Your Turn with Mike Causey

The current bull market is more than a decade old and is long overdue for a major correction. Financial planner Arthur Stein has plenty of federal clients and offers his thoughts on this episode of Your Turn with Mike Causey.

Many people accumulate wealth in a variety of forms: Maybe a house or other property, a car or several, insurance, a 401(k) or Thrift Savings Plan? Maybe they have a survivor annuity that will give their significant other a lifetime stream of income that is designed to keep up with inflation no matter how long he or she lives? On this episode of the Your Turn radio show, Tom O’Rourke talks about what everybody, but especially members of the federal family, needs to know about estate planning.

On this episode of Your Turn, Arthur Stein, a Washington, D.C.-area financial planner with a lot of active and retired federal clients, discusses what people should not be doing with their TSP accounts. Your Turn with Mike Causey airs at 10 a.m. EDT on 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C. area and www.federalnewsnetwork.com.

On this episode, we hear from Federal News Network reporter Nicole Ogrysko, who’s been following the pay raise in Congress. We’ll also be looking at upcoming changes in the Thrift Savings Plan designed to make it easier for participants to withdraw money. Military families and veterans get some advice on financial planning from Mike Meese, executive vice president and secretary of the American Armed Forces Mutual Aid Association. AAFMAA celebrates 140 years providing survivor benefits.

For decades, job-hunting spouses of mobile military and federal people have hidden, or tried to hide, the fact that they are not “career” material because of the person they married. Many employers are reluctant to hire, train and promote someone who will be relocating in the coming years. But things may be changing thanks to new military spouse preference rules. On this episode of Your Turn, job-expert Kathryn Troutman, president of The Resume Place, answers your questions and offers tips to make your resume stand out. Your Turn with Mike Causey airs at 10 a.m. EDT on 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C. area and www.federalnewsnetwork.com.

When it comes to employer-backed 401k plans, most experts say that the federal Thrift Savings Plan, with its 5% match and super-low administrative fees, is the best deal around. At the end of March, the TSP had 5.6 million participants and was worth $561 billion. Arthur Stein, a Washington area financial planner, spent a day on Capitol Hill last month talking to Senate staffers about their investment options. Most of them were in the TSP, but in some cases, he said they should be investing less. Why? Find out on this episode of the Your Turn radio show. Your Turn with Mike Causey airs at 10 a.m. EDT on 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C. area and www.federalnewsnetwork.com.

If you’re like most people, you probably have, or will, spend more time deciding how, when and where you’ll retire than you did deciding how, when and where you would spend the majority of your career. Knowing what to ask is very important. Knowing the answers is critical. Where to start? Relax, we’ll come to you. Benefits expert Tammy Flanagan is the guest this week. The Your Turn radio show airs at 10 a.m. EDT on 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C. area and www.federalnewsnetwork.com.

So you’ve done well, now what? One of the first things you need to do is recognize your true financial value, living and dead, then have a plan. Having a will alone no longer works for many people. Some need a trust and medical directives. But what kind, and how do you know? Tom O’ Rourke, an estate and tax attorney and former IRS lawyer, answers these questions on this episode of Your Turn with Mike Causey. The Your Turn radio show airs at 10 a.m. EDT on 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C. area and www.federalnewsnetwork.com.

On this episode, Nicole Ogrysko, who covers workforce issues on the Hill, outlines the changes feds and retirees may be facing and talks about what the Democratic take-over of the House might mean for plans to curtail your retirement benefits. The Your Turn radio show airs at 10 a.m. EDT at www.federalnewsnetwork.com and on 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C., area.

After significant declines during the fourth quarter of 2018, TSP funds rebounded during the first three months of this year. Patience has its reward, according to Washington, D.C.-area financial planner Arthur Stein. Many of his clients are retired feds. Several of them are TSP millionaires who did it by long-term investing without reacting to the market’s ups and downs. On this episode, he explains how a "safe" investment could be a higher risk in the long-term. The Your Turn radio show airs at 10 a.m. EST on 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C. area and www.federalnewsnetwork.com.

Benefits expert Tammy Flanagan, who first came up with the best-dates-to-retire concept, says feds under FERS also need to consider Social Security. It will be one of the three legs of their imaginary retirement stool which also includes the FERS benefit plus the TSP. Tammy literally has all the answers. The Your Turn radio show airs at 10 a.m. EDT at www.federalnewsnetwork.com or on 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C., area.

