Retirement 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.

  • Erich Wagner

Answers to some of your common questions about CSRS and FERS

Federal retirement expert Tammy Flanagan says “the devil is in the details.”

  • Tammy Flanagan

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.

  • Erich Wagner

OPM begins prep for annual retirement surge

The federal government’s centralized HR office is urging federal agencies to be proactive in ensuring federal workers’ retirement applications are submitted without errors to streamline processing during the annual spike in claims.

  • Erich Wagner

Medicare Part D is coming to an FEHB plan near you

The prescription drug benefit is being automatically added to many of the FEHB program options for the 2024 plan year.

  • Tammy Flanagan

TSP funds’ tumble continues into October

Once again, only one portfolio in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program finished last month in the black.

  • Erich Wagner

TSP: SECURE 2.0 Act contribution limit changes coming in 2026

The federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program will use the entire two-year “transition period” to implement new rules governing how older workers can make catch-up contributions as they approach retirement.

  • Erich Wagner

Time for the fall deadlines

A checklist to help you prioritize as you sort through your federal retirement and insurance benefits.

  • Tammy Flanagan

Lawmakers revive bill to let ex-temps make catch-up retirement contributions

Currently, Federal Employees Retirement System employees who began their careers as temporary or seasonal workers must work longer to receive their full retirement benefits.

  • Erich Wagner

Survivor Benefit confusion: part two

What about insurance instead of a survivor benefit election?

  • Tammy Flanagan

Survivor Benefit confusion: part one

Choosing a survivor benefit should be a very simple decision, but often it can be complicated.

  • Tammy Flanagan

COLA adjustments will slim for federal retirees in 2024

The annual announcement that some retired federal workers will receive a 3.2% increase in their annuity payments, while others will get only a 2.2% boost, has revived calls to standardize annual adjustments across retirement systems.

  • Erich Wagner

The federal retirement backlog just hit another recent record low

The Office of Personnel Management’s inventory of pending retirement claims from former federal workers reached its lowest level since 2017 for the second time this year.

  • Erich Wagner
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TSP funds continued to fall in September

For the second straight month, the vast majority of the portfolios in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program declined in value.

  • Erich Wagner

Long term care insurance: Sharp hike in premiums for feds means enrollees face tough choices

Experts say although long term care is in the cards for most older Americans, an upcoming spike in LTC insurance premiums for feds who are enrolled is just part of a pattern that will remain unbroken until Congress and policymakers act on the neglected—but vital—broader issue of long term care and accompanying costs that will affect a majority of federal families. The program remains closed to new applicants.

  • Nathan Abse

Most TSP portfolios stumbled in August

The only fund in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program that finished last month in the black was the G Fund, which increases at a statutorily mandated rate each month.

  • Erich Wagner

IRS announces two-year delay to TSP catch-up contribution changes

New rules requiring high-income 401(k) participants to make catch-up contributions only to Roth accounts will not take effect until 2026.

  • Erich Wagner

TSP contribution limits will increase again next year, consultants predict

This would mark the third straight year that the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings plan and similar private sector programs see a boost in their annual contribution limits.

  • Erich Wagner

Do you know what your TSP is for?

When you were first hired, your retirement benefit may have been described to you as a three-legged stool: pension, Social Security, and TSP savings. One financial planner advises feds not to shortchange the last leg.

  • Lisa Whitley

These 4 things must be paid before you get your federal pension monies

COMMENTARY | One financial planner says it's best to head into retirement with your eyes open.

  • Dallen Haws

Some of the biggest regrets of retiring federal employees

COMMENTARY | As they face the realities of life, retirement, and getting older, some federal employees have shared a few regrets with financial planner Dallen Haws.

  • Dallen Haws