Your Turn with Mike Causey - Federal News Network | Hubbard Radio

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Join the fight of our lives: Uncle Sam wants you back Apr 08, 2020

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First responders, doctors, nurses, cops, researchers and scientists have always been heroes. We just didn’t always know it. Now we do! And you can never have enough heroes, especially in a time like this when the residents of Planet Earth, all of us, are under attack. Many of us believe, hope and pray we will survive as a species — that this too shall pass. What we don’t know is if we will be among the survivors, which, maybe, is where you come in. Uncle Sam is looking for thousands of retired medical professionals to come back to work — now, ASAP! So where do you start? Begin by listening to our special Your Turn show all about the rehired annuitant program and the special waiver permitting both full pay and pension. Both guests are from the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association. Jessica Klement, vice president for policy and programs, will talk about the $2 trillion stimulus program which allows for the special rehiring and where re-employed federal experts fit in, and benefits expert James Marshall. Nicole Ogrysko who also first outlined the new program on Federal News Network will join me to talk with the NARFE experts.

Life (and your career) after coronavirus Apr 01, 2020

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The idea of an out-of-the-blue pandemic shutting down America and the rest of the world would be an April Fools Day prank of the worst kind. Unfortunately, this is not a drill. Unlike past major events, 9/11, the Great Recession, which hit all of us but in many different ways, we are all pretty much in the same boat here. It may be better to be young in Idaho than to be 75 in Brooklyn. But maybe not all that much better. Hopefully you’ve got food. Toilet paper. You are taking every precaution. Now you wait. We all do. Federal employees, unlike many other working Americans, will have an annuity, a pension, if they work long enough. Either from the Civil Service Retirement System or Federal Employee Retirement System. CSRS costs employees more but produces a more generous monthly benefit that is fully-indexed to inflation. FERS has a less generous annuity formula and its partial catchup-with-inflation feature doesn’t kick in until age 62, except for a limited group of workers. FERS workers are entitled to a generous matching contribution from the government toward their Thrift Savings Plan. Over time its impact is tremendous. Unfortunately the TSP is in the tank, temporarily we assume and hope, until we get out of the current mess. But for now most balances are down for most people to the point where many are rethinking their retirement date. And if not, should be. So where to start? When in doubt, and in all things retirement, start with Tammy Flanagan. She’s been thinking and rethinking your career since the virus hit. And I’ll be talking with her today live, at 10 am EDT, on our Your Turn radio show. You can listen live at federalnewsnetwork.com or 1500 AM in the Washington metro area. The show will be archived on our home page so you can listen later, listen again or pass it along to a friend or coworker. If you have questions for her, send them to me before showtime at mcausey@federalnewsnetwork.com.

Planning to retire, ever? Hold that thought! Mar 25, 2020

Show notes

Many can live comfortably on their federal annuity while giving their stock-indexed TSP funds time to recover. But for the majority of retirement eligible federal and postal workers, that’s not an option. At least not if they want to maintain a decent standard of living in retirement. The reason? Many, if not most, of the feds eligible to retire are not under the CSRS program. They are under the very different Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Under the 3-legged retirement system, income from the TSP was projected to provide anywhere from one-third to as much as one-half of the income FERS retirees have. The other two sources were the civil service itself, which is much smaller than the CSRS annuity, and Social Security. Hundreds of thousands of feds faced the same situation in 2008 when the market collapsed. Many moved into the safety of the treasury securities G-fund. Many also stopped investing in the stock-indexed C, S and I funds. While they missed out on the big returns of the record bull market many feel vindicated now that the “correction” of more than 30 percent so far has happened. So should you stay or should you go? That’s what we’re going to talk about today with benefits expert Tammy Flanagan, my guest on our Your Turn radio show. Tammy has been there, done that, and has the answers to some questions you probably didn’t know you had.

Your TSP in the tank: Now what? Mar 18, 2020

Show notes

Most current and retired federal and postal workers have a 401k plan via the federal Thrift Savings Plan. For those under the Civil Service Retirement System, with its more generous indexed-to-inflation annuity for life, the TSP is a very nice thing to have. But in most cases, not a must. For those who are or will retire under the Federal Employees Retirement System program the TSP is a must. It is at least going to be one-third of their retirement income along with Social Security and their FERS annuity, which is not fully indexed to inflation. Over time that so-called diet cost of living adjustment formula means that normal inflation or anything over 2% will eat into their FERS annuity. A number of long-time TSP investors, though not as many as before, have account balances worth $1 million or more. Many were in the $500,000 to $750,000 category, before the “correction.” During the Great Recession thousands moved money from the stock indexed C, S and I funds into the safety of the treasury securities G fund. That money was “safe” but its growth rate compared to the rebounding stock funds, was minimal. Those who stuck with the stock funds and continued to buy — at what turned out to be bargain basement sale prices — saw their accounts prosper. Things like risk-tolerance, age and how soon after retirement you will need to tap your TSP are key factors in deciding what to do or what not to do. So, when in doubt, ask Arthur Stein. He’s a well-known financial planner with a lot of federal clients in the Washington, D.C., area. He’ll be my guest today on our Your Turn radio show at 10 a.m. EDT. Listen at www.federalnewsnetwork.com or at 1500 AM in the D.C. region. If you have questions shoot them to me before showtime at mcausey@federalnewsnetwork.com

