Federal Pension Advice and Insights

Aug 27, 2026

Federal employee spouse retirement benefits are the coordinated pension, health insurance, and Social Security protections a married couple relies on when one spouse works for the federal government and the other works in the private sector. In practice, the federal spouse's annuity, survivor election, and Federal Employees Health Benefits enrollment must be planned alongside the non-federal spouse's Social Security and employer retirement accounts.

Aug 26, 2026

No, FEHB does not cover long-term care. The Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program is medical insurance. It pays for doctor visits, hospital stays, surgery, and prescriptions, not custodial care.

Aug 25, 2026

A major milestone for the 2027 federal pay raise arrives August 31, 2026. That's the day the president faces a statutory deadline to submit an alternative plan for the across-the-board pay adjustment under 5 U.S.C. § 5303.

Aug 24, 2026

The FERS Basic Employee Death Benefit is a death benefit payable to the eligible surviving spouse, or a qualifying former spouse, of a federal employee who dies while still on the employing agency's rolls. To qualify, the employee must have had at least 18 months of creditable civilian service. The recipient can generally take it as a single payment or in 36 monthly installments.

Aug 21, 2026

If you retired on FERS disability and are under age 60 on December 31 of a calendar year, OPM can stop your annuity for that year if your income from wages and self-employment reaches at least 80% of the current pay for the position you held when you retired. Your earnings must stay below that 80% line. Reaching or exceeding it triggers "restoration to earning capacity" and ends the annuity.

Aug 20, 2026

A FERS service credit deposit is a payment you make to OPM, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, to buy back civilian time that was not covered by retirement contributions, so that it counts toward your pension.

Aug 19, 2026

A reemployed annuitant is a federal retiree who draws a Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) pension and, at the same time, earns a paycheck as a rehired federal employee. If you return to federal service in 2026, your FERS annuity almost always continues in full. But your new salary is reduced by the amount of that annuity for the period you work.

Aug 18, 2026

You can check your OPM retirement application status three ways: log in to OPM Retirement Services Online with your CSA number, call the OPM Retirement Information Office at 1-888-767-6738, or email retire@opm.gov. OPM, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, assigns you a Civil Service Annuity (CSA) claim number once it receives your complete package from your agency.

Aug 14, 2026

If you're a former federal employee, you can now get your SF-50 after leaving federal service through the Office of Personnel Management's new Document Request Service (DRS). It's an online portal at myopf.opm.gov that delivers a complete copy of your electronic Official Personnel Folder without a paper form.

Aug 13, 2026

The First Responder Fair RETIRE Act is a 2022 federal law that lets certain federal first responders keep their enhanced retirement coverage, sometimes informally called "6c" coverage, after a duty-related injury or illness that permanently prevents them from providing useful and efficient service in their covered position.

Aug 12, 2026

To file a deferred FERS retirement application in 2026, you submit it through OPM's Online Retirement Application (ORA) instead of mailing paper forms. FERS, the Federal Employees Retirement System, is the pension plan that covers most civilian federal workers hired after 1983. OPM, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, is the agency that adjudicates and pays federal annuities.

Aug 11, 2026

The 2027 FERS COLA, the annual inflation adjustment that may increase payments for eligible Federal Employees Retirement System annuitants, is not yet set.