Q&A
Calculating Your High Three Salary
Does OPM base the CSRS retirement calculation on an employee’s high-three annual BASE PAY or LOCALITY PAY when determining the annual retirement payment?
High-3
Pay & Benefits
CBO Deficit Reduction Proposals Would Impact Federal Employees
A recent report from the Congressional Budget Office makes a myriad of proposals designed to help put a dent in the growing federal debt, some of which would…
Retirement
About That “High-Five” Retirement Calculation
The federal retirement plan is one of the biggest benefits of being a federal employee. Changes are coming that will impact many readers and most of the changes…
Pay & Benefits
How is My “High-3 Average Pay” Calculated? (Part 2)
In the second article in the series, the author goes into some additional detail about the three basic aspects of the high-3 average pay calculation.
Pay & Benefits
How is My “High-3 Average Pay” Calculated? (Part 1)
The high-3 average pay is a basic component of an employee's retirement contribution that federal employees often find confusing. The author offers some detailed explanation to take the…
Retirement
How is Your Federal Employee Annuity Calculated?
How is your federal employee annuity calculated? It is based on two numbers. Here is how it works.
Retirement
Magic 8 Ball 2012: Should I Retire This Year?
What can federal employees expect in 2012? While no one can know for sure, the author offers some considerations you can take into account to help you be…
Retirement
Winning the Lottery Is NOT a Retirement Plan – Part 2
Winning the lottery just may be the key to a successful retirement, depending on how you define "lottery."
Human Resources
We Gotta Get Out of This Place
The author poses the question, with all the noise around shrinking government and making federal employees out to be the "bad" guys, what would the real effects of…
Retirement
High Five vs. High Three: Is There a Difference In Your Retirement Annuity?
The deficit commission has proposed changing federal retirement to use the highest five years of earnings to calculate civil service pension benefits for new retirees (CSRS and FERS)…