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Government employee thread! (Being a government employee is sweet) (1 Viewer)

dgreen said:
This will have everything: https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/fers-information/

Yes, TSP (gov 401k) matches up to 5%. 1% is automatically put into your TSP whether you contribute or not, then 1-for-1 match up to 3%, and then 0.5-to-1 at 4% and 5%. There's a traditional (pre-tax) and Roth (after tax) option. Matching funds always go to the traditional but you don't have to contribute to the traditional to get it. For example, right now, all of my TSP contributions are going to Roth TSP, but my traditional still gets additional funds because that's where the matching goes.

As mentioned, high 3 is about the pension. Yes, we still have a pension! The pension is a great deal for people like me who have been in a while because I only have 0.8% of each paycheck taken out. I think it's higher now for those entering fed employment. I'd guess it's still a good deal, though. Basically the way the pension works is that you get about 1% of the average of your 3 highest years for each year you work in the federal government. To get the pension, you have to reach a Minimum Retirement Age. So, for example, I'll have 34 years by the time I'm 57 (Minimum Retirement Age) so my pension will be 34% of the average of my three highest years of pay. It goes up to 1.1% if you wait until age 62 to retire.

Maybe one of the best parts of FERS is that you only need to work for the feds for five years to then carry your health insurance throughout retirement. Health insurance during retirement will work the same as if you are an employee.

Congratulations on the offer!
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You won't be rich, but the government benefits are legit.

 
rascal said:
You won't be rich, but the government benefits are legit.
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After a long time and some promotions doing quite well for myself but I agree I was never going to make 2-300k anyway so it's a win :) . Medical is still freaking expensive

 
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belljr said:
After a long time and some promotions doing quite well for myself but I agree I was never going to make 2-300k anyway so it's a win :) . Medical is still freaking expensive
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Yes, it is.

agreed.  I'm an engineer supervisor so i make good money as GS-14.  Not as much as my friends in commerical world, but then I work ~40 hours, have job security, and better benefits (leave, retirement, etc).

 
dgreen said:
As mentioned, high 3 is about the pension. Yes, we still have a pension! The pension is a great deal for people like me who have been in a while because I only have 0.8% of each paycheck taken out. I think it's higher now for those entering fed employment. I'd guess it's still a good deal, though. Basically the way the pension works is that you get about 1% of the average of your 3 highest years for each year you work in the federal government. To get the pension, you have to reach a Minimum Retirement Age. So, for example, I'll have 34 years by the time I'm 57 (Minimum Retirement Age) so my pension will be 34% of the average of my three highest years of pay. It goes up to 1.1% if you wait until age 62 to retire.
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This isn't quite right.  The 1 vs. 1.1% per year has to do with whether you have more than or less than 20 years of service and nothing about you MRA.  The minimum retirement age is much more complex on what it is and how it impacts your pension.  This explains it better.  

 
jon_mx said:
This isn't quite right.  The 1 vs. 1.1% per year has to do with whether you have more than or less than 20 years of service and nothing about you MRA.  The minimum retirement age is much more complex on what it is and how it impacts your pension.  This explains it better.  
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Actually, you are both wrong for annuity calculation to determine 1% or 1.1%  Age 62 or Older at Separation With 20 or More Years of Service is 1.1%.

https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/fers-information/computation/

One to remember, COLA adjustments will increase that annuity.

 
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rascal said:
Actually, you are both wrong for annuity calculation to determine 1% or 1.1%  Age 62 or Older at Separation With 20 or More Years of Service is 1.1%.
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That does not conflict with what I said.  I linked to how the MRA impacts the pension, because it is actually much more complex than what you state.  

 
jon_mx said:
That does not conflict with what I said.  I linked to how the MRA impacts the pension, because it is actually much more complex than what you state.  
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But it doesn't change the 1 vs 1.1 formula if you meet MRA

 
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belljr said:
Did you get fingerprinted?
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Haven't been anywhere yet. Negotiating my pay currently. They wanted my last 3 pay stubs to justify what I'm asking for. It's in the upper third of the pay range for the position listed.  Lady said I could either negotiate salary or for a relocation stipend but not both. Bummer