Don’t forget to file: Avoiding an audit Mar 10, 2020

Show notes

If you haven’t done your taxes yet, no problem. There’s still plenty of time. If you are planning not to pay your taxes, or not to file at all, that is a problem that, worst case scenario, could see you doing time in a federal pen. Most federal workers are paid via tax dollars, so ordinary taxpayers are not amused when they read a rare story about a civil servant dodging taxes. So do feds, for that matter, who pay their fair share on time. And while most people, both feds and everybody else, pay their taxes on time or are on payment plans with the IRS, the big problem comes when non-filers get caught. Many of us know people who haven’t filed, even if we don’t actually realize it. According to the most recent data the IRS has identified 1.6 million non-filers. So what happens if you or a friend are one of them? And what should you be aware of during the filing season? We also wanted to sort out the many scams people use posing as IRS agents or revenue officers. The IRS doesn’t call or email you asking for back taxes. You may hear from them but it will be in the form of a revenue officer, with credentials. To get some answers to tax-time questions, including those you should be considering, I asked D.C. area Tom O’Rourke to join me today at 10 a.m. EDT on our Your Turn radio show. Tom worked for the IRS for many years before going into private practice.

Forget coronavirus and primaries, time for wallet check! Mar 03, 2020

Show notes

With all the problems bubbling here in March, is Congress really going to spend real time moving most functions of the Office of Personnel Management to the General Services Administration? Except for some Washington-based technocrats, and some hungry contractors, who cares about that when China is in lockdown and the stock market is free-falling? Good questions: Which we’ll ask today when Jessica Klement and John Hatton from the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association join us at 10 a.m. EDT on Your Turn. Listen on www.federalnewsnetwork.com or at 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C. area.

Timing your first date with Social Security Feb 25, 2020

Show notes

Working for the federal government has its rewards and challenges. The same when you retire — a lot of options, which also means a lot of choices. Most working feds are under both the Federal Employees Retirement System plan and Social Security. When they retire they are faced with a number of important financial decisions. Among them: When it comes to money would you prefer less sooner or more later? The answer, like so many financial decisions, comes down to: It depends. Opting to get Social Security at age 62 means you will get the maximum number of monthly payments for life. But delaying getting a Social Security benefit means it will go up dramatically each year you wait. The maximum monthly benefit in 2020 is $2,265 for those retiring at age 62; $3,011 for those retiring at the full retirement age of 66; and $3,790 for those retiring at age 70. So should you go for it earlier or wait to get the maximum? The now-or-later decision is just one of many facing both active duty and retired federal civil servants. Knowing the options, and what to do with them can add tens of thousands of dollars to your retirement. And there is no one-size fits all answer. Which is why we’ll spend this morning talking to federal benefits expert Tammy Flanagan. She was a long-time fed, now retired and heading her own company. Insight by Mapbox: Federal practitioners delve into issues surrounding geospatial information and its use in applications in this exclusive executive briefing. Tammy will be my guest on today’s Your Turn radio show at 10 a.m. EST here on www.federalnewsnetwork.com or in the Washington area on 1500 AM. She’s going to answer some of the most common and complicated questions she gets including:

How long will you live? How’s your cash flow? Feb 18, 2020

Show notes

For many people nearing retirement, running out of money is one of the top fears. Unless they work for the federal government. With the Federal Employees Retirement System annuity, Social Security and cost of living adjustments the fear of running out of money is not a major worry for federal and postal workers. But does your retirement plan include maybe 20 or 30 years of doing things, needing things, without that regular paycheck every two weeks? On today's Your Turn radio show financial planner Arthur Stein talks about planning for what could be a very lengthy retirement. You may be retired for as long as you worked — think about that. You can listen at 10 a.m. EDT on Wednesdays at www.federalnewsnetwork.com or in the Washington, D.C., area at 1500 AM.

Downsizing your pay/pension for life Feb 11, 2020

Show notes

The FY 2021 budget plan is similar to previous proposals in that offers civilian federal workers a smaller January 2021 pay raise of 1%, than the 3% proposed for the uniformed military. It would also change the way retirement benefits are calculated basing them on the employees’ highest five-year average salary instead of the current high-three formula. The National Active and Retired Federal Employees estimated this would cost future retirees $8 billion over the next decade. The plan puts the FERS supplement benefit on the chopping block again. It is a payment that FERS employees get if they retire before they are eligible to collect Social Security. That gap payment, often worth tens of thousands of dollars, would be a gut punch to air traffic controllers, law enforcement officers, firefighters and others who are forced to retire up to five years before they are eligible for Social Security. NARFE puts the financial loss to them at almost $20 billion over 10 years. To learn more about its prospects in Congress tune into our Your Turn radio show at 10 a.m. EST today. My guests are Kenneth J. Thomas, president of NARFE and Jessica Klement, vice president for advocacy.

Good at putting things off? Here’s the last checklist you’ll ever need! Feb 04, 2020

Show notes

Nobody likes to think about dying. But it happens whether we prepare for it or not. And if you don’t do some advance planning it can cause even more longer lasting pain and grief, not to mention money and strained relations for your loved ones. Many people don’t think they have an “estate” but odds are — house, car, stock, Thrift Savings Plan balance, insurance — you do. Odds are you are in fact worth more dead than alive, in a manner of speaking. So we asked Tom O’Rourke for some words of wisdom. He’s an estate-tax attorney in the Washington, D.C. area, also a long-time IRS employee and Vietnam vet. He’s been working with clients — many of them active or retired feds — for decades. And he’s my guest on today’s Your Turn radio show at 10 a.m. EST. You can listen at www.federalnewsnetwork.com or at 1500 AM in the D.C. area. Shows are archived on our website so you can listen again anytime or refer it to a friend. If you have questions for Tom, send them to me before showtime at mcausey@federalnewsnetwork.com.

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