Federal Retirees to Fund Katrina

[tozz]

Well, maybe not all of it.  Buried within the scare piece here is a threat to some folks who find themselves at age 55+ without a retirement plan.  As it stands now, a 57 year old can hire on with Uncle Sam at, say, $80K, work the job for five years, then retire at age 62.  He would get a 5% TSP (401K) match, social security credits, and a small $333/mo pension.  More importantly, though, he would receive full medical benefits for life.

The proposal linked above would pretty much eliminate the medical benefit to "fund Katrina."

 

[maddythebeagle]

I am thinking that some of the "short timers" that they would be cutting benies on would be some of the appointed administrators that come and go?

 

[Dreamer]

Wow, there is a lot more cuts being considered that just the one mentioned above regarding fed health bens for short timers. I personally am concerned regarding the possible change in the way fed pensions are computed-using highest 5 yrs, instead of highest 3 yrs. This 52 yr old with 32 yrs gov service, will think about early retirement a lot more next year. I have worked too long to have my pension changed at the last minute. I think that some people would be amazed at the knowlege and experience that is currently fleeing from some government offices. This time last year, our office was staffed with 13 experienced people and 1 trainee. At the end of December 2004, 4 people retired that together had over 140 years of service. We have 2 more people retiring 09/30/05 and another one 12/02/05. Our manager is one of the people retiring 09/30 and he was replaced with a first time manager who is trying to learn the ropes. We have 1 person currently in a training class, but she is in a different job title (lower) and will not be able to do everything in the office as the rest of us do. When the person retires 12/2/05, I will have the most seniority in our office. It takes a good 3 years of working, to get the expertise needed to do our jobs. When you work in a small office of 14 people and then go to 11 people with 4 of those people being trainees, it is a challenge. Not only are you answering phones more frequently, you are also answering the new trainees questions quite frequently. Not that I mind answering their questions, because that is the only way they are going to learn, but it takes time and you are frequently interrupted when trying to do a complex case. People are complaining that they can not get through on the phones to us. My work is stacking up on my desk and I feel like I am losing control! I know that there are federal agencies that seem to have less work and a lot of resources, but my agency is not one of them!We also have a new program to learn that is requiring more work. Yeah, if they start to mess with my pension, I think that my decision will be made for me. I will be joining you guys that are living the good life!

Dreamer

 

[Nords]

Wow, there is a lot more cuts being considered that just the one mentioned above regarding fed health bens for short timers.  I personally am concerned regarding the possible change in the way fed pensions are computed-using highest 5 yrs, instead of highest 3 yrs.  This 52 yr old with 32 yrs gov service, will think about early retirement a lot more next year.  I have worked too long to have my pension changed at the last minute.

I don't know anything about the proposal, but when the military went from "Final Pay" to "High 3" it was implemented for everyone who joined the service after 6 Sep 80. In other words, if you were already in the service you weren't affected.

This pension change will probably be the same implementation-- only affecting the extremely junior or those employees yet to be hired. You'll probably be "grandfathered" under High 3.

BTW another nice deal about the govt service pay system was that my pay grade was given a 5.7% "targeted retention" raise in Jan 02-- five months before I retired. I'll be collecting that extra 5.7% for a VERY long time.

 

[tozz]

Although the article was mainly from the perspective of hyperventilating federal employees,  the original proposal outlines some pretty drastic cuts.  It took 48 years and this administration for me to finally realize at gut level that I see the world in a dramatically different way than others.