Retirement

  • Want to lose weight, pack on muscle and become more tech savvy? Uncle Sam has this magic plan in the works, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. When approved, it will benefit young and old alike.

    January 10, 2014
  • The exodus of employees from the federal workforce was a big story this past year: More federal employees retired in 2013 than the year before, providing grist for the mill for predictions of a coming federal retirement wave. Meanwhile, the Office of Personnel Management's efforts to clear a longstanding backlog of new retirement applications faced hurdles because of the steep sequestration budget cuts that hit government. Federal News Radio parsed through the data over the past year. In the series of charts and graphs below, track the latest trends.

    January 08, 2014
  • If you are a Thrift Savings Plan investor in any of the stock funds, give yourself a pat on the back ... and purse or wallet, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. Because everything is gold, except gold itself....

    January 08, 2014
  • Financial planner Arthur Stein will answer your questions about the TSP, and Federal Times writers Andy Medici and Nicole Blake Johnson will discuss what's ahead for feds in 2014. January 8, 2014

    January 07, 2014
  • Is 2014 shaping up to be the year you get your first promotion in a long time? Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says you should check out what could be a retirement surge in February.

    January 07, 2014
  • Fewer federal employees filed for retirement in December than in any month in nearly the last two years, according to updated statistics from the Office of Personnel Management. Just 4,952 federal employees filed for retirement in December. But even with fewer employees retiring in December, OPM's retirement processing failed to keep pace with projections. The agency had expected to process 11,500 retirement cases but actually ended the month clearing a little more than 6,440.

    January 06, 2014
  • In the fifth guest column in a series of five, a long-time Federal Report reader shares his take on why it's important for young feds to start long-term planning early in their careers.

    January 03, 2014
  • A new bill would repeal reductions in military pensions approved by Congress late last month as part of the bipartisan budget deal and allow the U.S. Postal Service to reduce regular mail delivery to five days a week. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, introduced the legislation Dec. 19, shortly before Congress decamped for the holidays.

    January 02, 2014
  • The Office of Personnel Management recently filed two proposals to change how feds enroll in the Federal Employee Dental and Vision Insurance Program and to expand the regulations of the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance.

    January 02, 2014
  • One of the toughest, most important decisions, any worker ever makes is when to call it quits. Even people who are sick, tired or hate their jobs find it difficult to let go. Will it work financially, and emotionally? What happens next? Today's guest column is No. 3 in our five-part series. These are from real people, some like you maybe, who have been there-done-that-got-the-T-shirt. Today's guest columnist, Connie Hendryx, spent a long (mostly happy) time with Uncle Sam. She advises people how to prep for retirement.

    January 02, 2014
  • When deciding to retire there is one day, but lots of different dates, that is best for you, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. How do you figure out the difference?

    December 31, 2013
  • In the second guest column in a series of five written by Federal Report readers, a federal old-timer shares his thoughts on the workforce and being a political punching bag as he prepares to retire.

    December 27, 2013
  • Buyouts were a big deal over the last couple of years, but now they seem to have gone away, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. Or gone underground. Are you hearing anything about buyouts?

    December 24, 2013
  • Lawmakers in districts with large constituencies of federal employees are signaling their support for the bipartisan budget deal announced Tuesday even though it would require new federal workers to contribute a greater share of their paychecks to their retirement benefits. The alternatives -- another government shutdown or a second year of the steep across-the-board sequestration cuts -- would have been worse, they argue.

    December 11, 2013