Federal Times Senior Staff Writer Stephen Losey will give us an update on a new retirement law...and other legislation affecting federal workers. July 11, 2012
All 10 Thrift Savings Plan funds finished the month of June with positive figures, ending a several month slide into the red. The I Fund grew from -11.40 percent in May to 7.08 percent on June 30.
Senior Correspondent Mike Causey once again turns over to longtime reader, Dennis S., who spent a long time with Uncle Sam and a lot of time in the private sector. He says both the government and the private sector have their upsides and downsides. But he thinks its important to appreciate what you've got and live in the moment.
After a two-month delay, all civilian employees at the Defense Department, as well as several other agencies, can now contribute to the recently rolled-out Roth option for their Thrift Savings Plans.
Defense Department employees have had to wait longer than other feds but this week they're getting their chance.
Portions of last week's interview with TSP Executive Director Greg Long about the TSP hack attack will be re-aired this week. Also, Steve Watkins and Sean Reilly from the Federal Times join host Mike Causey to talk about the status of legislation pending in Congress that affects federal workers. June 20, 2012
For people worried about their TSP accounts being hacked, no news is good news. If you didn't get a letter, it means you are one of the 97 percent whose data is safe. For more facts about the hack job, check out Senior Correspondent Mike Causey's column.
It's been nearly three weeks since the Thrift Savings Plan board announced a data breach of 123,000 Thrift Savings Plan, and since then, the board has been fielding questions from participants, Congress and the media. TSP's executive director answered some of the most frequently asked questions about the breach.
The cover up, as they say, is almost always worse than the crime itself. The rule of thumb, from the Watergate era, is follow the money, although people rarely do that. Following the money can be tricky. Also complicated. Especially in the computer age with multi- national players, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
Eight of the 10 Thrift Savings Plans posted negative numbers for the month of May, with the two funds posting positive numbers sliding slightly as well.
In July 2011, a computer owned by TSP contractor Serco was accessed by an unauthorized party. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board was notified of the attack by the FBI in April of this year.
One senator is questioning why it took nine months for the Thrift Savings Plan board to find out about a sophisticated cyber attack that compromised 123,000 TSP participants' accounts. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also wants to know why Congress wasn't informed of the breach until more than a month after it was reported to the board.
Host Mike Causey will talk retirement, the TSP, and more with attorney Tom O'Rourke and Federal Times senior writer Stephen Losey. May 30, 2012
Is it the crime or the coverup that counts most? In the case of the TSP hacking case should the focus be on finding out who done it, or should we go after who it was done to — as in who let it happen? Was it a coverup and who knew what when ...
Did you ever wonder why people in nudist camps play volleyball instead of poking sticks into bee hives? Think about it ... and then apply that logic to the recent identify theft attack on your Thrift Savings Plan account data.