Your Turn with Mike Causey

Many people investing for retirement know that it is risky, dangerous and stupid to try to time the market. To guess when stocks are high and sell them then guess again when they are at the bottom when they become bargains. Then repeat as necessary until your bank account is overflowing or all your hair has fallen out. Whichever comes first. Opponents of the by-low-sell-high, repeat-as-necessary system include Warren Buffet, many Americans’ favorite billionaire and the late John Bogle, founder of Vanguard. Both said they couldn’t do it and they never met anyone who could. Still, lots of people — now with the ‘help’ of apps — think they can. So are you one of the lucky/gifted few who can read the markets when guys like Buffet and Bogle couldn’t. Take a test. In fact you’ve already taken it according to D.C. area financial planner Arthur Stein. He’s a former congressional economist who now advises clients — many of them current or former feds including some self-made millionaires — how to grow their TSP acco

Some retirees, maybe a lot of them, may decide either they are wanted and needed back in the workforce. Both to do good and make more money For many feds, whether long-time or relatively new, the question is: What now? Now, naturally, we turn to Tammy Flanagan. She’s an expert on federal benefits with the emphasis on planning for the best possible retirement from Uncle Sam. Her husband is retired Secret Service so she knows about retirement for law enforcement officers, too. Will the “new” post-pandemic, civil service be hit with a wave of retirements, the long-predicted retirement Tsunami at last, opening up the promotion pipeline? Many think thousands of long-serving (suffering) feds will bail out, deciding they want to spend their golden years on the beach instead of in a bunker. Or will folks who were considering retirement decide to delay pulling the plug. That could be especially true of the economic downside of the pandemic (which could last years) bring with it low inflation which means fewer and

Some retirees, maybe a lot of them, may decide either they are wanted and needed back in the workforce. Both to do good and make more money For many feds, whether long-time or relatively new, the question is: What now? Now, naturally, we turn to Tammy Flanagan. She’s an expert on federal benefits with the emphasis on planning for the best possible retirement from Uncle Sam. Her husband is retired Secret Service so she knows about retirement for law enforcement officers, too. Will the “new” post-pandemic, civil service be hit with a wave of retirements, the long-predicted retirement Tsunami at last, opening up the promotion pipeline? Many think thousands of long-serving (suffering) feds will bail out, deciding they want to spend their golden years on the beach instead of in a bunker. Or will folks who were considering retirement decide to delay pulling the plug. That could be especially true of the economic downside of the pandemic (which could last years) bring with it low inflation which means fewer and

A high percentage of the federal workforce is literally risking disease or death daily, as part of their jobs. Every day, 24/7. They are heroes who’ve always been there, but whom many of us are just noticing for the first time. Most federal civil servants are either working from home or in a furloughed status. But all are getting paid. By contrast at least 40 million American workers have been fired or furloughed and are seeking unemployment benefits. Many have been helped with temporary loans from the federal government. But there are some businesses that aren’t coming back — ever. Many of the relatively few companies that offered workers defined benefit pensions have pulled the plug on those programs, cutting off some workers in mid-career. They may have jobs when they come back but any retirement nest egg they have will have to come in whole or part from them. A lot of feds who, pre-pandemic, were thinking about going into the private sector may have revised plans. Many people in the private sector, wh

According to some political pundits the 2020 presidential election may be decided by voters who are 60-plus years old. They supported candidate Donald Trump, age 73, last time but, according to some polls, are leaning toward former Vice President Joe Biden, age 77, as of right now. While many candidates court the younger vote, the numbers show that on election day older Americans out vote their children and grandchildren by a substantial degree. That could be an important factor in places like California, Texas, Florida, Maryland and Virginia where one-third of the nation’s 2.6 million federal retirees and survivors live and vote. Former feds are also an important chunk of the electorate in key states like Arizona (60,826), Florida, (186,027), Michigan (47,422) and Minnesota (31,151). Today on Your Turn, I’ll be talking with Jessica Klement of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees about the possibility of a pay raise, the outlook (grim) for a retiree COLA and the long, as in very long, shot chan

A lot of people who know how the market works and what the TSP was designed to do would probably say don’t do it. In part because it involves timing the market — buying when it is low, selling when it is high — which is a lot easier said than done.

Proposals to eliminate WEP and GPO have been around almost since enactment in the 1980s. But repeal has always been the legislative equivalent of mission impossible — probably still is. But what about “reform” rather than repeal? Has the turmoil created by the COVID-19 pandemic changed the political outlook? In the House, 245 members have signed onto a bill that would repeal the Evil Twins. Not likely to happen, but under House rules if that repeal proposal gets 290 cosponsors — 45 more — it has to come up for a vote. And that opens up the possibility of a modification, though not repeal of the two. Long shot, yes, but possible. In the meantime, back to retirement plans for — someday. My guests today on our Your Turn radio show includes benefits expert Tammy Flanagan. She talked about what you should be thinking regardless of your age or time in government so that when you want to/have to leave, you will have enough money to live on. Lots of boxes to check. She’ll explain what they are and why you should h

