If you are an orphan, only-child, a lifelong celibate without friends and you’ve found the fountain of youth, you can skip the rest of this column. Otherwise …

As a federal or postal employee, or a retiree, you are worth a small fortune to someone you love, care about or who depends on you. And while you can’t take it with you, you can leave behind a huge and steady supply of money and benefits to a spouse, child or grandchild or even a friend if you know what you are doing and the timing is right.

The benefits you can offer, if you do the right thing, range from a lifetime survivor annuity that is indexed to inflation to a group health plan for them for life. It has lots of choices and Uncle Sam pays the lion’s share of the premium.

If you die while still working, you can leave a survivor benefit equal to 55 percent of the annuity you would have received in retirement. That benefit is eligible for annual cost of living adjustments to keep pace with inflation. And it continues as long as your survivor survives.

Once you retire, if you act promptly, you can also designate someone as an “insurable interest”. It could be a relative, friend or neighbor who depends on you for financial help. You could leave them a lifetime, monthly benefit equal to a percentage of your annuity.

The federal benefits package is excellent. The problem is twofold:

• It is complicated and timing is everything. Agency HR offices don’t always give out the best information. Sometimes they don’t know it, which is why many federal agencies hire outside firms to conduct pre-retirement seminars.
• Finally, there is the you-don’t-know-what-you-don’t-know problem. Many feds don’t know what is available to them and what questions to ask. Nor to most know that some of the benefits are time-limited. You must act within a certain time period or they are gone forever.

One of the best explanations of federal survivor benefits I’ve ever seen is the cover story in the January issue of NARFE magazine. NARFE stands for National Active and Retired Federal Employees. If you are a member you got it and, hopefully read it and passed it on to a friend.

If you are not a member you have two options:

1. Listen to today’s Your Turn radio show. It’s at 10 a.m. EST here at www.federalnewsradio.com or, in the D.C. area, at 1500 AM. My guest is David Snell. He’s head of the retirement benefits section and a veteran of the Office of Personnel Management. He’s going to answer questions you’ve emailed me before showtime at mcausey@federalnewsradio.com.
2. We’ll also talk about the survivor benefits guide from NARFE magazine. NARFE has also agreed, for this issue only, to allow nonmembers access to the piece. Trust me, it’s a very valuable read. To get it, click here and listen to the show.

You don’t have to be a member, or join NARFE, to be able to download the survivor benefits guide.

NEARLY USELESS FACTOID

By Michael O’Connell

The coldest temperature ever measured was -128.6 degrees Fahrenheit on July 21, 1983, in Vostok, Antarctica.

Source: Mother Nature News

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