Title: 25 Things to Do When You Retire
Article Snip: "...After decades in the workforce, retirees finally get complete control over how they spend their time. There are many terrific things you can do with your time and energy in retirement. ..."
Reference: usnews.comTitle: What Is the Average Retirement Income in 2021 and How Do You Compare?
Article Snip: "...The U.S. Census Bureau reports the average retirement income for Americans over 65 years of age as both a median and a mean. In the most recent data from 2019, the figures were as follows: Median retirement income: $47,357 Mean retirement income: $73,288 ..."
Reference: www.personalcapital.comTitle: 20 Ways To Pay Less at Costco
Article Snip: "...One of the best ways to save money on groceries when shopping at Costco is to buy meat in bulk. You can portion it out and freeze it for later use. So, the next time you shop at the retailer, you'll save money on food...."
Reference: www.gobankingrates.comArticle Snip: "...If you don’t use coupons, you’re spending way more than you should. These tips will turn your next shopping trip into a savings extravaganza...."
Reference: Readers DigestTitle: Experts warn retirees to plan for higher inflation
Article Snip: "...Financial advisers are recommending retirees adopt investments that protect against inflation as rising living costs put ..."
Reference: www.morningstar.comTitle: ‘This is a tough time to be on a fixed income’—the grim inflation outlook and what retirees can do
Article Snip: "...The nonpartisan Senior Citizens League received more than 200 emails recently “with many retired and disabled senders describing the dire situations they face as rapidly rising inflation makes it impossible to pay the bills,” the group said in a statement. “This is a tough time to be on a fixed income,” said Lisa..."
Reference: www.msn.comTitle: 12 Best Senior Dating Websites to Find Love in 2021
Article Snip: "...Peruse top-rated online dating sites to find the right senior match. ..."
Reference: usnews.comTitle: How To Enjoy Retirement on a Budget
Article Snip: "...An enjoyable, stress-free retirement is the end goal for many workers, but once you ride off into the sunset, you’ll still have to plan your finances. Without a regular source of income, except perhaps a pension or Social Security, you’ll have to..."
Reference: www.gobankingrates.comTitle: The 5 Ways To Maximize Your Retirement Income From Social Security
Article Snip: "...“When is the best time to take Social Security?” “How Can I maximize my Social Security benefits?” “Are Social Security Benefits taxable?” “Can you help me choose the best time to start receiving Social Security?” The list of Social Security questions goes on and on..."
Reference: www.forbes.comTitle: COLAs and Timing Federal Retirement
Article Snip: "...For FERS employees who aren’t eligible for a COLA during their first year or more on the annuity roll, their first COLA after becoming eligible will be for the full amount, no matter in which month that eligibility occurs . ..."
Reference: The Federal News GroupTitle: 2 Easy Ways to Estimate Your Retirement Savings Goals
Article Snip: "...Some people might feel overwhelmed and won’t know where to start when calculating what they’ll need to save for retirement. But there are two really simple approaches that everyone can use to get a fairly good idea of what their retirement number should be. ..."
Reference: www.crossroadstoday.comTitle: This New Retirement Research Is Wrong
Article Snip: "... a million-dollar portfolio should only be relied on for $33,000 in annual income. That is a sad ending for a seven-figure nest egg! Scary, too. This $33,000 salary isn’t..."
Reference: www.forbes.comTitle: Are metaverse stocks safe enough to include in your retirement portfolio?
Article Snip: "...The metaverse is now considered to be the next big trend in the technology sector. Broadly speaking, the concept of a metaverse involves creating immersive experiences for users in virtual reality worlds or in some combination of physical and virtual worlds using technologies such as video, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR). We are seeing many technology giants as well as newcomers racing to grab a share..."
Reference: www.usatoday.comTitle: Thinking about retiring in 2022? Here are 3 reasons to reconsider that plan.
Article Snip: "...counting down the weeks or even days until you're able to tender your resignation. But not so fast. There are certain pitfalls you might encounter if you opt to retire in the coming year. Here are a few reasons why 2022 could end up being an awful time to bring your career to an end..."
Reference: www.usatoday.comTitle: Goldman Sachs Says Young U.S. Workers Are Plotting Early Retirements
Article Snip: "...A survey signals that younger employees may also need more realistic expectations about how much money they’ll need in later life. ..."
Reference: www.bloomberg.comTitle: Interested in retiring early? 3 lessons from people who retired in their 30s
Article Snip: "...For many, the prospect of working a 9 to 5 job for the next 30+ years seems monotonous and disheartening. FIRE or ‘financial independence, retire early’ is a solution to that issue. People who follow FIRE save and invest more than 50% of their annual income in the hopes that their investments will yield enough money to retire in their 30s or 40s. ..."
