Fed Life

Regular, actionable information on the management of the careers and financial lives of federal employees. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin and Workforce Reporter Drew Friedman speak with investment advisors, health plan experts and other experts on the federal workforce, their pay and their benefits.


Latest Podcasts / Episodes

  • It’s been one year since the Thrift Savings Plan underwent a major technology update. The changes offered TSP participants more virtual options, better cybersecurity and an entirely new My Account website. But the changes initially brought confusion…
    May 31, 2023
  • Starting June 27, government and private sector employees will be able to request reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions. That’s thanks to a new law, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. All employers have new requirements, but federal employees…
    May 25, 2023
  • Today we focus on two possibilities, both unlikely, but that would have big effect on federal employees. One, of course, is the prospect of a debt default. We’ll talk about that with financial planner Art Stein.…
    May 17, 2023
  • Federal News Network reporter Drew Friedman fills in again for Tom this week. Most federal employees see retirement as a three-legged stool, you have the FERS annuity, the Thrift Savings Plan and Social Security. But could a…
    May 10, 2023
  • In this week’s episode, Federal News Network reporter Drew Friedman fills in for Tom Temin. If you’ve been teleworking for the past few years, you may be asking yourself, is that about to change? And if…
    May 3, 2023
  • It’s an old story, but an enduring one. Thousands of retired federal employees from the Civil Service Retirement System days feel they are being unfairly denied benefits. That’s because of the Social Security provisions known as the Windfall…
    April 27, 2023
  • We start with a review of the Thrift Savings Plan’s first quarter results. Investments can change seemingly as fast as the weather. Something plan holders have learned, or re-learned, pretty dramatically over the last couple of…
    April 19, 2023
  • Welcome to the show. The past few days have seen positive developments on several matters affecting federal employees, including health benefits for Postal Service people and gathering support for restoration of Social Security benefits to…
    April 12, 2023
  • The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regularly issues results of studies on workplace trends related to discrimination claims and other matters. One recent report concerned the federal workforce. Specifically, use of alternate dispute resolution. Federal News Network’s…
    April 12, 2023
  • This week we look at what had been promising about the economy as it relates to your retirement. And then the financial whirlwind still swirling around that’s sort of flattened near-term expectations. We start with…
    April 12, 2023
  • The IRS has had a Senate-confirmed commissioner for a few weeks now. Danny Werfel has a lot to do. He’ll need every employee in the agency to get anything significant done. One crucial group sometimes…
    March 23, 2023
  • In today’s episode, we spoke with Kevin Moss, editor of health plans for Consumers’ Checkbook about changes in Medicare Part D, and how they might affect federal employees’ health plans. Plus, an excerpt from and interview…
    March 15, 2023
  • You may have heard that the Government Accountability Office is looking into the project leading to the new web site for the Thrift Savings Plan. We won’t know what GAO comes up with until next…
    March 9, 2023
  • A new month, and always a good time to review your savings and investment strategy. The markets continue to swoon. So it’s also a good time to remind yourself that long term, if you stick to a…
    March 2, 2023