For millions of current and retired feds the “evil twins” that reduce or eliminate their retirement benefits are the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Office. NARFE and other groups have been working for years to modify them without success. But things may be changing under the new administration. I’ll ask Jessica Klement about that today of Your Turn.

Your Turn with Mike Causey

CEO Switch: Trump To Biden, now what?

Now, 2021, is the time. According to one of the top how-to-get-a-federal job experts, things have rarely if ever been a better time. Kathryn Troutman, founder of The Resume Place, has been guiding people into and up in government for decades. And she says the impact of the war against COVID-19 has created a golden opportunity for people looking for work — steady work — with Uncle Sam. Whatever the reasons, the government is hiring at a pace unseen in years, she said. The government is also taking steps to speed up the hiring process. Troutman will be our guest today on Your Turn.

Is there a STEM job or SES slot with your name on it?

So the topic of today’s Your Turn radio show is how to make the most out of the extended tax filing deadline while avoiding trouble with the IRS. D.C. area tax attorney Tom O’Rourke will be on hand to answer questions and tell us how to navigate the next few weeks. Meantime, Tom gives us this sneak preview of things you should be thinking about as you prepare to tackle this very important annual chore.

More time to do your taxes — now what?

When people go into something like the Thrift Savings Plan, they think of it as a long term investment. Most believe that things like the bond-index F fund and the treasury securities G fund are the safest. Most also concede — and the long term numbers bear it out — that stocks outperform bonds over time. But what about the F fund out performing the G fund? If that’s the case, and the numbers show it to be true, which is the safest? Financial planner Arthur Stein says that “safe” is a relative term. And he also says many feds don’t understand that their TSP retirement nest egg is not really an investment. He’ll be my guest today on Your Turn. Stein has lots of clients who are feds, active and retired. Some of them have more than a million dollars in their TSP account. Here’s the guest column he wrote to explain the “investment” part of your TSP.

Your TSP’s stock and bond funds: Which is safest?

The good old days, a time when there was a long career, a gold watch, then a brief and frugal retirement are mostly gone. Some people are now retired for at least as long as they worked. Which can be a blessing or a curse. Things have changed. Mostly for the better. And yet.. The lead obituary in Monday’s Washington Post was about a 99-year old civil servant who had been retired since 1983. Do the math! 38 years is a long time to do anything, whether its working at the same place, being married or being retired. And in the latter case, you start out with a reduced income and under a cost of living adjustment (COLA) formula that doesn’t keep pace with inflation, especially as you get older and your medical costs go up. If you are one of the 75,000 feds with million dollar TSP accounts and are under the old Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS ), your financial life in retirement should be pretty good. But most people don’t have anywhere near that amount in their federal 401k plan. Also, most will retire under the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS), which has a diet COLA formula, meaning that over time their monthly annuity payments can be drastically reduced by inflation. So what to do? Work until you drop? Wind up staying 5 years longer than you planned? Leave only to find out later you really couldn’t afford it? You have to live with your decision. That is a challenging thought! But you can do it, and do it right with a little thought and preparation. Today’s guest on Your Turn is Tammy Flanagan. She’s a former fed who is an expert on all phases of retirement. Planning for retirement isn’t rocket science, but in some ways it is more challenging because ultimately you’ll be riding that rocket however long it takes

A 38-year retirement: Can you handle it?

It is an especially good idea for people who work for the federal government to pay all their due taxes on time. Members of Congress, many who have major tax issues of their own, love to find and publicize information about the number and location of feds who are delinquent, or worse. Bottom line — get it done correctly. So we called the cavalry, and Tom O’Rourke answered. He’s a well known estate and tax attorney in the D.C. metro area and a former attorney with the IRS. He’s going to be my guest on today’s Your Turn show — the first of a two-parter about your 2020 taxes.

Taxes can trip up a Treasury secretary too!

Several readers have sent us blueprints they followed to millionaire status. , like the man who went from an account balance of 0 to just over $1.3 million in 23 years. If you are doing well, congrats. Nice work! But could you be doing even better? If you are one with a TSP portfolio heavily or 100% in the stock indexed C, S and I funds, are you overlooking the best of the bunch. Arthur Stein believes you should think about it. He’s a well-known financial planner in the Washington D.C. area. Several of his clients are TSP millionaires. And he teaches classes on TSP investing at Montgomery College. And he thinks lots of investors are missing out on a good thing. Based on past performance, he says investors should take another look at the S fund. He’s my guest today on our Your Turn radio show.

TSP investors overlooking a winner?

Some experts say this is the beginning of the end of the battle to tame the virus, and that by year end, all will be well. Others say it is just the end of the beginning with a long struggle ahead. Regardless of which side turns out to be correct, most of us are still very much in harm’s way. Most federal workers and retirees have enough — life insurance, an annuity, property — to be considered an estate. Yet fewer than 50% of the people who should have an estate plan have one. Or it may consist of something you downloaded, filled out and filed away. Or perhaps in your efforts to forget a past marriage, you have left your former spouse everything. Help is just a click away. My guest on today’s Your Turn radio show (10 a.m. EST) is Tom O’Rourke. He’s a tax specialist and estate attorney. And a former IRS lawyer and Vietnam vet. Most of his clients are current or former feds who — long before the pandemic — decided to get some advice and work up a plan. While few of us know the answers, its also true that most of us don’t know the questions we should ask. Which is where we (Tom actually will do the heavy lifting) come in.

