Pay and Benefits News 
Top News
- OMB reworking financial systems to focus on outcomes, not inputs
- Lew taps government retiree pension fund to avoid default
- OMB taps VanRoekel to lead management team
- PHOTOS: Meet the 2013 Service to America Medal Finalists
- Hagel: Accountability breakdown was leading factor in sexual assaults
- Former IRS commissioner faces questions about Tea Party
- SBA starting new lending program for veterans
- New Apple devices cleared to join DoD IT networks
- Army prioritizes access to data in fight over intelligence IT system
- DoD upends slow approval process for mobile devices
- Senior execs' bonuses under fire at agencies
- Gould moves the needle on many of VA's toughest challenges
- Tuesday federal headlines - May 21, 2013
TSP restarts transaction processing after Sandy
The Thrift Savings Plan starts processing transactions on Wednesday after the U.S. markets were closed for the past two days due to Post-tropical Cyclone Sandy.
Feds can apply for disaster relief through FEEA
Federal employees who experience major loss during Post-tropical Cyclone Sandy can apply for a grant from the Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund. FEEA also offers no-interest emergency loans of up to $1,000. Loans are repaid through the employees' payroll.
Why some feds could lose a vacation day in 2012
Tens of thousands of federal workers stand to lose a day of annual leave this year because of the cursed 11-year itch. To find out how, when and where to scratch it, check out Senior Correspondent Mike Causey's Federal Report.
TSP contribution limit increases in 2013
Federal employees can contribute a maximum of $17,500 annually to their Thrift Savings Plan next year — up from the $17,000 limit this year, according to the IRS.
Open season means more than choosing health insurance
John Montague talks about life insurance and Sean Reilly discuses the U.S. Postal Service's finances and more this week on Your Turn.
Health, life insurance & a shrinking tax break
Health insurance is a must-have item for everybody. But there is more than health insurance at issue during the big benefits hunting season that kicks off Nov.12 and runs through Dec. 10. Sleep through it at your peril, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
TSP mulls mutual-fund option
The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which manages the TSP, is mulling whether to add a new option to federal employees' (401)k-style retirement plan: a mutual fund window. The mutual fund window would allow participants to move investments out of the TSP funds they've invested in and into a private-sector suite of mutual funds. However, the board is still studying the issue, Kim Weaver, the director of external affairs for the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, told In Depth with Francis Rose. No changes are imminent.
Beyond the Beltway worries
In wonkier parts of the Washington area, the talk of the town is about fiscal cliffs and sequestration followed by sex and the Redskins, not necessarily in that order. But beyond the Beltway, folks seem to have a firmer grip on what's important, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
Medicare - all you need to know!
David Santana, health insurance specialist for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, gives an overview of the Medicare system.
October 22, 2012
Broadcasting Board of Governors offers buyouts, early outs
Employees have until Nov. 9 to apply for a Voluntary Incentive Separation Payments (VSIP) and they must leave the agency by Dec. 31. Employees have until Nov. 30, 2013, to apply for a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority.
How FEEA and Long Term Care Partners are helping feds
Steve Bauer from the Federal Employees Education and Assistance Fund, and Joan Melanson from Long Term Care Partners will talk about the services offered by their organizations.
October 19, 2012
Pay gap between government, private sector widens to 34 percent
The gap in pay between federal employees and private-sector workers jumped eight percent since last year, according to new data presented at a Federal Salary Council meeting Friday. On average, federal employees earn 34 percent less than their private-sector counterparts, according to the council's analysis.
And today's impending disaster is...
For the past dozen years, and up until about six months ago, federal workers were worried about the family jewels, especially their health insurance and retirement packages. Now that concern has shifted to fear of layoffs and furloughs, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
OPM details 2013 health plan premium increases
Federal employees will see a slight increase — averaging 3.4 percent — in what they pay towards their 2013 health plan premiums.
Falling in love: It pays to go postal
There are certain times when it pays to go postal, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says ... Especially if you are a federal employee contemplating marriage or already one half of a "mixed marriage."
The FEEA fund
Steve Bauer, executive director of the Federal
Employee Education and Assistance fund, will talk
about this feds-helping-feds charity.
October 17, 2012
Army offers early retirement in effort to reduce force size
Active-duty and reserve soldiers with between 15 and 20 years of service could be eligible for early retirement, the Army announced this week. The service is offering temporary early retirement authority (TERA) to military officers who have not been selected to move on to the next grade as well as noncommissioned officers identified by selection boards for involuntary separation. The service aims to shed 80,000 soldiers from its active component by the end of 2017.
USPS pension surplus due to wrong salary assumptions, IG finds
Currently, more than 70 percent of postal craft employees have already reached the top of their pay scale, according to the USPS Office of the Inspector General.
Social Security benefits get a 1.7 percent bump
More than 56 million Americans on Social Security will get raises averaging $19 a month come January, one of the smallest hikes since automatic adjustments for inflation were adopted in 1975, the government announced Tuesday.
Fed retirees to see 1.7 percent COLA increase in 2013
The 1.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits that more than 56 million Social Security beneficiaries, according to the Social Security Administration. Social Security recipients received a 3.6 percent increase in benefits this year after getting none the previous two years.