Millions of people who, just a couple of months ago, had good paying jobs, health insurance and vacation plans are now having to make choices between food and rent. Others are still waiting for special checks from the government. A lot of people are trying to figure out what Congress and the White House have done to ease their pain. And what’s next? Tax deadlines were changed so you can delay filing until mid-July. Rules governing things like Required Minimum Distributions for older investors have been waived. Law offices are suddenly swamped with questions and requests from people wondering what they should be doing to make sure, in a worst case scenario, their designated loved ones get what’s due them. A will, witnessed by your buddies on the softball team that you pulled off the internet suddenly doesn’t seem sufficient. Maybe for a good reason? So Tom O’Rourke, estate and tax attorney in the Washington, D.C., area, joined me this morning on our Your Turn radio show. We’ll talk about the latest in deat

Experts in the stock market, real and self-anointed, know that historically it has gone up and down due to a variety of things — some predictable, some coming from out of left field. Buying stocks during the Great Depression was, in hindsight, a smart move. Shares were on sale but most people didn’t get it, or couldn’t afford it in the 1930s when they were too busy trying to find work, food and pay the rent. Some TSP investors see the current crisis as a buying opportunity. They are assuming that shares in the stock-indexed C, S and I funds are on sale and that, like during the Great Recession of 2008-2009, this too shall pass. Others are not so sure. Fans of the treasury securities G fund believe recent events have proven that while its yield is low, it never has a loss. So we asked Washington, D.C.-area financial planner Arthur Stein for his take. He knows the TSP well after working with the House Ways and Means Committee and after years as a professor and financial adviser.

When I was a very young reporter assigned to write obituaries, an elderly colleague (a woman of about 45) gave me some good advice. “If you want to be sure you get a good obit in the paper, write it yourself!” Which, lately, a lot of us have been doing. At least in our heads. Regardless of age, sex, health, whether we are still working or retired, most if not all of us are looking at a worst case scenario if we get “it”, and don’t survive, “it!” At some point most people realize , for the first time, they are not immortal. That their time is limited. That one of these days — despite family, friends, kids and grandchildren, a paid up mortgage and a low-mileage car — this is all going to end. But this is the first time in any of our lifetimes that we have all faced our mortality at the same time. The realization that this could be it. We are all, literally, in the same boat. Turns out the inevitable could be very soon. As in days or weeks. And what happens when/if that happens. The planning we meant to do so

First responders, doctors, nurses, cops, researchers and scientists have always been heroes. We just didn’t always know it. Now we do! And you can never have enough heroes, especially in a time like this when the residents of Planet Earth, all of us, are under attack. Many of us believe, hope and pray we will survive as a species — that this too shall pass. What we don’t know is if we will be among the survivors, which, maybe, is where you come in. Uncle Sam is looking for thousands of retired medical professionals to come back to work — now, ASAP! So where do you start? Begin by listening to our special Your Turn show all about the rehired annuitant program and the special waiver permitting both full pay and pension. Both guests are from the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association. Jessica Klement, vice president for policy and programs, will talk about the $2 trillion stimulus program which allows for the special rehiring and where re-employed federal experts fit in, and benefits exper

The idea of an out-of-the-blue pandemic shutting down America and the rest of the world would be an April Fools Day prank of the worst kind. Unfortunately, this is not a drill. Unlike past major events, 9/11, the Great Recession, which hit all of us but in many different ways, we are all pretty much in the same boat here. It may be better to be young in Idaho than to be 75 in Brooklyn. But maybe not all that much better. Hopefully you’ve got food. Toilet paper. You are taking every precaution. Now you wait. We all do. Federal employees, unlike many other working Americans, will have an annuity, a pension, if they work long enough. Either from the Civil Service Retirement System or Federal Employee Retirement System. CSRS costs employees more but produces a more generous monthly benefit that is fully-indexed to inflation. FERS has a less generous annuity formula and its partial catchup-with-inflation feature doesn’t kick in until age 62, except for a limited group of workers. FERS workers are entitled to a g

Many can live comfortably on their federal annuity while giving their stock-indexed TSP funds time to recover. But for the majority of retirement eligible federal and postal workers, that’s not an option. At least not if they want to maintain a decent standard of living in retirement. The reason? Many, if not most, of the feds eligible to retire are not under the CSRS program. They are under the very different Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Under the 3-legged retirement system, income from the TSP was projected to provide anywhere from one-third to as much as one-half of the income FERS retirees have. The other two sources were the civil service itself, which is much smaller than the CSRS annuity, and Social Security. Hundreds of thousands of feds faced the same situation in 2008 when the market collapsed. Many moved into the safety of the treasury securities G-fund. Many also stopped investing in the stock-indexed C, S and I funds. While they missed out on the big returns of the record bull ma

