Early Retirements and Buyouts may be offered to few in Justice

Title: The 2013 budget request: agency by agency

Article Snip: "...employees will have to leave Justice if they cannot find jobs elsewhere in the department, and they will be offered buyouts and early retirements. ..."

Reference: www.federaltimes.com
Federal Buyouts, Federal Buyouts, early retirements,Justice Department Buyouts,

Federal Retirement Cuts Bill Passes House Panel

Title: Lawmakers insert federal pension provisions in highway bill

Article Snip: "...a high-five average salary calculation for annuities rather than the current high-three average pay calculation. The current Federal Employees Retirement System-defined benefit pension is calculated by taking the retiree's three highest salaries and dividing it by years of service and a variable pension accrual rate. ..."

Reference: www.govexec.com
Federal Retirement

Federal agencies offering buyouts or early outs continues to grow

Title: A new wave of federal workers is poised to emerge

Article Snip: "...Meanwhile, the roster of federal agencies offering buyouts or early outs continues to grow. In fiscal 2010, OPM gave 14 agencies permission to offer buyouts. Twelve were allowed to offer early retirements. In fiscal 2011, OPM gave 12 agencies permission to offer buyouts and twelve were allowed to offer early retirements...."

Reference: www.bizjournals.com
Federal Employee Buyouts, early outs,

Retirement services backlog being addressed

Title: OPM tackles retirement backlog with more staff, better technology

Article Snip: "...The Office of Personnel Management is trying to tackle its retirement services backlog with more staff and upgraded technology. ..."

Reference: www.federalnewsradio.com

State Department warns that "concrete steps" must be taken...

Title: US mulls closing embassy in Syria as security worsens

Article Snip: "...
State Department warns that "concrete steps" must be taken, expresses concern about "deteriorating security situation in Damascus"; US official: Syrian gov't doesn't ..."

Reference: www.jpost.com

Federal Employee COLA Update

Title: 2012 outlook eases slightly with COLA’s return

Article Snip: "...After two years of no increases, COLAs are back. The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 3.6 percent...."

Reference: federaltimes.com

Federal retirement question

Title: Four retirement options

Article Snip: "...Q. I am a 58-year-old letter carrier covered under the Federal Employees Retirement System with 27½ years of s..."

Reference: federaltimes.com

Federal Retirement Estimate

Title: Federal Ballpark E$timate®

Article Snip: "...The Federal Ballpark E$timate can be used by employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), CSRS-Offset, or the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) who plan to retire under the voluntary age and service rules. The current version does not perform estimates for..."

Reference: www.opm.gov
Federal Ballpark E$timate®

Attack on Federal Retirement Benefits: H.R. 3630

Title: House Republicans Attack Postal and Federal Retirement Benefits

Article Snip: "...The House of Representatives voted 243-193 on Dec. 13 to pass the so-called “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011,” which would cut take-home pay for postal and federal workers by increasing their contributions to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). The bill also would slash unemployment benefits, place unreasonable burdens on unemployed workers, and cut vital healthcare programs...."

Reference: www.apwu.org
H.R. 3630, Federal Retirement Benefits, Postal Retirement,

Reducing Federal Pensions

Title: New House Republican bill takes aim at fed pensions, pay

Article Snip: "...increasing the contribution federal employees pay toward their retirement, and reducing pensions for new employees...."

Reference: www.federaltimes.com
Federal Pension cuts,

Postmaster General seeks to move retirees to Medicare

Title: Postmaster general: Retirement benefits bankrupting agency

Article Snip: "...requirement isn't sustainable. He's also seeking to move retirees to Medicare...."

Reference: Postal Early Retirement

Lawmakers seek more oversight over Social Security Disability Checks

Title: Lawmakers seek Social Security check protections

Article Snip: "...Fourteen Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee want more scrutiny of how the Social Security Administration oversees benefit checks..."

Reference: Social Security Newsgroup

Postal Employee Retirement Community

Title: Neither rain nor heat nor gloom of night stops folks from living large at the unofficial retirement community of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

Article Snip: "...With an efficiency renting for under $75 in 1964, Nalcrest [Florida] was nirvana for postal retirees. It remains a bargain: A one-bedroom rents for only $305, and dinners at Jay Bee's II, the town's only restaurant, average $6. ..."

Reference: nationalgeographic.com

Federal retirement Policy changes on the way?

Title: How the supercommittee’s failure will impact federal employees

Article Snip: "...Newly hired employees after the transition point would get only the defined contribution plan. That would be a very major change in federal retirement policy …..."

