U.S. Government Workers: How to Avoid the Headache of Retirement Planning

When many of us start thinking about planning for retirement, we often believe we have ample time to get to it later in life, or the thought alone fills us with dread.

Sometimes, we just don’t want to deal with it. If you’re a U.S. government worker, it’s a topic rife with just as many challenges as opportunities.

An example of the challenge that lies ahead of you: check out the government’s documentation of the process — 115-pages of mind-numbing verbiage filled with sections upon sections. And it wouldn’t be Uncle Sam if he didn’t include subsections heaped upon subsections.

Surely at the end of the day, it is probably a worthy guide to get your retirement process under way. But who has the time to decipher it? More importantly, it is only a starting point. You could also check out the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) online retirement FAQ. But a warning: it may induce a headache during your attempt to sort through the numerous questions they pose, when you are only trying to get one answer.

Before deciding you wanted to go down the road of retirement, you also should have already been exploring all of the investment and retirement options you have available in order maximize your post-retirement future.

So many questions and very few answers at hand.

How much of a pension should I expect to receive from the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS)? How can I maximize the investment potential of my Thrift Savings Plan? Is there a limit to how much I can contribute? How much money will I realize after I cash out?

In plain language, what exactly is a “Lifecycle” fund? Should I invest in the L 2020, the L 2030, the L 2040 or the L 2050? What plan is best for me and my family? The federal government will show you what investment plans are available. But they can’t be your financial advisor. That’s not their job.

That’s our job.

We can help you navigate the labyrinth of regulations governing the pension and investment plans offered to you. We can show you other investment options and guide you to other investment tools that can help complement your federal benefits.

All you have to do is schedule a free one-on-one appointment with one of our advisors. We will relieve the headache of retirement planning and turn it into an opportunity. We’re your independent federal benefits advocate.