 less than the number the agency received in March. The slowdown likely helped OPM chip away at its 50,000-plus backlog of claims: The backlog currently stands at 51,016 claims, down 1,258 from March. Since January, the backlog is down 17 percent from 61,108 claims. The agency projected it would have a backlog of 55,078 claims in April, so by those measures, OPM is ahead of the game.

Bill would boost TSP contribution rates

Some federal employees could see their Thrift Savings Plan contribution levels increase automatically under draft legislation circulating on ...

Five Retirement Tips

• By Tammy Flanagan
• April 27, 2012
• comments

Earlier this year, I presented a webinar for the Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program called “Retirement: It’s Not Too Early (or Late) to Think About It.”

During the webinar, I discussed five tips for planning for your retirement. I thought I’d share them here.

Think about retirement from the first day on the job. If your goal is to retire financially secure and at an age when you will be young enough to pursue other interests, then it is never too early to consider how you will achieve that objective. It’s very important to understand the workings of Social Security, a retirement savings account and a pension benefit long before you plan to reap the rewards from them. And it’s also important to understand how these benefits work together. If you are a federal employee who’s been covered under the Civil Service Retirement System or Federal Employees Retirement System for at least five years, you’re already vested in a benefit that will provide a lifetime stream of income. The more service you have and the higher your salary, the more valuable this benefit will be for you at retirement.

Take the Thrift Savings Plan ...