 
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rascal said:
Yes, it is.

agreed.  I'm an engineer supervisor so i make good money as GS-14.  Not as much as my friends in commerical world, but then I work ~40 hours, have job security, and better benefits (leave, retirement, etc).
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My plan is to work as a 12 until my last few years before retirement and then as a 13 for the last 5 or so. 

 
belljr said:
You have a few days?
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:wall:
It can be confusing.  Been with the VA for 34 years now and hit my MRA of 56 last year.  Understanding how all of it works and how they calculate the high 3 can be confusing.

For those in here that have said they are Federal, I have a pretty cool spreadsheet to track your leave with.  For those that have been around a while, it mimics the old GEICO folder HR used to hand out.  Just PM me if you want a copy.

Evidently GEICO still makes them: example

 
Mjolnirs said:
:wall:
It can be confusing.  Been with the VA for 34 years now and hit my MRA of 56 last year.  Understanding how all of it works and how they calculate the high 3 can be confusing.

For those in here that have said they are Federal, I have a pretty cool spreadsheet to track your leave with.  For those that have been around a while, it mimics the old GEICO folder HR used to hand out.  Just PM me if you want a copy.

Evidently GEICO still makes them: example
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That's cool and all but castle pretty much takes care of all that... :)

 
Mjolnirs said:
:wall:
It can be confusing.  Been with the VA for 34 years now and hit my MRA of 56 last year.  Understanding how all of it works and how they calculate the high 3 can be confusing.

For those in here that have said they are Federal, I have a pretty cool spreadsheet to track your leave with.  For those that have been around a while, it mimics the old GEICO folder HR used to hand out.  Just PM me if you want a copy.

Evidently GEICO still makes them: example
Click to expand...
It may be hard to get it exact, but the high three is exactly what it says.  Most people's high three are their last three years.  To get close you take your last three years annual salary (excluding overtime and bonus) and you average them.  So if you made $124k, $120k and $116k, you high three would work out to be $120k.  That should get you within a couple percent.   If you want the exact number, you would have to go through each pay period and calculate using your SF-52's to see where your raise kicked in and calculate and go back for three 52-week periods.  

 
jon_mx said:
It may be hard to get it exact, but the high three is exactly what it says.  Most people's high three are their last three years.  To get close you take your last three years annual salary (excluding overtime and bonus) and you average them.  So if you made $124k, $120k and $116k, you high three would work out to be $120k.  That should get you within a couple percent.   If you want the exact number, you would have to go through each pay period and calculate using your SF-52's to see where your raise kicked in and calculate and go back for three 52-week periods.  
Click to expand...
Sf-50?

 
Mjolnirs said:
:wall:
It can be confusing.  Been with the VA for 34 years now and hit my MRA of 56 last year.  Understanding how all of it works and how they calculate the high 3 can be confusing.

For those in here that have said they are Federal, I have a pretty cool spreadsheet to track your leave with.  For those that have been around a while, it mimics the old GEICO folder HR used to hand out.  Just PM me if you want a copy.

Evidently GEICO still makes them: example
Click to expand...
My understanding is my agency's HR has retirement specialists who can prepare documentation to provide exact figures for different scenarios as you near retirement. My agency offers retirement classes for new employees, mid career, and then when you're within five years of retirement. I took the mid career one and it was really helpful. I'll forget most of it by the time I'm nearing retirement and mostly reinforced that I was already doing what I need to do, but still really good. That's where I learned about the retirement specialists in HR who can calculate all of this for you. You might want to contact HR to have them create something for you.

 
belljr said:
Did they deny your salary request or time off yet?
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No. I didn't mention pto. They said I could either request for salary negotiation or relocation assistance, but not both. The other two people I know already doing the job were both able to negotiate their salary.  I had to provide the lady with last 3 pay stubs and a written justification for the salary I am requesting. 

 
flapgreen said:
No. I didn't mention pto. They said I could either request for salary negotiation or relocation assistance, but not both. The other two people I know already doing the job were both able to negotiate their salary.  I had to provide the lady with last 3 pay stubs and a written justification for the salary I am requesting. 
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Cool.  The PTO will be a non issue in 3 years imo.   The only issue with a higher step is I think your raises happen slower.