Reference: www.cnbc.comTitle: Don’t Get Surprised by Taxes in Retirement
Published: December 6, 2021
Article Snip: "...The taxation of retirement income is somewhat different than the taxation of income derived from working. These changes are primarily due to how taxes are withheld on retirement income. Not only will we look at the taxation of TSP income, we’ll also take a look at how your federal annuity and Social Security are taxed. ..."
Reference: www.fedweek.comTitle: Unusual PostalEase Activity Triggers Precautionary Measures
Article Snip: "...The NPMHU was advised that CISO and Postal Service management investigated and took precautionary measures to prevent further activity as soon as it became aware of the unusual log-in issue. CISO monitors daily for suspicious activity to protect employee accounts and information. The USPS will contact affected employees directly. Impacted employees will receive the following message from the USPS: Your PostalEase account has been placed in a hold status, pending a password reset. To initiate a password reset, you will need contact 1-877-477-3273, Option 5. ..."
Reference: www.npmhu.orgTitle: Should I Take Medicare or Just Keep FEHB?
Article Snip: "Are federal employees better off with Medicare or FEHB in retirement? These are some considerations..."
Reference: www.fedsmith.comTitle: Social Security Announces 5.9 Percent Benefit Increase for 2022
Article Snip: "...The 5.9 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 64 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2022..."
Reference: www.ssa.govTitle: When Do I Begin Receiving the FERS Annuity Supplement?
Article Snip: "...so when will I see the supplement? You will only begin receiving the Annuity Supplement when your..."
Reference: www.fedsmith.comTitle: Four Rules for Picking a Retirement Date
Article Snip: "...there are some rules for picking a date that are handy to know. Rule No. 1: Look at the..."
Reference: www.govexec.comTitle: How COVID-19 Has Impacted Retirement Savings
Article Snip: "...About one-third of Americans who planned to retire say it will now happen later because of the pandemic, CNBC reported last week, citing a study from Age Wave and Edward Jones. Roughly 14 million stopped contributing to their monthly retirement accounts, with many struggling Americans needing to use that money for essentials instead. The situation has gotten even murkier in recent months..."
Reference: yahoo.comTitle: Life Insurance Premiums Are Changing
Article Snip: "...Rates are going up for Basic, and in some cases for the optional forms of insurance too. In other cases, they’re staying the same or being reduced. These changes reflect updated mortality and claims rates in each FEGLI category. The legislative structure of FEGLI assumes that premium rates are set for each age band independently of the other bands so that each band is financially self-supporting. The government pays one third of the premium cost for Basic and the employee pays two thirds. The employee or retiree pays the full cost of optional insurance..."
Reference: www.govexec.comTitle: The Benefits of Serving Your Country Working for Uncle Sam
Article Snip: "...Want to make sure retirement treats you well? Work for Uncle Sam, and those golden years could have a little added shine. Not only are federal retirement benefits portable, but being the largest employer provides the government excellent leverage in securing benefits for its employees. Take the example of..."
Title: The Benefits of Serving Your Country Working for Uncle Sam
Reference: www.military.com
Title: How COLA affects Social Security benefits
Article Snip: "...“You are eligible for annual cost-of-living benefits increases starting with the year you turn 62,” according to the Social Security Administration publication Your Retirement Benefit: How It’s Figured. “This is true even if you don’t file for benefits until your full retirement age or even age 70.” SSA increases your benefit beginning with the year you reach 62, and benefits are increased yearly to reflect the increase..."
Reference: www.investmentnews.comTitle: The SSA Has an Online Portal for Social Security — Here’s Why You Should Use It
Article Snip: "...The Social Security Administration”my Social Security” portal allows you to apply for and manage all of your Social Security benefits online..."
Reference: yahoo.comTitle: Government to pilot online retirement application
Article Snip: "...Office of Personnel Management Director Kiran Ahuja told reporters on an Aug. 4 call that the agency will pilot an online retirement application system to address some short-term problems with the federal retirement system, namely slow processing times..."
Reference: www.armytimes.comTitle: Veterns can get special extra earnings for Social Security: Are you getting yours?
Article Snip: "...Social Security doesn't add these extra earnings to your record until you file for benefits. Here's How It Works The information that follows applies only to active duty military service earnings from 1940 through 2001. This program adds to your overall income factor and may have little effect on your actual monthly Social Security benefit, because the increased earnings do not automatically mean an equal increase in monthly benefits. Here's how the special extra earnings are credited..."
