What’s your sign? Are you a LEO?

In the federal zodiac LEOs stand out. LEOs are very special people.

LEO stands for law enforcement officer. LEOs have special pay and retirement rules.  Like  air traffic controllers and others in high-stress, sometimes dangerous jobs, LEOs are required to retire earlier (as in younger) than other civil servants.

Your federal office may resemble a nursing home, as some feds claim, but in the world of LEOs that special birthday means adieu.

Because of budget cuts, many federal agencies have reduced the number of pre-retirement seminars they have each year for regular civil service employees.  But the seminars are going strong in those with a heavy LEO-component because the retirement system is more complex.

So what makes LEOs so special, and how does their retirement program differ from yours as an employee of the IRS, Defense Department  or the  U.S. Postal Service? Short answer: A lot!

So how different is the LEO program?  We’ll find out today when John Grobe visits our Your Turn radio show (10 a.m. ET)  Grobe is president of Federal Career Experts.  So far this year, about half of the pre-retirement seminars he’s done for federal agencies have involved LEOs.

Grobe will explain the penalty-free pre-age-55 withdrawal benefit available to LEOs in the Thrift Savings Plan. And he’ll explain the absence of a FERS supplement “earnings test” available to LEOs. Also, the difference in the COLA benefit for retirees under LEO.

The show is available on your computer here or, in the Washington area, you can listen old-fashioned radio style at 1500 AM.  If you have questions there are two ways to get them answered.  Call in during showtime at 202-465-3080, or email them to me (before the show) at mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

If you are not a LEO but think you are in a high-stress, sometimes dangerous job, listen to the show  anyhow.  A) out of curiosity and to see how the other half lives, and B) as maybe an incentive to see how you can get special early-retirement status. Either way, listen live if you can or catch the show later when it is archived on our home page.  Better yet, do both.

Nearly Useless Factoid:

By Michael O’Connell

2015 is the Year of the Goat in the Chinese calendar.

Source: Wikipedia

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