Most current and retired federal and postal workers have a 401k plan via the federal Thrift Savings Plan. For those under the Civil Service Retirement System, with its more generous indexed-to-inflation annuity for life, the TSP is a very nice thing to have. But in most cases, not a must. For those who are or will retire under the Federal Employees Retirement System program the TSP is a must. It is at least going to be one-third of their retirement income along with Social Security and their FERS annuity, which is not fully indexed to inflation. Over time that so-called diet cost of living adjustment formula means that normal inflation or anything over 2% will eat into their FERS annuity. A number of long-time TSP investors, though not as many as before, have account balances worth $1 million or more. Many were in the $500,000 to $750,000 category, before the “correction.” During the Great Recession thousands moved money from the stock indexed C, S and I funds into the safety of the treasury securities G fun

If you haven’t done your taxes yet, no problem. There’s still plenty of time. If you are planning not to pay your taxes, or not to file at all, that is a problem that, worst case scenario, could see you doing time in a federal pen. Most federal workers are paid via tax dollars, so ordinary taxpayers are not amused when they read a rare story about a civil servant dodging taxes. So do feds, for that matter, who pay their fair share on time. And while most people, both feds and everybody else, pay their taxes on time or are on payment plans with the IRS, the big problem comes when non-filers get caught. Many of us know people who haven’t filed, even if we don’t actually realize it. According to the most recent data the IRS has identified 1.6 million non-filers. So what happens if you or a friend are one of them? And what should you be aware of during the filing season? We also wanted to sort out the many scams people use posing as IRS agents or revenue officers. The IRS doesn’t call or email you asking for ba

With all the problems bubbling here in March, is Congress really going to spend real time moving most functions of the Office of Personnel Management to the General Services Administration? Except for some Washington-based technocrats, and some hungry contractors, who cares about that when China is in lockdown and the stock market is free-falling? Good questions: Which we’ll ask today when Jessica Klement and John Hatton from the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association join us at 10 a.m. EDT on Your Turn. Listen on www.federalnewsnetwork.com or at 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C. area.

Working for the federal government has its rewards and challenges. The same when you retire — a lot of options, which also means a lot of choices. Most working feds are under both the Federal Employees Retirement System plan and Social Security. When they retire they are faced with a number of important financial decisions. Among them: When it comes to money would you prefer less sooner or more later? The answer, like so many financial decisions, comes down to: It depends. Opting to get Social Security at age 62 means you will get the maximum number of monthly payments for life. But delaying getting a Social Security benefit means it will go up dramatically each year you wait. The maximum monthly benefit in 2020 is $2,265 for those retiring at age 62; $3,011 for those retiring at the full retirement age of 66; and $3,790 for those retiring at age 70. So should you go for it earlier or wait to get the maximum? The now-or-later decision is just one of many facing both active duty and retired federal civil s

For many people nearing retirement, running out of money is one of the top fears. Unless they work for the federal government. With the Federal Employees Retirement System annuity, Social Security and cost of living adjustments the fear of running out of money is not a major worry for federal and postal workers. But does your retirement plan include maybe 20 or 30 years of doing things, needing things, without that regular paycheck every two weeks? On today's Your Turn radio show financial planner Arthur Stein talks about planning for what could be a very lengthy retirement. You may be retired for as long as you worked — think about that. You can listen at 10 a.m. EDT on Wednesdays at www.federalnewsnetwork.com or in the Washington, D.C., area at 1500 AM.

The FY 2021 budget plan is similar to previous proposals in that offers civilian federal workers a smaller January 2021 pay raise of 1%, than the 3% proposed for the uniformed military. It would also change the way retirement benefits are calculated basing them on the employees’ highest five-year average salary instead of the current high-three formula. The National Active and Retired Federal Employees estimated this would cost future retirees $8 billion over the next decade. The plan puts the FERS supplement benefit on the chopping block again. It is a payment that FERS employees get if they retire before they are eligible to collect Social Security. That gap payment, often worth tens of thousands of dollars, would be a gut punch to air traffic controllers, law enforcement officers, firefighters and others who are forced to retire up to five years before they are eligible for Social Security. NARFE puts the financial loss to them at almost $20 billion over 10 years. To learn more about its prospects in Co

Nobody likes to think about dying. But it happens whether we prepare for it or not. And if you don’t do some advance planning it can cause even more longer lasting pain and grief, not to mention money and strained relations for your loved ones. Many people don’t think they have an “estate” but odds are — house, car, stock, Thrift Savings Plan balance, insurance — you do. Odds are you are in fact worth more dead than alive, in a manner of speaking. So we asked Tom O’Rourke for some words of wisdom. He’s an estate-tax attorney in the Washington, D.C. area, also a long-time IRS employee and Vietnam vet. He’s been working with clients — many of them active or retired feds — for decades. And he’s my guest on today’s Your Turn radio show at 10 a.m. EST. You can listen at www.federalnewsnetwork.com or at 1500 AM in the D.C. area. Shows are archived on our website so you can listen again anytime or refer it to a friend. If you have questions for Tom, send them to me before showtime at mcausey@federalnewsnetwork.com