Retirement Benefits and Privileges
Introduction
In return for years of service, the military offers an array of benefits for retirees, including a pension adjusted every year for inflation, money for college, health-care coverage and more. These days the options for military retirement are even more complex than most any civilian plan. While some benefits are tiny, others are huge, and not everything happens automatically. If you’re retired, retiring or you have a client affected by these issues; RetirdPay.com will be running a special [...] Continue Reading…
Military Retirement — Special Six-Part Series
Posted in Military Pay, Retirement Planning
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Ethics Cost 1.1 Billion, Plus This
Suit filed over pension plan
Boeing has said that two current and two former employees have sued over its calculation of pension benefits, AFX News reported from Washington.
The company said Wednesday in a quarterly filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the plaintiffs had asserted that starting Jan. 1, 1999, the benefit formula used by the Pension Value Plan at Boeing to compute accrued benefits violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The plaintiffs said they were entitled to a recalculation of their [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in Divorce Attorney, Retirement Planning
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CSRS — The Background and Nitty-gritty
I’m continuing today with an excellent summary of the CSRS (Civil Service Retirement System) that was put together by the OPM (Office of Personnel Management, the successor to the old Civil Service Commission). Some might ask, perhaps, why are you just republishing large blocks of information here … it’s already on line? Well, you’re right, except for one thing … you didn’t find it there before, did you? Neither did I. Like any large government agency’s site OPM.GOV is loaded with information, some up-to-date, [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in CSRS, Divorce Attorney
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NPV (Net Present Value) Basics
We also field a lot of questions on NPV … what it is, why a participant in a divorce should care about it, and how one can calculate it. here’s an article about student loans that has a better explanation of NPV than any of the mumbo-jumbo I have seen from experts in the pension valuation field:
Net Present Value (NPV) is a way of comparing the value of money now with the value of money in the future. A dollar [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in Divorce Attorney, NPV
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Just What is the TSP?
We field a lot of questions on the TSP — Thrift Savings Plan. Here’s a good capsule description and a deep resource of links useful for those who need to drill down to the details:
The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is a retirement savings and investment plan for Federal employees. Congress established the TSP in the Federal Employees’ Retirement System Act of 1986. The purpose of the TSP is to provide retirement income. The TSP offers Federal employees the same type [...] Continue Reading…
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FERS, the Background and Nitty Gritty
Here’s a very well put together site, courtesy of your and my tax dollar that helps explain the intricacies of FERS. It’s not an easy program to fully comprehend or to evaluate, but little by little we’ll cut it down to size:
The Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) became effective in 1987, and almost all new Federal civilian employees hired after 1983 are automatically covered by this new retirement system. The Federal Employees Retirement System is a response to the changing times and Federal [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in Divorce, Divorce Attorney, FERS
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Happy 4th — How To Protect Those Rights
Well we’re all celebrating the Fourth of July here in the US of A. And a Happy Fourth it is for all I hope.
But let’s not remember that the reason those patriots declared our freedom from tyranny had a serious purpose. Today I see, again and again, law enforcement and other government agencies trampling on citizen’s rights just because they feel they can. Our present government has made a cause out of dignifying and advancing the causes of the [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in Divorce Attorney, Uncategorized
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CSRS – FERS — What’s The Difference
I promised I’d post more articles here to try to “de-geek” some of these subjects. I already have pages of arcane detail about CSRS and FERS, but darn little that compares the two in a manner an non-geek might understand. Here’s a neat article from an expert that gives a good start:
According to a recent survey of cows in England, Bosnia, Mongolia or someplace over there, the grass really is greener on the other side!!! You can look it up.
But the investigative [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in CSRS, FERS
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When The 62nd Birthday Blows Up In Your Face
By Brian Friel
bfriel@govexec.com
Some military veterans who went on to civilian careers in government are getting a nasty surprise when they turn 62. Their pensions are being cut.
The Catch-62, as veterans call it, affects people who served in the military after 1956 and then were hired as civilian employees under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) before Oct. 1, 1982, and who also are eligible for Social Security benefits.
Veterans under CSRS who want their military service to count toward their civilian retirement benefits must make [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in CSRS, Divorce, FERS, Uncategorized
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Me and Bill, Where It All Began
I’ve been neglecting this blog for too long. My June Resolution is, make something happen here.
One thing that might help is if I told you all a little about myself. I’m a retiree from the Federal Civil Service (CSRS) and also a retiree from the USAF Reserve Forces. I had a 31 year marriage, that ‘went south’ in the year 2,000 … New Millennium, New Life, eh?
My wife at the time and I separated gradually over time. I had already moved out of the [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in CSRS, Divorce Attorney, FERS, Military Pay, NPV
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Earning An Income From Photography
There are many ways in which photography can greatly enrich your life. It all starts with simple enjoyment which quickly leads to passion and a desire to make money doing what you love. Whether you are a novice still learning how to create and develop amazing pictures or are an experienced photographer with years of knowledge, there are ways to take this passion and turn it into a money-making venture.
First, think simple. Many photographers over-think when it comes to taking their skills and [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in Make Money
Tagged business, financial, Make Money, photographer, photography, work from home
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Does Your Blog Need a Newsletter?
A lot of questions I get often involve news letters. Are they valuable, should I have one, etc. Here are some words of wisdom from an expert: Friday, September 18, 2009 Your Newsletter Publishing a newsletter is simple and inexpensive, and is an important part of your overall Web marketing strategy. This issue explains why a newsletter is important, helps you in setting your goals for it, provides some warnings and discusses the tools question–that is, should you publish one? This issue has a [...] Continue Reading…
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Values often Neglected – Part 2, Sick Leave
If you have a client retiring under the CSRS (Civil Service Retirement System) with unused sick leave … or you have a client whose employed soon to be ex-spouse is employed under CSRS, there may be many thousands of dollars on the table that you haven’t thought about.
Typically, even a professional actuary-based valuation of the employee’s pension is not going to look into this little ‘gotcha’ … unused sick leave. Each fedral Employee accrues sick leave at [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in CSRS, Divorce
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Values Often Neglected – Part 1, Annual Leave
As with all the information I provide here on this site, as a public service, remember that I am neither a lawyer nor an accountant or actuary. The purpose of this information is to bring things to your attention that may require attention when considering actions during a divorce. If you are reading this, it’s very likely you need the assistance of a professional. Seek such assistance rather than relying on this information, which is based on personal experience only and must not be [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in CSRS, Divorce, FERS, NPV
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Why Electronic Book Readers Can Make Life Easier For Students
With the introduction of the electronic book reader and the advanced technology it brings, many wonder if this could perhaps be the end of the written word as we know it. On the contrary however, ebook readers have taken the reading experience into a whole new level, and in the case of students for instance, the use of ebook reading devices can make students’ lives easier. If they have all their books conveniently stored as ebooks in their devices, they need not lug around [...] Continue Reading…
Proper valuation of pension plans
This is the first in our ten (or so) part series on mistakes made in divorce of Federal employee’s. To set a ground rule, I’m going to always refer to the employee and the non-employee. It’s up to the reader to translate these terms into the husband or wife and/or the petitioner or respondent. In a few cases, of course, both may be employees, but those situations are rare enough not to burden the reader with any more trivia … read into the thoughts [...] Continue Reading…
