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575 articles · page 14 of 24Retirement
BRS vs High-3: Optimize Your Military Retirement (2026)
In BRS since 2018? How to optimize: protect your TSP match, time continuation pay correctly, and run the retirement-versus-separation numbers for your grade.
Retirement
Guard & Reserve Retirement Points: The 'Good Year' Trap (2026)
Reserve and Guard retirement runs on points and good years. Missing one good year can cost an E-7 over $10,000 in lifetime pension. How to protect yours.
Pay & Compensation
E-7 Pay = GS-11, Not GS-7: What Your Rank Is Really Worth (2026)
Basic pay alone makes an E-7 look like a GS-7. Count Regular Military Compensation — BAH, BAS, tax advantage — and the honest match is GS-11. Full 2026 table.
Retirement
SBP vs Life Insurance: The Military Retiree's 6.5% Math
Military SBP costs 6.5% of your pension; the survivor gets 55% for life. Break-even vs term life, the four advantages competitors skip, and when term wins.
Benefits
VA Disability + a Federal Job: What You Can Collect (2026)
You can collect VA disability and a GS salary simultaneously. How VA comp, CRDP/CRSC, and a FERS pension interact in 2026, with a decision matrix.
Benefits
Which FEHB Plan Shares the Most Data With OPM? (2026)
OPM wants monthly medical claims on 8M feds. Some FEHB carriers already send your data; HMOs send less. A carrier-by-carrier privacy comparison for 2026.
Career
What a Forced Level 3 Rating Costs You in 2026
OPM caps Levels 4 and 5 at 40% for FY2026. Under OPM's award parameters, a forced Level 3 can mean a smaller award, no QSI and fewer RIF points. The math.
Retirement
Military Pension + FERS: Can You Collect Both? (2026)
Military retirees can keep full retired pay and a GS salary. But FERS credit means waiving or buying back the military pension. The retirement decision math.
Policy Updates
Can the Government Revoke Your Telework Disability Accommodation?
Agencies can't blanket-cancel telework granted for a disability. The Rehabilitation Act rules, the NSF and DOJ cases, and the 45-day deadline you can't miss.
Benefits
TRICARE vs. FEHB for Military Retirees in Federal Jobs (2026)
Military retirees in federal jobs can keep TRICARE, combine it with FEHB, or suspend FEHB to save thousands. The 2026 cost tables, 5-year-rule trap, strategy.
Pay & Compensation
Feds Get 0%, Military Gets 7%: The 2027 Pay Gap's Pension Cost
The August 26 pay plan freezes civilian feds at 0% and raises the military 7%, 6%, and 5% by grade, the widest gap in the GS era. Year-by-year data and the High-3 pension hit.
Policy Updates
Federal NDA Rights 2026: What Your Agency Can't Make You Waive
A federal NDA can restrict confidential info but not whistleblower rights. The anti-gag statute, the OPM NDA's flaw, and a before-you-sign checklist.
Retirement
Your $45,000 Federal Pension Really Pays ~$2,565 a Month
OPM quotes a gross annuity, but survivor election, FEHB, and taxes take a big bite. See the gross-to-net waterfall by pension size and what actually hits your bank.
Policy Updates
SAVE Plan Is Dead: Federal Employees Have Until Sept. 30 to Act
The SAVE student loan plan is gone. Federal employees in forbearance have 90 days to pick IBR or RAP before auto-enrollment. GS-grade payment table inside.
Policy Updates
Schedule Policy/Career and Student Loans: $85,000 in Hidden Risk
Reclassified to Schedule Policy/Career? You face two student-loan risks: SLRP clawback and PSLF timing traps. The mechanics, the dollar exposure, and the fixes.
Policy Updates
Federal Agency Cuts 2025-2026, Ranked: Who Lost the Most
Ranked: which federal agencies cut the most jobs in 2025-2026. USAID lost ~97%, IRS ~30%, VA ~27,000. Headcount, percentages, and sources by agency.
Retirement
2 Mistakes That Derail Your Federal Retirement Application
The two errors that send OPM retirement applications to the slow queue: unpaid service deposits and the FEHB 5-year gap. A pre-submission checklist for 2026.
Policy Updates
GAO: Probationary Feds Hit Hardest in 2025 Separations
GAO-26-108557 found probationary employees separated at 19% vs 15% for all staff in 2025. TSA hit 47%. Your appeal rights, the court rulings, and what to do.
Policy Updates
VSIP Buyout Cap 2026: What H.R. 7256 Would Change
The $25,000 federal buyout cap hasn't risen since 1993. H.R. 7256 would tie it to 6 months of salary. What the bill does, the tax math, and where it stands.
Policy Updates
IRS Compressed Schedules End July 25: Your AWS Rights
IRS is halting compressed work schedules July 25, 2026. Here's what 4/10 and 5/4/9 rights federal employees actually have, agency by agency, and what you can do.
Retirement
When a Federal Retiree Dies: 2026 Survivor Checklist
OPM is hard to reach in 2026. Here's the step-by-step checklist survivors of a federal retiree need: who to call, which forms, and what to do first.
Retirement
The FERS Supplement 62 Cliff: When to Claim SS
The FERS supplement ends at 62, whether or not you claim Social Security. Here's the income cliff and the break-even math for 6(c) retirees deciding when to file.
Policy Updates
OCC Buyout vs. RIF: The 2026 Severance Trap
OCC is offering a summer 2026 buyout (VTP) before a RIF. Refusing it could mean a smaller payout, unless you qualify for retirement. Here's the decision framework.
Policy Updates
In a RIF, Your Bump Rights Stop at Your Building
Your RIF bump and retreat rights only reach inside your competitive area, which may be just your office. Here's how the boundary decides who survives a layoff.
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Retirement Planning
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