Pay & Benefits
5 highlights of the 2024 Open Season
Open Season for the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program may be over, but it was still filled with new additions and best practices for federal employees and beneficiaries to keep an eye on. Here are some of the highlights.
Pay & Benefits
OPM retirement backlog hits six-year low for third time this year
The number of pending federal employee retirement claims fell under 16,000 for the second time since 2017 in November.
Pay & Benefits
TSP and the magic of compound interest
A few things to consider when deciding if you should contribute to the Thrift Savings Plan.
Pay & Benefits
Public-sector workers report taking fewer and fewer vacation days
Not being able to unplug from work leads to burnout and poor performance, one expert reminds us.
Pay & Benefits
Last-minute Open Season advice
Tips and tools to help you with decision-making before the window closes for the year.
Pay & Benefits
TSP portfolios rebounded in November
After three straight months where nearly every fund in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program lost value, all funds finished last month in the black.
Pay & Benefits
Open Season: Medicare Advantage or Disadvantage?
Medicare Advantage options have only been offered through Federal Employees Health Benefits Program carriers since 2021 and may provide benefits that are not covered under traditional Medicare.
Pay & Benefits
Open Season: You really ought to review your new benefit choices for 2024
Make sure the plan you have from last year is still the one that makes sense for you.
Pay & Benefits
OPM finalizes new locality pay areas ahead of 2024 pay raise
The combination of creating four new locality pay areas and a broad update to underlying maps means that around 33,300 federal workers will see larger pay raises beginning next year.
Pay & Benefits
Shutdown worries still loom in the new year, while wildland firefighters welcome a bill removing overtime caps
Pay and benefits news you may have missed.
Pay & Benefits
OPM proposes making it easier to approve some recruitment and relocation incentives
Under proposed regulations, the federal government’s HR agency would no longer need to approve waivers of traditional incentive payment caps in advance, potentially speeding up the hiring and relocation processes.
Pay & Benefits
Democrats reintroduce bill to improve locality pay for some federal jobs
The Locality Pay Equity Act would ensure that locality pay determinations, currently bifurcated between the General Schedule and Federal Wage System pay scales, would be consistent for most federal employees.
Pay & Benefits
Open Season and tax savings
Spending a few hours reviewing your options for 2024, may save you a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars next year.
Pay & Benefits
TSP board OKs new international fund index, this time without China
A previous effort to move the I Fund to a broader benchmark index, which included investments in Chinese corporations, met opposition from the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers.
Pay & Benefits
Flexible Spending Account contribution limits to increase in 2024
FSAs can be an essential way to save money on health care costs.
Pay & Benefits
The federal pay gap spiked again in 2023
Members of an advisory panel that examines federal employee compensation issues on Tuesday recommended advocating new tactics to combat the federal-private sector pay disparity as well as pay compression.
Pay & Benefits
Veterans’ health care coverage expanded by the Biden administration
The VA will create new programs meant to make care more accessible.
Pay & Benefits
An Open Season checklist for active federal employees
Tips for saving money on health care and to help guide you through the process of choosing a plan in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
Pay & Benefits
Answers to some of your common questions about CSRS and FERS
Federal retirement expert Tammy Flanagan says “the devil is in the details.”
Pay & Benefits
Senate version of bill to standardize retiree COLAs emerges
The reintroduction of the Equal COLA Act by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., comes just weeks after the 2024 cost of living adjustment announcement revived complaints about how the government calculates annual increases across retirement systems.
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