Reference: www.washingtonpost.com
Rep. Issa, Federal Retirement Changes,

Federal Employment Opportunities in Michigan

Title: 11 tips for landing one of the more than 200 federal jobs advertised in Michigan

Article Snip: "...Even with the U.S. government laying off thousands nationally every week, the federal jobs website is still advertising 204 federal jobs in Michigan. ..."

Reference: www.mlive.com
federal employment

Federal Employee Retirement Processing Backlog Grows

Title: OPM: Problem of late pension payments getting worse

Article Snip: "...The Office of Personnel Management's backlog of pending retirement cases has grown 58 percent since Director John Berry first pledged to solve the problem more than a year ago...."

Reference: www.federaltimes.com
Federal Employee Retirement Processing,

USPS Retirement Funding Issue

Title: Bishop signs letter saying post office faces big pension burden

Article Snip: "..."No other public or private business in America" except for the U.S. Postal Service must fund 100 percent of employee retirement and retirement health costs in advance. ..."

Reference: www.politifact.com
usps retirement

TSP Summary

Title: U.S. Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Aug. Summary

Article Snip: "...the federal employee retirement thrift investment plan summary for Aug., according to the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. ..."

Reference: www.bloomberg.com

Report says Federal Employees way underpaid

Title: Federal government says its employees are 25 percent UNDERPAID compared to private sector workers

Article Snip: "...federal employees 26.3 percent underpaid compared to private sector workers in similar jobs. The gap has grown 2 percentage points since last year..."

Reference: www.dailymail.co.uk
Federal employee pay,

Chained CPI offers more cuts to the working class

Title: Debt panel likes ‘chain' COLA; ‘Tricare Prime' cut offered

Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/11/05/1893461/debt-panel-likes-chain-cola-tricare.html#ixzz1csX2LZk5

Article Snip: "...If that CPI were already in use, military retirees, disabled veterans and social security recipients would be getting a 3.4 percent COLA in January rather than the planned 3.6 percent hike, government price data show...."

Reference: www.thenewstribune.com

Federal Employee: Best day to retire

Title: The Best Day to Retire From Now Until 2020

Article Snip: "...One of the biggest reasons that employees choose to retire around the end of the year is to cash in a large amount of use or lose leave. Assume we have an employee..."

Reference: www.fedsmith.com
best day to retire,

Federal Employee Buyouts Galore

Title: Everybody's got a price. What's yours?

Article Snip: "...Currently buyouts are available at Agriculture, Air Force, ATF, U.S. Courts, Education, FTC, GAO, GPO, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Library of Congress, the USPS, SBA, Smithsonian and the TSA. ..."

Reference: www.federalnewsradio.com
Federal Buyouts, Early Retirements,

Federal employee retirement systems cumulatively face $5.7 trillion in unfunded liability

Title: The Worst Pension Gap

Article Snip: "...The Federal Employees Retirement System was created in 1986 to take the place of the old Civil Service Retirement System. Civilian federal employees hired prior to 1984 remained in the old system, while..."

Reference: www.governing.com
Federal employee retirement systems

Federal Health Care Tip

Title: Playing Russian roulette with your health plan

Article Snip: "...If you are a federal or postal worker who is close to retirement, thinking about taking a buyout, likely to be laid off or are involved in a shaky marriage, listen up: Your lifetime health insurance benefits may be in danger. ..."

Reference: www.federalnewsradio.com
Federal employees health care

Federal retirees to get 3.6 percent COLA increase

Title: Federal retirees to get COLA increase

Article Snip: "...an increase of 3.6 percent for most, following the announcement Wednesday of Consumer Price Index figures through September...."

Reference: www.washingtonpost.com
2012 COLA, Federal Retirees, Federal Retirement COLA,

2012 COLA for Social Security will be 3.6 percent

Title: Social Security benefits to rise 3.6 percent

Article Snip: "...Social Security retirement benefits for about 55 million people will go up by 3.6 percent next year, the first cost-of-living increase since 2009, the U.S. Social Security Administration said on Wednesday...."

Reference: www.reuters.com

2012 Social Security COLA

Title: Social Security: seniors to see COLA increase in 2012

Article Snip: "...The exact size of the COLA is yet to be determined, but it should be somewhere between ..."

Reference: www.csmonitor.com
2012 COLA amount,

Lawmaker wants to extend Federal worker retirement age

Title: Lawmaker urges end to early federal retirement

Article Snip: "...Federal workers, including members of Congress and congressional employees, would not be able to receive their pensions until age 62 under Duncan's proposal...."