Reference: www.military.comTitle: Veterans Who Join the Civil Service Are Eligible for Valuable Service Credits
Article Snip: "...Let's take a look at how you can apply your military service toward FERS, see how the military service credit buyback program works, and discuss why this makes sense for many veterans..."
Reference: www.military.comTitle: How much does Social Security increase each year after 62?
Article Snip: "...If you claim Social Security at age 62, rather than wait until your full retirement age (FRA), you can expect up to a 30% reduction in monthly benefits. For every year you delay claiming Social Security past your FRA up to age 70, you get an 8% increase in your benefit..."
Reference: www.fidelity.comTitle: What taxes can federal employees expect to pay after they retire from federal service?
Article Snip: "...The only taxes that do not follow federal employees into retirement are payroll taxes. Payroll taxes are taxes you pay out of earnings in order to fund future benefits. Social Security tax (6.2%) and Medicare tax (1.45%) are only taken out of gross wages and net self-employment income (with a few exceptions, most notably for farmers). In addition, a retiree will not be making contributions for their pension. FERS pension contributions are 0.8%..."
Reference: www.fedsmith.comTitle: Avoiding A Tax Bite When Receiving A Pension Distribution
Article Snip: "...Employers of most pension plans are required to withhold a mandatory 20% of your lump sum retirement distribution when you leave their company. However, you can avoid this tax hit if you make a direct rollover of those funds to an IRA rollover account or another similar qualified plan. Failure to rollover the entire amount of your lump sum distribution may result in your paying unnecessary taxes on all or a portion of your retirement payout. The 20% withheld from your lump sum retirement distribution is a federal income tax prepayment similar to the federal income taxes withheld from your pay check..."
Reference: benefitslink.comTitle: Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract (QLAC)
Article Snip: "... What Is a Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract (QLAC)? A qualified longevity annuity contract (QLAC) is a type of deferred annuity funded with an investment from a qualified retirement plan or an individual retirement account (IRA)..."
Reference: www.investopedia.comTitle: Social Security and Taxes
Article Snip: "...Most retirees do not have to pay federal income taxes on their Social Security benefits, but for those who receive substantial income in addition to Social Security, up to 85 percent of the benefits may be taxable. According to the Social Security Administration, about one third of benefit recipients pay federal taxes on their Social Security benefits. The Social Security benefits may become taxable when retirees’ “provisional income” exceeds certain limits...combined income is greater than $44,000, then up to 85 percent of your benefit may be taxable...U.S. citizens who live in Canada and certain other countries (Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Romania or the United Kingdom) are exempt from U.S. tax on Social Security benefits regardless of their income. A lump sum death benefit is not subject to tax either..."
Reference: www.aarp.orgTitle: Is a retirement pension considered income?
Article Snip: "...Pension payments, annuities, and the interest or dividends from your savings and investments are not earnings for Social Security purposes. You may need to pay income tax, but you do not pay Social Security taxes..."
Reference:Title: What Is the Savers Credit?
Article Snip: "...Depending on your adjusted gross income and tax filing status, you can claim the credit for 50%, 20% or 10% of the first $2,000 you contribute during the year to a retirement account. Therefore, the maximum credit amounts that can be claimed are $1,000, $400 or $200..."
Reference: intuit.comTitle: Retirement claims backlog continues to rise, exceeding January’s 8-year record
Article Snip: "...Lackluster processing numbers and longer average processing times in the second half of 2020 helped set the stage for this loss of ground in early 2021. OPM said its “steady state” inventory of retirement claims is 13,000. Processing times rose significantly during the early months of COVID-19, and still haven’t returned to their pre-pandemic lows..."
Reference: federalnewsnetwork.comTitle: How Unpaid Leave Impacts Your Benefits
Article Snip: "...You won’t earn any annual or sick leave for a pay period in which you reach a total of 80 hours of LWOP. However, you will earn annual and sick leave during the following pay periods until you once more accumulate 80 hours of LWOP. Then your ability to earn sick or annual leave will end. If you are a part-time employee, the amount of leave you earn will be proportionately less..."
Reference: www.fedweek.comTitle: How to Navigate Taxation When Retiring From Your Government Job
Article Snip: "...High-three average salaries are used for the first basic annuity when considering retirement. If you are under the age of 62 at the time of retirement, you will get 1% of your high-3 average salary. If you’re older than 62 or have more than 20 years of service, you will get 1.1% of your high-3 average salary. There are exceptions to these general guidelines. For example..."
