Federal Pension Advice and Insights

Jul 30, 2026

The FERS annuity supplement is a temporary monthly payment from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). It bridges the income gap for eligible federal employees who retire before age 62, and it is not the same thing as Social Security.

Jul 29, 2026

Younger federal employees shouldn't assume Social Security will vanish, but they should build a retirement plan that still works if benefits are reduced. That's the core of sound younger federal employees retirement planning: treat Social Security as one funded pillar among three, then stress-test the whole plan against a smaller, later, or rule-changed benefit.

Jul 28, 2026

OPM FEHB data updates refer to two related actions by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that could expand how federal health claims data is collected and explain how that data may be stored, used, and shared.

Jul 27, 2026

Federal retirees, survivor annuitants, and eligible former spouses can suspend FEHB coverage to use TRICARE. Active federal employees cannot.

Jul 24, 2026

Federal telework changes are recent shifts in how much federal employees may work remotely or from home. Return-to-office directives, agency discretion, and evolving guidance from OPM, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, all drive them.

Jul 23, 2026

Federal retirement planning 2027 means lining up your High-3 salary, your Thrift Savings Plan contributions, and your cash reserves against a budget process that isn't finished.

Jul 22, 2026

A FERS survivor annuity is a recurring monthly payment made to the eligible spouse of a deceased Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) member. A surviving spouse only qualifies if the marriage lasted at least nine months before the employee's death, unless the death was accidental or a child was born of the marriage.

Jul 21, 2026

Federal employee job security refers to the statutory and constitutional protections that limit how, and on what grounds, most career civil servants can be disciplined or removed. Those protections still exist in 2026. But two recent Supreme Court decisions have changed the legal conversation around them, and the two rulings do very different things.

Jul 20, 2026

If you're a federal employee turning 63, IRMAA planning before Medicare should start now. The income you report around age 63 generally helps set your Medicare premiums around age 65.

Jul 17, 2026

Special category federal retirement is the set of enhanced retirement rules for certain physically demanding federal jobs: law enforcement officers, firefighters, air traffic controllers, and other covered public safety roles. These rules let covered employees retire far earlier than regular federal employees, often in their early 50s or even their late 40s. A covered employee can retire at age 50 with 20 years of covered service, or at any age with 25 years.

Jul 16, 2026

The 2027 COLA count has dropped to 3.1% through June, down from 3.6% through May, according to FedWeek's tracking of the inflation index used to set the annual adjustment. This is a running count, not the final number. The cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is the yearly increase applied to federal annuities and Social Security benefits to help retirement income keep pace with inflation.

Jul 15, 2026

Your FERS Supplement can be reduced, and in some cases reduced to zero for the year, if your post-retirement earned income exceeds the annual earnings limit. The supplement also normally ends when you reach age 62.