Federal Retirement Advice by Alexis Hongamen, CRPC

Here are a series of financial tips/information for designed for quick reading, written in the style of Twitter. Positive returns across the board for  June 2019 in the TSP : .19% for the G fund, 1.26% for the F fund, 7.04% for the C Fund, 6.80% for the S fund and 5.94% for the I Fund. Please remember that beneficiary designations on accounts (like on the TSP) supersede any declarations on a will. If benefits are not cut by 23% or taxes are raised, the  social security  trust fund will run out of money between 2032 and 2034. A battle is setting up for pay raises for Feds in 2020. House has submitted a  3.1% increase  and The White House is  proposing a pay freeze . You don’t have to take a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from your  TSP  if you are still working, regardless of age. If you are retired, they begin being due April 1 of the year AFTER you turn 70.5. Please remember that FICA and  Medicare  are two wage taxes you won’t have to pay in retirement.

Federal employees have some unique benefits they can utilize to improve their financial security. Let’s take a look at these while at the same time discussing some good practices that can be followed by anyone, regardless of their employer. Live on Less Than You Make I’d like to begin with some advice your grandfather probably gave you…don’t spend more than you make! Short, sweet and simple. Bad things tend to happen if you make a habit of spending more money than you bring in every month. Of course, there are times when you have a big ticket item you need to buy that will skew your budget for the month. That, however, should be an odd occurrence and shouldn’t be the norm. Ideally, you should have some money set aside or budget for these large expenses. I tell clients that one of the things you can control that has a huge impact on your finances is how much you spend. I’ve consulted postal service employees that have modest incomes that are financially fit to retire b