Reference: www.kake.comTitle: Nalcrest Florida and The Former Fedhaven Florida
Article Snip: "...All residents of this community have to be retired members of the National Association of Letter Carriers. A funny thing about NALCREST is that mail is not delivered to individual apartments; residents have to walk to the local post office to get their mail. Nearby Lakeshore was called FEDHAVEN for most of the years since it was built. It is about one mile east of NALCREST and was developed as a retirement community for retired federal employees..."
Reference: www.florida-backroads-travel.comTitle: Lessons Learned Growing a TSP Balance Beyond $1M
Article Snip: "...FERS retiree and one of those TSP investors who have accumulated at least $1,000,000 in their TSP account while working as a federal civilian employee. In his article published February 28, 2020 in FEDweek (Becoming a TSP Millionaire: Don’t Try to Time the Market) Dallen Haws noted that “becoming a TSP millionaire is simple” and that at the end of 2019 there were nearly 50,000 federal employees with at least $1,000,000 in their TSP. I’d like to share with you..."
Reference: www.fedweek.comTitle: 5 Benefits of Serving in the Civil Service After Your Military Career
Article Snip: "...Joining the federal civil service is a great way to continue serving your country while earning a respectable living and valuable retirement benefits. And if you formerly served on active duty, your military service can provide you with additional benefits..."
Reference: www.military.comTitle: Pandemic prompts some feds to delay or reconsider retirement plans
Article Snip: "...A total of 92,008 federal employees retired in 2020, the fewest in nearly 10 years, according to a Federal News Network analysis of monthly data from the Office of Personnel Management. By contrast, OPM processed 101,580 retirements in 2019 and 107,612 in 2018..."
Reference:Title: Cash flexibility in retirement: Pros and cons of the TSP
Article Snip: "...many federal and postal workers pull their retirement nest egg money out of the Thrift Savings Plan. So is that wise? Short answer..."
Reference: federalnewsnetwork.comTitle: Special Military Social Security Rate
Article Snip: "...Under certain circumstances, veterans who served between 1940 and 2001 can be credited for special extra earnings for Social Security purposes. These extra earnings may help you qualify for Social Security or increase...Social Security doesn't add these extra earnings to your record until you file for benefits..."
Reference: www.military.comTitle: Didn't Retire from Active Duty? You Can Still Use Your Service Toward a Pension
Article Snip: "...your active duty military service puts you in a better position to earn a pension, even if you count yourself among the 83% (roughly five out of six) of active duty veterans who didn't remain on active duty long enough to retire from the military to earn military retirement pay..."
Reference: www.military.comTitle: What is Social Security’s 'special earnings limit rule'?
Article Snip: "...The special earnings limit rule is an exception to Social Security’s earnings limit...The reason for the rule is that Social Security bases the earnings limit on a full year’s income, but it recognizes that most people retire at some point mid-year and by then may have already earned more than the limit. Rather than count that income and reduce your benefits accordingly, Social Security applies a “monthly earnings test”: Once you claim your benefits, you’ll get your full payment for any month that Social Security considers you to be “retired” (doing limited or no paid work), regardless of your total earnings for the year. Here’s how it works..."
Reference: www.aarp.orgTitle: Bill Would Standardize Federal Retiree Annual Increases, and More
Article Snip: "...The Equal COLA Act (H.R. 304), introduced by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., would ensure that federal retirees in the Federal Employee Retirement System and the Civil Service Retirement System both receive the same annual percentage cost of living increase each year..."
Reference:Title: 4 Critical Federal Retirement Decisions
Article Snip: "...Retirement planning is a series of decisions. Some have minor consequences and some can have a lifelong impact on your financial security. Here are a few examples of critical retirement decisions that can lead to very different outcomes..."
Reference: www.govexec.comTitle: Retirement Planning: How To Get Out Of Debt Before Retirement
Title: Social Security and You
"Some 'real world' questions and answers relating to Social Security"
Reference: www.poncacitynews.comTitle: Is Social Security Income Taxable?
Article Snip: "...About 35 percent of Social Security recipients have total incomes high enough to trigger federal income tax on their benefits. To figure out if your benefits will be taxable, you’ll need to add up all of your “provisional income,” which includes..."
Reference: www.theintelligencer.netTitle: Social Security, Medicare and Retirement Plan Changes for 2021
Article Snip: "...From the pandemic to politics and the economy, it’s been a wild year, especially for those near or in retirement. While some uncertainty remains in the outlook for 2021, here’s what you need to know about Social Security, Medicare premiums and retirement plan contributions..."
Reference: www.thestreet.com