Your Turn

NARFE: Protecting your retirement benefits

The CSRS and FERS programs are considered the jewel in the crown of federal civil service benefits but the Trump administration wants to cut costs in the giant ...

September 19, 2018 12:32 pm

< a min read

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The Trump administration wants to cut costs in the giant Federal Employees Retirement System by totally eliminating future COLAs for FERS retirees.

If it becomes law, the 2019 COLA — assuming there is one — would be the last. Workers under the FERS plan would be required to increase their contributions to the FERS program by 1 percentage point a year for six years. That would mean a 6 percent cut in take-home pay, if it happens.

The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association or NARFE is part of a coalition of federal-postal unions and management groups dedicated to protecting benefits, including the retirement plan, from cuts.

So what are the odds they can do it again this year? And what about the odds of a 1.9 percent January federal pay raise?

Jessica Klement and John Hatton with NARFE’s legislative advocacy department, answer those questions on this week’s Your Turn radio show.