Time for your midlife oil change? Your coronavirus checklist

As most federal/postal workers and retirees know, the Thrift Savings Plan is a good deal. About 2% of the 75,000-plus people have become TSP millionaires in the course of their federal service. They didn’t have big salaries, but they had time and patience. And it worked. A growing number have hit the $2 million mark. And these are not rich, hot shot political appointees who brought 401k cash with them. These are people who earned it by being patient and staying the course. Today’s guest is a case in point. Abraham Grungold is a long-time fed who stayed the course. Like most other TSP millionaires, he’s been in it for the long haul. It took 27 years (at a starting salary of about $21,000) to make his first million. Then six years later he hit his second million. And he’s going to talk about it today on Your Turn.

Secrets of the TSP’s $2M man!

It’s only a matter of time before somebody writes a book or does a TV interview saying he or she predicted most of the events of 2020 well in advance. To qualify as visionary of the century this combination of Nostradamus, Pinocchio and your favorite tarot card reader would have had to go on record as saying 2020 would mean. That there would be a once in a lifetime worldwide pandemic. That vaccines preventing it would be produced in record time. That America would lead the world with more than 300,000 reported deaths. And so on… Of course nobody actually did that. Nailed 2020 in that way. But just wait, they will. Somebody will claim they foresaw all this long before it actually happened. Those those who, long after the fact, warned of JFK’s assassination. Or the 9/11 attacks. Meantime, reality check. I asked financial planner Arthur Stein to review the past year. Many of his clients are current or former feds. A couple of them TSP millionaires. Congress has invited him to Capitol Hill to keep congressional staffers up to speed on the TSP.

The year 2020: So what happened again?

The start of a new year, any new year, is a logical time to take stock, reflect and look ahead. The fact that we are the midst of a deadly, frightening pandemic this time around makes self-reflection all the more important. A lot of things, many we never even considered important, have changed. Maybe forever. As individuals we certainly have. And its not a matter of debate or opinion. It’s true. By now most of us have figured out we are not immortal. We’ve seen parents and family members age — some better than others — and know that some things are inevitable. Ignoring them is an option, but not a very good one. As the end of the year approaches, a common question directed to an estate planning lawyer is, “What should I do to update my estate plan before year end?” Tom O'Rourke is a D.C. tax attorney and estate planner. He's my guest on today's episode of Your Turn to help us answer that question.

New year, pandemic surge: Good time for a check up!

While many businesses have closed or cutback operations and even state and local governments are trimming their payroll, a job with Uncle Sam has been a blessing (compared to the alternatives) during the year of the COVID-19 panic. And its only going to get better according to Kathy Troutman, who is the Daniel Boone of scouts when it comes to finding a federal job. She founded The Resume Place Inc. and has been helping people get government jobs, and helping government workers get BETTER jobs, for four decades. Qualifying for and actually getting a federal job has never been easy. Something most bureaucrat-bashers don’t get or want to consider. But its true. Finding job openings is relatively easy. But then what? Are there buzz words and key phrases you need to use to guarantee that your CV will be looked at and seriously considered? Are there tricks to the trade? Very much so says Kathy, who will be my guest on today’s Your Turn.

Is 2021 the year of the fed?

Do you hate change, or making decisions? Is the car you are driving right now the same one you’ve owned since Jimmy Carter occupied the White House? Are you planning to finally have air conditioning installed in your home this year? Are you waiting for vinyl records to make a total comeback? Do you tend to put things off? Or try not to think about worst-case-scenarios — like a car wreck, or major illness — because it is depressing? Or can wait maybe until the current pandemic is over? Still not completely comfortable in the 21st century? Welcome to the club. According to the experts, many federal workers — and some retirees too — have excellent health insurance coverage. But most, thanks to the power of inertia, are paying too much in premiums. Consumer Checkbook’s Guide to Federal Health plans says “most people can save $2,000 or more in premiums next year, if they do something between now and Dec. 14 when the health insurance hunting season ends. My guest is Walton Francis, a retired former government official who wrote the book — literally — on the various plans in the FEHBP program. He’ll be talking about how to find the best buy for you and your family. And maybe save lots of money.

Last chance to blow $4,000!

Walton Francis, editor of Checkbook’s Guide to Federal Health plans, believes that too many people are in the wrong health plan. Wrong as in too expensive. He says all the plans are good to excellent BUT some simply cost too much because their premiums are too high since they are top-heavy with what the industry calls “heavy users” — retirees who are older, sick, have higher prescription drug prices and who remain in the same plan year after year while younger and healthier workers move from plan to plan. Walt Francis says many people can save $1,000 to $2,000 in premiums next year if they’ll spend a couple of hours shopping online over the next few days. In addition to the free health plan shopping guide provided by the Office of Personnel Management, many agencies have subscribed to the excellent Checkbook Guide so you can comparison shop from home. It’s worth seeing if your agency provides that perk. He'll join us to discuss on today's episode of Your Turn.

Is your health plan a Cadillac or a Chevy?

Federal News Network Senior Correspondent Mike Causey discusses everything of interest to federal employees, from pay, benefits and retirement, to buyouts, COLAs and pay freezes.

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Your Turn with Mike Causey

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