Your Federal 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.


  • The end of July isn’t the end of summer. But the leaves are dryer and the cicadas louder. That means autumn, and time to think about end-of-year retirement planning. Tom Temin get some tips from…
    July 31, 2024
  • The Thrift Savings Plan’s mutual fund window remains under the microscope of the House Appropriations Committee. A policy rider in fiscal 2025 spending legislation aims to ban any TSP investments based on environmental, social or governance…
    July 17, 2024
  • A million dollars isn’t what it used to be. Nearly 24 million Americans have at least $1 million of net worth. Still, financial people often say so-called middle class people, like government employees, you need…
    June 26, 2024
  • It’s been revoked for years, but Schedule F is still on the minds of many federal employees, especially as the nation nears a presidential election with former President Trump on the ballot. The Schedule F executive order…
    June 13, 2024
  • It’s been revoked for years, but Schedule F is still on the minds of many federal employees, especially as the nation nears a presidential election with former President Trump on the ballot. The Schedule F executive order…
    May 30, 2024
  • For a certain portion of the federal retiree population, and some others from non-federal government, one of the most frustrating features of Social Security is what they don’t get. The Windfall Elimination Provision and the…
    May 16, 2024
  • The government might employ some two million people. But no two federal employees are alike. That’s why career and retirement planning can be complicated. For instance, what if you’re old enough to retire but have…
    May 8, 2024
  • Thrift Savings Plan participants than ever are contributing at least 5% of their pay to their TSP accounts. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board always encourages more contributions, for stronger retirement savings. The board also got an…
    May 8, 2024
  • It’s been a year since the Biden administration first called for agencies to ramp up in-person work. Now after coming back to their offices, many federal employees are asking, “why are we here”? Well, we asked too.…
    April 25, 2024
  • The Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset have both been around for decades. The two provisions reduce and sometimes eliminate Social Security benefits for some federal retirees. But just in the last few months, a bill to…
    April 17, 2024
  • The Thrift Savings Plan has been showing strong returns. And the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board has been making some updates and monitoring enrollment levels. Federal News Network’s Drew Friedman went over all of it with…
    April 4, 2024
  • With the era of near-zero inflation over, retirement planning has taken on some new urgency. Simply because a fixed income and rising prices don’t make a good combination. Here with some of the latest thinking,…
    March 29, 2024
  • The Biden administration has opened the bid for next year’s federal pay raise. And it may not be met with a whole lot of enthusiasm. If enacted, feds would receive a 2% raise in 2025.…
    March 20, 2024
  • More than a quarter of federal employees and managers say they’re burned out from work. That’s according to the results of a new survey from Gallup. But why are they burned out? And what can…
    March 14, 2024