A news and educational resource pooling excerpts from various news and information sources from the web for the Federal Retiree.
Article Excerpt: "...Before you file for your Social Security benefits, you'll want to make sure you know these four facts so you can make the right moves to maximize your chances at getting your checks on time and shoring up your financial security throughout your later years..."
Article Excerpt: "...One misconception that I see is that some feds assume that traditional TSP distributions will be taxed at capital gains tax rates, but this is not the case. These distributions are simply added to your income in whatever year you take the money out. It is also important to note that the TSP is required to withhold 20% of any traditional TSP distributions to cover taxes..."
Article Excerpt: "...plan hinges on imposing the 6.2% Social Security tax on earnings above $400,000. Employees and their employers are taxed on earnings up to $137,000 under current guidelines. If enacted next year, Social Security would collect 7% more in revenue in 2021, 12% more in 2040, and 16% more in 2065..."
Article Excerpt: "...The CPI-E tends to grow more quickly than the CPI-W in most years, because it more accurately accounts for the percentage of income that retirees spend on healthcare and housing costs. Those two categories tend to increase several times faster than inflation, and tend to take a bigger share of retiree income. The CPI-E tends to give less weight to items like gasoline and consumer electronics which have fallen significantly in recent months and helped drag down the COLA for 2020..."
Article Excerpt: "...Feds that served in the armed forces, Peace Corps and Volunteers in Service to America will no longer be on the hook for agency miscalculations of their retirement deposits under a proposed rule issued by the Office of Personnel Management Nov. 5..."
Article Excerpt: "...The general rules regarding the federal income taxation of withdrawals from the Thrift Savings plan are: A) All withdrawals from your traditional TSP balance are fully taxable as ordinary income..."
Article Excerpt: "...We still do not know what the final figure will be that is necessary for calculating the COLA to become effective in December and paid in January 2021. A reasonable estimate is that the COLA that will impact federal retirees and Social Security recipients will be about 1.2%. This missing part of the puzzle for next year’s COLA will be released in October..."
Article Excerpt: "...1. Alabama
• Est. total retirement spending: $894,461 (3rd least)
• Avg. cost of living: 13.6% less than avg. (3rd lowest)
• Avg. monthly homeownership cost for senior citizens: $357 (6th lowest)
• Pop. 65 and older: 17.0% (18th highest)
In Alabama, residents need an average of about $894,000 to live out their retirement years in relative comfort – below the national average of about $1.1 million. Retirees in Alabama need less retirement savings..."
Article Excerpt: "... If you’re in FERS, you can actually lock in a 10% increase to your retirement annuity for the rest of your life..."
Article Excerpt: "... simulations found that, for those on Reduced FECA, FERS retirement benefits generally offered greater value if the employee had served more than 19 years as a federal employee without an injury. Meanwhile those on regular FECA saw only slightly greater FERS value once they had served 30 years or more..."
Article Excerpt: "...Forbes compared more than 750 locales in America, measuring everything from housing costs and taxes to healthcare and air quality. These are the top 25 cities for retirees..."
Article Excerpt: "...According to the Congressional Research Service, the average person retiring under CSRS in FY 2108 got an annuity of $4,973 per month compared to $1,834 for FERS retirees. This is another reason those covered by the FERS plan must contribute to the TSP if they hope to match income in retirement..."
Article Excerpt: "...If you’re carrying a home mortgage in the 3% or 4% range, accelerating your payments or retiring the loan entirely may offer a better return than letting cash sit around earning next to nothing--and the numbers can be even more attractive for paying down higher-rate debt on credit cards or student loans. Wait, retirees don’t typically have that kind of debt on their balance sheets, right? Not exactly: A rising number of older households are carrying significant debt..."