Starting in January of 2016, thirteen cities across the country will see a significant bump in salary for federal workers. This plan has been steadily moving along since May 2013, but now it finally has a date on which these changes will take place. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics has recorded data that shows the pay for federal employees in these cities lags significantly behind the average payments of employees in the private sector and in local governments.
4 Million Federal Employees Hacked!
The Office of Personnel Management is informing 4 million current and former employees that they have had personal information hacked from the OPM databases. this is the second time this year that OPM data has been breached by an unwanted party. The FBI is still performing their investigation into how the event took place and what a possible motive could be for stealing the personal information of federal employees. This doesn’t necessarily show the federal government messing up, rather it shows that even they aren’t safe from the cyber-crimes that are occurring more and more frequently. Click here to find out more.
10 Steps to Plan Your Retirement in Your 40s
It’s never too early to start planning for your retirement. Only 53% of Americans participate in a retirement plan at work. One in three workers aged 35-44 has less than $1,000 saved for retirement. These numbers are baffling as there is no reason not to be forward thinking and have a relative plan for your future. These 10 steps will help you jumpstart your retirement plan and get you right on the track that you want to be on! The list can be found right here.
Freshman Congressman Fights for Federal Pay Raise
Rep. Don Beyer has only been in office for about six months now but that isn’t stopping him from trying to make changes. He is co-sponsoring a piece of legislation that would provide all federal employees with a 3.8% salary increase, significantly higher than the 1.3% increase that Obama has proposed. In addition, Beyer wants federal employees to be provided six weeks of parental leave that can be taken at the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child. Find out more here.
Goal Planning App
Sometimes, the hardest part of planning your retirement is figuring out what YOU want to do. It is a whole new chapter in your life and setting goals for yourself can be a major help and also a major pain in neck. Retirement Goal Planning System is an app (available only on iPad) that takes you through a simple but effective process to help you determine what is most important to you!
http://blogs.wsj.com/totalreturn/2015/05/22/a-web-tool-to-refine-your-retirement-priorities/
A New Look at Retirement Planning
Retirement planning for previous generations usually was strictly planning out your finances. However, in this day and age people are starting to plan much more than just their finances, they’re planning out their lives. Finding something you love doing that could provide a little (or even a lot!) income during or while approaching your retirement years could reward you in many ways. Don’t just make a plan for your retirement, make a plan for your life.
http://investorplace.com/2015/05/love-different-approach-retirement-planning/#.VWiJQs9Viko
Benefits Remain for Federal Workers
Democratic committee members voted down a proposal by the U.S. Department of Labor that would result in a significant loss of benefits for injured federal workers. The plan would have cut roughly 500 million dollars from injured workers and their families. This is the third time in five years that the DOL has proposed such a plan.
http://ehstoday.com/health/democrats-reject-proposal-cut-benefits-injured-federal-workers
Every year for Mother’s Day, fathers all around the country round up the kids and take them to the park or out to the movies and give mom the day home alone to relax. While this can be amazing (and hard to come by) for any mother, maybe this is the year to try something different. After all, Mother’s Day is about celebrating being a mother, right? Here’s a few activities that can be done with the whole family, really encompassing the spirit of Mother’s Day, bringing the family together, yet still providing Mom with those valued moments of peace.
I know this seems a bit cliché but bear with me. After the tough Winter we just had, the entire family should be dying for a day out in the spring time air together. Whether you’re a master chef or you can barely make dinner, every father should be able to rustle up a few hoagies, some chips, and some beverages to make a solid picnic. Bring a couple yard games for some fun with everyone with a while. Then, take the kids for a walk for an hour to leave mom with her favorite book, magazine, or just the outdoors to get that relaxation that we all know she desperately needs.
Spring is finally here! You know that what means…Spring Cleaning! Some people love it, some hate it, but either way it is a great way to say “out with the old and in with the new.” Spring Cleaning is basically just trimming away the excess, updating, and even evolving. It’s a great idea to do this with many areas of your life, not just your home. Here are the three simple steps to spring into action and Spring Clean anything you want…especially your finances!
The Three “R”s
1. Review
The first step to any good plan is kind of self-explanatory…make a plan! For a home you want to look around at everything you have and decide what can be kept, what needs to be fixed, and what just needs to be thrown away. Your finances work the same way. Review your accounts. Some people do this on a regular basis and have spreadsheets they update weekly. Others, and you know who you are, have scattered pieces all over. Now is a good time to do this since you should have gotten first quarter statements on any investment accounts, and can also go online. I recommend segregating by type of account: non-qualified personal or joint account, IRA, Roth IRA, retirement plan (401k, TSP, 403b, etc.), inherited IRA, and trust accounts. List each account by type and then by asset. Do you have an emergency savings account? Rule of thumb is to have 6 months of your salary available in a safe liquid account. If you have significantly more, especially in this low interest rate environment, consider other alternatives. Alternatives need to be matched with your comfort level and timeframe. For example if you want safety and liquidity, don’t lock up your funds in a single 10 year annuity. Conversely, if you need liquidity but are adverse to risk, mutual funds or a brokerage account of stocks, would also not be a good match. A fiduciary financial advisor can help you explore and evaluate investment options. Read more