The Index: 2013 Edition

• By Tammy Flanagan
• January 11, 2013
• comments

Another year has come and gone. As my mother used to say, “The older you get, the faster time goes.” I celebrated my 55^th birthday on Jan. 1 -- which would have marked my first eligibility for retirement under CSRS with 33 years of service, since I was hired on Nov. 2, 1980. But I left federal service in 1988, after only seven and a half years in government. I didn’t have “golden handcuffs” under the Civil Service Retirement System yet, so I left to make a career out of training other federal employees on their retirement benefits.

I have thought about finishing my federal career at some point, but I’m having so much fun doing training with the National Institute of Transition Planning, writing this column and co-hosting the For Your Benefit radio program on Federal News Radio that I am not sure returning to federal service would be my best move -- especially since my husband is ready to retire soon and it would be nice to ease into retirement with him.

For those of you who also are thinking about retirement, here’s my annual index to previous Retirement Planning columns. This year, I’ve added ...

A Look Ahead

• By Tammy Flanagan
• January 4, 2013
• comments

In my last column, I took a look back at changes in the federal retirement world in 2012. This week, let’s take a look ahead at what has already changed for 2013, and what other developments might be on the horizon.

COLAs

Civil Service Retirement System retirees (including survivor annuitants), eligible Federal Employees Retirement System retirees (including survivor annuitants), Social Security recipients and military retirees received a 1.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment to their benefits on Jan. 1. CSRS retirees whose benefits began between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, 2012, received a portion of this COLA based on the number of months they were retired before Dec. 1.

Eligible FERS retirees include those who retired under special retirement provisions (such as law enforcement officers and firefighters), regular retirees 62 and older, and disability retirees. FERS retirees who were entitled to the COLA, but whose benefits began between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, 2012, received a pro-rated COLA based on the number of months they were retired before Dec. 1.

Children’s survivor benefits increased by 1.7 percent as well. Under FERS, these benefits are reduced by Social Security benefits paid to surviving children.

FERS Changes

The New Year ...

A Look Back

• By Tammy Flanagan
• December 21, 2012
• comments

With all of this talk of cliffs and cuts and chains, it’s no wonder some federal employees are beginning to panic. While it’s still not clear what changes might come in the federal retirement world in 2013 as Congress and the White House seek to seal a deficit reduction deal, I thought we could at least take a look back at some of the things that happened in 2012.

Let’s start at the beginning, almost a year ago.

January

Civil Service Retirement System retirees (including survivor annuitants), Social Security recipients and military retirees received a 3.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment. CSRS retirees whose benefits began between Jan. 1, 2011 and Nov. 30, 2011, received a portion of this COLA based on the number of months they were retired before Dec. 1, 2011.

Federal Employees Retirement System retirees, eligible survivor annuitants and members of special groups such as law enforcement officers and firefighters received a “diet COLA” of 2.6 percent. FERS retirees who were entitled to the COLA, but whose benefits began between Jan. 1, 2011 and Nov. 30, 2011, received a pro-rated COLA.

The interest rate that applies to some CSRS civilian and military service credit ...

CSRS vs. FERS, Again

• By Tammy Flanagan
• December 14, 2012
• comments

It seems like the end of the year is a time for trips down memory lane. I remember exploring more than once in this column the age-old debate over which retirement system was better -- the Federal Employees Retirement System or the Civil Service Retirement System. I thought of that when I listened to Mike Causey’s Federal News Radio program on Wednesday. Causey invited two guests -- Tom Trabucco, former director of external affairs for the Thrift Savings Plan and Judy Park, former legislative director for the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association -- to look back over the past 25 years since the creation of FERS.

I thought about whether some employees who transferred to FERS might be looking back and wondering what their retirement would have looked like if they had remained under CSRS. And some FERS employees might be wondering what their retirement would look like if they had been hired before 1984 and were eligible for CSRS rather than after 1983, when FERS become mandatory for most new hires.

One of the things Trabucco pointed out on Causey’s program was that lower-salaried employees would fare better under FERS because of the Social Security tilt towards low ...

Timing Is Everything

• By Tammy Flanagan
• December 7, 2012
• comments

More than 20,000 federal employees are projected to retire at the end of 2012, according to the Office of Personnel Management. When they do, they will start as many as three engines of income. More than half of those who are planning to retire will be entitled to both a federal retirement benefit and Social Security benefits. They also will be able to withdraw funds from their Thrift Savings Plan accounts.

The median age of a federal employee added to the retirement rolls in 2011 was 61. That means half of those who retired were older than 61, and many of them were eligible for Social Security. They faced a decision on whether to begin receiving Social Security benefits at the same time as their benefit under the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employees Retirement System. A few weeks ago, I wrote a column called “Getting the Most From Social Security” and received many comments and emails on this subject. I’ve been considering the questions, so here are some additional thoughts on the topic.

In the end, it all depends on your age. Let’s look at three different groups.

Younger Than 62

For these folks ...