New Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) Regulations

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The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a final regulation on November 16, 2022, to support enhancing stability and flexibility in the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) by amending when abbreviated underwriting is offered to prospective enrollees and finalizing rules for the suspension of applications for coverage. This Benefits Administration Letter (BAL) provides details about the key provisions in the final regulation. Click HERE to read full letter.

Keeping Your Retirement Plans Close to the Vest

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I know it’s early in the year. However, I’m also aware that some of you are already thinking about retiring. Good for you!

Because planning ahead is a crucial step in assuring that your transition from employment to retirement is smooth, you need to make sure that you avoid any last-minute bumps in the road. Fortunately, OPM has an excellent pamphlet called Thinking About Retirement, which you can download from their website at http://opm.gov/forms/pdfimage/RI83-11.pdf.

In it they recommend that you begin planning a year or more in advance. However, even if you need to compress your schedule to less time than that, the advice they give is still sound.

Although you’ll eventually have to go to your servicing personnel office, for the time being you can shield your intentions from outside view by downloading the forms you need from OPM’s website. For CSRS, you’ll need a Standard Form 2801, Application for Immediate Retirement; for FERS a Standard Form 3107. You can download either of them by going to www.OPM.gov, clicking on Forms, then clicking on Standard Forms and scrolling down to the right form number. Click HERE for full article.

Many Forms Now Obsolete, Don’t Use Them, TSP Says

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The TSP has issued a notice to agencies, but applying to account holders as well, saying that many of the forms it traditionally used—whether submitted hard copy or electronically—are now obsolete and should not be used.

In most cases those transactions now must be made through the My Account section of tsp.gov as a result of the revised operating system that the TSP launched last summer (and which many account holders say continues to be balky and problematic).

Transactions “using old forms will not be processed. We are also asking for your help in removing all old forms because if a participant submits an obsolete form, they will not hear back from us, and we are unable to process their transaction,” the TSP told agencies.

“New TSP forms are no longer generic and are now barcoded for individual participants,” it added, and agencies should recycle any remaining paper copies and remove links to the prior electronic versions from their websites. Click HERE to read full article.

Rubio Reintroduces Bill to Prevent TSP Investments In China

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A bill to prevent assets managed by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, Washington, from being invested in certain Chinese companies has been reintroduced in the Senate.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., reintroduced the TSP Fiduciary Security Act, which would amend the board’s fiduciary duty to include a requirement not to harm national security, on Jan. 30.

Under the bill, Thrift Savings Plan assets could not be invested in “Communist Chinese military companies.”

Also, the board’s investment decisions and the proxy votes associated with TSP funds would be assessed for national security risks by the secretary of Labor, in consultation with the secretaries of Defense, Treasury and Homeland Security and the attorney general. Click HERE to read more.

Keeping Watch on Your Federal Retirement Application

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After you submit your federal retirement application, your personnel office will finish the processing and forward the package to your payroll office, which will authorize your final salary payment and a lump sum payment for any unused annual leave. It will also certify and close out your individual retirement record.

Then, it will forward your retirement package to OPM’s Retirement Operations Center in Boyers, Pennsylvania, on a “Register of Separation and Transfers.” When that happens, some payroll offices will let you know the register number, the transmittal and mailing dates, and their office number. If yours doesn’t, you can always call and ask for that information. Click HERE to read more.