I could be completely off with that since I have never been on that scale

 
belljr said:
Cool.  The PTO will be a non issue in 3 years imo.   The only issue with a higher step is I think your raises happen slower.

I could be completely off with that since I have never been on that scale
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That's fine. I think the 12 range was 77 to 99. I make mid 90s at my current job and requested that. Then sent in my pay stubs and justification for it. We'll see what they say. 

 
Just curious is there a no thanks number?

I don't need to know it, just curious if you might decline

 
dgreen said:
My understanding is my agency's HR has retirement specialists who can prepare documentation to provide exact figures for different scenarios as you near retirement. My agency offers retirement classes for new employees, mid career, and then when you're within five years of retirement. I took the mid career one and it was really helpful. I'll forget most of it by the time I'm nearing retirement and mostly reinforced that I was already doing what I need to do, but still really good. That's where I learned about the retirement specialists in HR who can calculate all of this for you. You might want to contact HR to have them create something for you.
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I've attended a couple of these classes, and last year I had them run two possible retirement dates for me.  That gave me an idea to work with.  When I worked at the facility itself, I knew the person in HR that handled this for all of my coworkers that retired.  I passed her in the hallway all the time.  But, 5 years ago I moved to a Region position, and work from home.  Now the local facility's HR can't assist me now because all of my HR information is handled elsewhere.  I can communicate with my HR via email and chat, but it's not as convenient as running down the hall an into the HR office.

 
dgreen said:
You might even want to consider doing those last few years at a higher grade in one of the higher paying metro areas to increase your retirement pay.
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This is wrong.  Your fers annuity is based on your basic pay which does not include locality.

 
rascal said:
This is wrong.  Your fers annuity is based on your basic pay which does not include locality.
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This article, and others I found, indicate locality is included. I didn’t see anything quickly on OPM’s site. Based on the articles I found, I think maybe you are, understandably, mixing “basic pay” with “base pay.” “Basic pay” apparently includes locality. 

 
dgreen said:
This article, and others I found, indicate locality is included. I didn’t see anything quickly on OPM’s site. Based on the articles I found, I think maybe you are, understandably, mixing “basic pay” with “base pay.” “Basic pay” apparently includes locality. 
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Yes, locality is included as well as certain add-ons (hazard and night differential). But overseas allowances such as LQA, COLA, and post differential do not. For example, Hawaii has a combination locality and COLA. The locality counts towards your high 3 but not the COLA.

 
DaVinci said:
Yes, locality is included as well as certain add-ons (hazard and night differential). But overseas allowances such as LQA, COLA, and post differential do not. For example, Hawaii has a combination locality and COLA. The locality counts towards your high 3 but not the COLA.
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Now transferring to Hawaii for a couple years sounds like a great idea! 

 
flapgreen said:
Haven't been anywhere yet. Negotiating my pay currently. They wanted my last 3 pay stubs to justify what I'm asking for. It's in the upper third of the pay range for the position listed.  Lady said I could either negotiate salary or for a relocation stipend but not both. Bummer
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Relocation stipend is tax free, correct? It was for us when we were offered to move to the mothership when my company sold us. A very healthy sum too

 
Mr.Pack said:
Relocation stipend is tax free, correct? It was for us when we were offered to move to the mothership when my company sold us. A very healthy sum too
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Apparently. Bummed I can't negotiate pay and get a relocation stipend. Buddy got both when he got the job a couple years ago. 

 
Oddly, I'm getting paid within a couple grand of what I make in the private sector, but with the added benefit of more time off, far better benefits and a retirement, a much more manageable caseload and job security beyond compare.  Win. Win

And I can advance to making far more than I ever could in the private sector with my occupation, eventually

 
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Going out to the base next week for physical and fingerprints and to look at housing. Looking like starting end of April or beginning of May. Can't come quick enough. Current job is miserable. 

 
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