Mike Causey

Like many saving for retirement, lots of federal-military investors in the Thrift Savings Plan don’t like what they are seeing, reading, hearing and feeling about 2018’s roller coaster stock market.

Congress is considering whether to give feds a 1.9 percent pay raise in January. And the president has yet to decide or at least announce his decision whether to give nonemergency federal workers a bonus holiday on Christmas Eve.

Could the likelihood of a government shutdown or a coast-to-coast barrier depend on what we the U.S. decide to call it? Some so-called Washington experts think it might work.

Consider the tens of thousands of federal workers are wondering and many are asking if they are going to get the day before Christmas Eve off with pay. An equal number of federal workers also are wondering if there is going to be a partial shutdown.

Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says the health insurance open season ends today at close of business, which is bad news if you don’t like comparison shopping, but good news if you found the perfect plan for you and yours at a good price.

Finding the best deal among 20 to 30 health plan options can be tough for young or healthy federal workers. But it is a real, albeit vital chore for those with less money and more medical problems.

Ever think what your spouse will do for health insurance after you’ve gone? He or she has been part of your family plan and they can continue coverage for life, provided you elect a survivor annuity for your spouse.

When low premiums are a must it’s hard to beat the federal employee health benefits program. Uncle Sam pays the lion’s share of the premium and there are some bargains in the program, if you know where to look.

Because various Blue Cross Blue Shield plans have been so good for so long, many feds in them haven’t bothered to shop around for maybe a better deal.

Each year hundreds, maybe thousands of feds learn the hard way about the five-year rule for keeping coverage under FEHBP in retirement.

Day trading with your retirement nest egg can be exhilarating and disappointing, sometimes at the same time. Guessing when the market has peaked or bottomed out is tough.

Workers and retirees in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program have several choices: They can shop around, talk with their primary physicians, or, like most people they can do nothing.

Walton Francis, editor of Consumers Checkbook Guide to Federal Health Plans, joined host Mike Causey on this week’s Your Turn to talk about best buys during FEHBP open season and why more people need to switch health care plans.

The possibility of a Dec. 7 partial government shutdown is another good reason feds and especially retired government workers should pick their 2019 health plan ASAP.