Retirement, is it time for you and if so, are you ready? It’s a timely question because the chaos caused by the shutdown — back pay and retirement claims delayed — has some people questioning how much longer they want to stick around. John Grobe, president of Federal Career Experts discusses how to prepare for retirement on this episode of the Your Turn Radio show. Listen live Wednesday's at 10 a.m. on www.federalnewsnetwork.com or 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C. area.

It’s probably safe to assume that hardly anybody (politicians notwithstanding) joins the government planning to become rich. But you could still be well on the way to millionaire status. On this episode, Mike speaks with tax and estate attorney Tom O’Rourke, a former IRS employee who has spent decades advising Washington-area feds in building, keeping and passing on estates to the people they want to get it. The Your Turn radio show airs at 10 a.m. EST on 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C. area and www.federalnewsnetwork.com.

When they retire after a long career with Uncle Sam many FERS retirees hope for good health, long life and low-inflation. Not necessarily in that order. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D) has introduced a bill that would take FERS retirees off their diet-COLA plan. On this episode of the Your Turn radio show, we hear from NARFE's Staff Vice President for Advocacy Jessica Klement and Director of Legislative and Political Affairs John Hatton about the impact of the diet-COLA.

Even if Congress and the White House find a way to avoid another partial government shutdown there is another one coming that has your name on it — no escape. Do you have financial and medical powers of attorney in place? If so, are the persons you have selected to act as your agent still proper? And finally, have there been any events in your life — i.e. births, deaths, dementia, marriages, divorces and moves — that could have an impact on your estate plan or that you should at least discuss with your lawyer? On this episode, Tom O’Rourke, a former IRS attorney who now works exclusively on estate planning, tackles these questions. The Your Turn radio show airs at 10 a.m. EST on 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C. area and www.federalnewsnetwork.com.

For the vast majority of federal workers investing in the Thrift Savings Plan is a must, period. Chances are it will provide anywhere from 30 to 50 percent of the income they have in retirement, which is a very big deal. It may be the difference between steak and hamburger or, worst case scenario, cat food. And you don’t have a cat! So if you have a TSP account what did you do in December when the high-flying stock market, after wobbling a couple months, dropped big time? On this episode, financial planner Arthur Stein talks us through the highs and lows of investing in the TSP. He has a number of federal clients including several who are TSP millionaires. The Your Turn radio show airs at 10 a.m. EST on1500 AM in the Washington, D.C. area and www.federalnewsnetwork.com.

Federal news Network reporters Nicole Ogrysko and Jory Heckman covered the shutdown from a variety of angles. On this episode of the Your Turn radio show they give their takes on why it happened, exactly what happened and what maybe happens next. Also, they share information on what your long-overdue paycheck will look like and when it will show up in your direct deposit. Your Turn airs live at 10 a.m. ET on 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C. area.

On this episode of the Your Turn radio show, we’ll be talking with Ken Thomas, president of the National Association of Active and Retired Federal Employees, about what the shutdown has already done to government services and how people can get help. NARFE has been working with the federal coalition fighting the shutdown. It has also partnered with FEEA, the feds-helping-feds charity that is helping unpaid feds get by. Your Turn airs live at 10 a.m. ET on 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C. area.

Everybody knows the expression what goes up also goes down. Repeat as necessary. We know the stock market retreats and advances. But after the longest running with the bull market for almost a decade, 2018, or at least the last half of it, was a bummer. Many feds, young, old or retired, invested heavily in the stock-indexed C, S and I funds are nervous in the service. On this episode of the Your Turn radio show, we asked financial planner Arthur Stein what’s going on. A majority of his customers are active or retired feds, and several of them are Thrift Savings Plan millionaires. Your Turn airs at 10 a.m. EST on 1500 AM.

On this episode of the Your Turn radio show, we speak with Greg Klingler of the Government Employee Benefits Association. He's director of products and member services for GEBA. He talks about life and long term care insurance for members, 529 college savings plans and options feds have during the shutdown to make changes — or additionals — to their TSP accounts, the pros and cons of self-adjusting Lifecycle funds and ways to possibly get your financial house in better order during and because of the shutdown.