Reference: www.govexec.com
Federeal Retirement

Eligibility for the special retirement supplement

Title: Supplement eligibility

Article Snip: "...Q: I am 57 with four years of military buyback and 18 years of uninterrupted federal service. I am confused about eligibility for the special retirement supplement...."

Reference: Federal Times
Social Security special retirement supplement (SRS)

More attacks on working class by GOP reps

Title: Lawmaker urges end to early federal retirement

Article Snip: "..."There are many thousands of federal employees who are retiring in their 50s and even in their late 40s," Rep. John Duncan Jr., R-Tenn., said in a letter last week to members of the congressional super committee...."

Reference: www.govexec.com
anti-working class

Federal Retiree COLA could be near 4 percent

Title: Federal retirees could receive COLA boost for first time since 2008

Article Snip: "...The COLA for federal retirees and Social Security and Supplemental Security Income recipients could be nearly 4 percent as of Dec. 1, based on the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics...."

Reference: www.govexec.com
Federal Retiree COLA, 2012 COLA, Federal Employee COLA 2012, Dec. 2011 Federal COLA, 2011 Federal Retiree COLA,

GAO buyouts and early retirements

Title: Top federal watchdog faces budget cuts

Article Snip: "...agency is offering buyouts and early retirement offers to long-serving employees; 37 have accepted the offers, a spokesman said. The buyouts and early retirement were first offered before the budget debate began...."

Reference: www.washingtonpost.com
Federal Employee Buyouts, early retirement offers,

FERS Disability Retirement May Not Provide Adequate Benefits

Title: FERS Disability Retirement Benefits for Federal Government Physicians May Not Fully Protect Against Loss of Income

Article Snip: "...illustrate how the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) works in providing disability benefits, and why the benefits provided may be inadequate...."

Reference: www.digitaljournal.com

Are Federal Employees next?

Issa's 'Postal Destruction' Bill Passes House Subcommittee

Title: Postal Bill Would Authorize Layoffs, Force Out Senior Employees First

Article Snip: "...employees who are eligible for retirement must be laid off before employees who are ineligible, and dictates that retirement-eligible employees with the longest service must be separated first. The new language also forbids the payment of severance pay to retirement-eligible employees. ..."

Reference: www.apwu.org
destruction of the American working class, Attacks on Federal Workers, Layoffs, retirement, Rep. Issa,

What should you ask yourself before retiring?

Title: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself About When You Can Retire

Article Snip: "...The "traditional" retirement age is 65. This has gone by the wayside to some extent in that the age to receive full Social Security benefits continues to increase...."

Reference: usnews.com

What is the "traditional" retirement age?, Social Security Benefits,

Deficit plan would bang Federal Workers and Federal Retirement fiercely

Title: Deficit reduction pain for federal employees could be worse, some say

Article Snip: "...the version of the fiscal 2012 budget resolution the House passed included a recommendation that would require federal employees to pay for half the defined benefit they receive with their pensions at retirement...."

Reference: GovernmentExecutive.com
Deficit reduction, Federal Budget, federal worker pension plan, Federal Employee Retirement, Federal Worker Retirement,

Rick Perry no friend to Social Security

Title: Obama's proposal to trim back military benefits draws fire

Article Snip: "..."The real issue is, in writing his book, Gov. Perry pointed out that in his view that Social Security is unconstitutional, that this is not something the federal government ought to be involved in, that instead it should be given back to the states."..."

Reference: hamptonroads.com

OPM: Retirement planning for the federal employee

Title: Planning for Retirement

Article Snip: "...It’s never too early to start planning for retirement in order to ensure it goes smoothly. Here you will find information to help ensure your retirement starts well. ..."

Reference: www.opm.gov
Retirement planning for the federal employee

2012 cola for federal retirees

Title: Retirement menu: Filet & cabernet or dog food & Dr. Pepper?

Article Snip: "...a 3-plus percent COLA for retired feds is likely in 2012. Also, a growing number of agencies are offering buyouts...."

Reference: www.federalnewsradio.com
Federal Employee COLA 2012, 2012 Retired Federal Worker COLA,

Social Security COLA update

Title: Proposal Would Cut Raises For Retirees

Article Snip: "...result in lower cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for Social Security beneficiaries,” says the report, which adds: “Moving to a chained index should be viewed as a cut in benefits.”..."

Reference: smartmoney.com
cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), chained index,