Federal Pension Advice and Insights

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.

Jul 14, 2026

Deciding whether to add Medicare Part B to your Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) coverage is one of the biggest choices in federal retirement. This FEHB and Medicare Part B checklist walks you through the main decision points, with the verified 2026 numbers you need to run the math. Federal retirees ask this question often. The checklist below helps you compare premiums, plan benefits, IRMAA exposure, and out-of-pocket risk.

Jul 13, 2026

FERS part-time service usually reduces your federal pension through a proration factor. OPM first calculates your annuity with the standard full-time formula, then multiplies it by the ratio of the actual and credited hours it recognizes to the full-time hours possible during your creditable FERS service.

Jul 10, 2026

The OPM online retirement application is the digital system federal employees now use to file for retirement through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the federal agency that administers civil service retirement benefits. OPM began the government-wide rollout of its Online Retirement Application (ORA) on June 2, 2025, and continued expanding the digital process over the following year

Jul 9, 2026

The proposed NDAs for federal employees are a draft, governmentwide nondisclosure agreement that OPM, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, published on May 27, 2026. Agencies could administer the form to current and new employees if they choose to adopt it. OPM has also asked for comments on what consequences may apply if employees don't sign.

Jul 8, 2026

AI tax advice for federal employees can be risky because chatbots may deliver inaccurate, outdated, or generic answers on complex retirement tax questions, and you, not the AI, are legally responsible for every figure on your return. Your federal retirement income blends a FERS annuity, TSP withdrawals, and Social Security. Each one is taxed differently. A confidently worded but wrong AI answer can trigger real penalties.

Jul 7, 2026

The Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) is the retirement plan covering most civilian federal workers hired since 1984. It pays benefits from three sources: a defined-benefit pension called the Basic Benefit Plan, Social Security, and the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP).