Take Control of Your TSP Portfolio

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MyTSPVision.com helps you meet your individual risk return allocations that are appropriate for YOUR needs.

Financial success requires more than contributing to your TSP. It requires that you make good investment choices and make sure that they continue to meet your needs as the economy and your lifestyle change. We provide the tools to allow you to allocate your TSP into a mix of funds that are appropriate for the level of risk within your comfort zone. Our researchers and analytic team studies the markets, the economy, along with trends, and makes TSP revisions accordingly. Get started today at www.mytspvision.com

 

FedSavvy Educational Solutions takes no responsibility for the current accuracy of this information. Financial Planning and Advisory Services are offered through Prosperity Capital Advisors (“PCA”), an SEC registered investment adviser.  Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. FedSavvy Educational Solutions and PCA are separate, non- affiliated entities. PCA does not provide tax or legal advice.

2024 RSC Budget Would Slash Federal Employee Pay, Benefits

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The 2024 Republican Study Committee (RSC) budget blueprint proposes substantial cuts to federal employees’ pay and benefits.

The fiscal year 2024 budget from the Republican Study Committee (RSC) would make drastic reductions to the pay and benefits of federal employees.

Among the proposed changes to federal employees’ pay and benefits are:

  • Reforming paid leave policies to match the value of private sector benefits
  • Ending automatic pay raises for federal employees
  • Restrictions on bonuses paid to federal employees
  • Elimination of pensions for newly hired federal employees
  • Changing from a high-three to a high-five pension calculation for current federal employees
  • Moving to a voucher system for FEHB premiums

Reforms to Federal Employee Pay

The 2024 RSC budget notes that the compensation system currently used for federal employees “largely ignores the more efficient compensation approach used in the private sector.”

Furthermore, it points to a 2017 report from the Congressional Budget Office which found that federal employees earn, on average, 17% more than their private sector counterparts.

Consequently, the 2024 RSC budget proposes the following reforms to federal employee pay. Click HERE to read more.

US Capital Sputters As Federal Workers Stay Home

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Washington’s role as the US capital makes it reliant on government workers for its economic success — and many are choosing to stay home, perhaps for good, leaving vast federal offices empty and the city struggling.

From restaurants hosting federal lobbyists to world-class cultural centers, the city’s fortunes have long been tied to the government employees who operate the machinery of the state.

Now, more than three years after the Covid-19 pandemic forced the United States government to rely on telework, long-term remote work is having painful consequences for the local economy.

Washington’s workers are coming into the office less than half what they were before the pandemic, according to Kastle, which manages entry badges for 40,000 companies across the country.

“The DC office market is dying,” Chris LeBarton, director of market analytics at the real estate data company CoStar told AFP in an interview at the company’s offices downtown.

“If you can’t get the federal government back to Washington, DC, even at three days a week, good luck,” he said.

“Because the rest of this, largely, is offshoots of that,” he added, waving at the city around him.

– ‘Economic engine’ falters –

While many federal employees relish working from home, the impact on the city’s commercial real estate sector — also hit by a toxic combination of high interest rates and tighter bank lending — has been severe.

The federal government occupies almost a quarter of commercial property in the downtown area, historically the “economic engine” of the city, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) told AFP by email. Click HERE to read more.

 

DoD Identifies 23,000 Employees with Pension Errors

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The Department of Defense recently began notifying more than 23,000 employees that they have been receiving either an overpayment or underpayment of their salary due to calculation errors in their pension contributions.

All of the affected employees are under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). More than 8,400 affected employees work for the Army, nearly 6,000 work for the Air Force, and more than 5,600 work for the Navy. Another 2,100 are at the Defense Logistics Agency, while 825 employees were affected at the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. The rest work for the Washington Headquarters Service or other DoD components.

Employees are being notified by their respective agencies if they are entitled to a reimbursement because of overpayments or if they owe money due to underpayments. The amount of money owed ranges from a couple hundred dollars to more than $10,000.

Employees who have been inadvertently underpaying into their pensions can submit a waiver requesting forgiveness for the amount owed or an extension of time in which to pay back the debt. Instructions for completing the waivers are included in the letters employees are receiving.

The calculation errors resulted from two changes in pension contribution rates for FERS employees that were made by Congress in 2012 and 2014. Due to no fault of employees, DoD agencies assigned some employees to the incorrect FERS retirement plan, resulting in erroneous contribution rates.

The Navy first discovered the coding errors last year, which triggered a departmentwide review by the Defense Civilian Personnel Advisory Service. DCPAS identified 23,175 employees across DoD with inaccurate calculations. Click here for the DCPAS PowerPoint presentation.

According to DCPAS, employees who have retired during the period in which the calculation errors were made are not affected because their pensions were adjusted at the time of retirement.

Citation: AFGE June 12, 2023

Explainer-What Is the U.S. Debt Ceiling?

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. is rapidly approaching the deadline for Congress to pass a deal, reached over the weekend by Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy, to suspend the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling or risk a catastrophic default.

WHEN WAS THE DEBT CEILING REACHED?

Washington regularly sets a limit on federal borrowing. Currently, the ceiling is roughly equal to 120% of the country’s annual economic output. The debt reached that ceiling in January and the Treasury Department has kept obligations just within the limit by suspending investments in some federal pension funds while continuing to borrow from investors.

The Treasury on Friday warned that it could run out of room under the limit as soon as June 5, a few days later than its earlier June 1 forecast.

Because the Treasury borrows close to 20 cents for every dollar it spends, Washington at that point would start missing payments owed to lenders, citizens or both.

IS THE DEBT CEILING GOOD FOR ANYTHING?

Few counties in the world have debt ceiling laws and Washington’s periodic lifting of the borrowing limit merely allows it to pay for spending Congress has already authorized.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other policy experts have called on Washington to eliminate the limit, because it amounts to a bureaucratic stamp on decisions already made.