COLA

Today the House is in recess until after Labor Day. Proposed changes in FERS, which would require you to pay 6 percent more for the benefit while cost of living adjustments would be eliminated for retirees, seem less urgent.

With three months left to go in the cost-of-living adjustment countdown clock, federal/military/Social Security retirees are looking at a January inflation-catch up of 2.7 percent.

The Trump administration wants to make the federal retirement plan more costly to workers and less valuable to retirees. But officials could probably “drain the swamp” of thousands of bureaucrats if they made the changes effective later rather than sooner.

In today’s Federal Newscast, bipartisan legislation in the Senate would shorten the deadline for the Defense department to pay defense contractors who work with small businesses.

If any of the Trump administration’s proposals to overhaul the federal pay and pension plans make it through Congress, thousands of federal workers might have to extend their tours of duty by as much as a decade to maintain their standard of living.

The Professional Managers Association is telling fed-postal-retirees to stay alert as federal retirement contribution changes are proposed by the Trump administration.

Jeff Neal, former DHS CHCO, looks at the recent proposals from OPM and OMB that would freeze federal pay for a year and decrease federal employee compensation.

The Trump administration’s plan to totally eliminate inflation protection for federal retirement, while requiring workers to pay more for smaller lifetime retirement benefits, is the ultimate deal-breaker for most people.

Federal News Radio explains each of OPM’s proposed changes to the federal retirement system and details their outlook in Congress.

COLAs are based on the rise in inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index-W, from the third quarter year over year. It’s possible the January COLA will be less if living costs drop, but that is unlikely given the year-long rise in oil-prices, one of the chief drivers of inflation.