On today’s episode, the Office of Personnel Management wants agencies to review their employee assistance plans, programs that offer psychological and substance abuse treatments. For details, Federal News Network’s Drew Friedman spoke with OPM research psychologist Jorday Taswell.…
July 26, 2023
A coalition of federal manager advocacy groups has been urging the White House and Congress to fix what they say is a systemic problem with federal pay. It’s called compression. It mainly affects those at the upper ranks…
July 19, 2023
On today’s episode, it’s hard to believe the calendar year more than half over. It’s a good time to review your financial life. For people in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plans, open season isn’t far off.…
July 12, 2023
The Office of Personnel Management announced plans to establish four new locality pay areas. Its proposed rule also included plenty of other pay recommendations from the Federal Salary Council.
July 5, 2023
This week we'll hear about one way, not often used for retirees, especially on the older end of the age spectrum, to keep some guaranteed income. I spoke with certified financial planner Art Stein about the pros and cons of fixed income annuities, not to be confused with your federal pension.
Plus, Federal Executive Boards, known as FEB's, do lots of things to keep the federal machinery working in the big federal cities outside of Washington. Federal News Network's Drew Friedman got an update from the director of FEB's at the Office of Personnel Management, Anita Spinner.
June 28, 2023
For today’s episode, we’ll hear about one group of federal employees who earn a third less than their colleagues at the same GS level. And about half of what their state and local government counterparts…
June 21, 2023
On today’s episode of Fed Life, the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency brought some changes for enrollees in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. And that’s not all. Expect more long-term changes for…
June 15, 2023
It’s been one year since the Thrift Savings Plan underwent a major technology update. The changes offered TSP participants more virtual options, better cybersecurity and an entirely new My Account website. But the changes initially brought confusion…
May 31, 2023
Starting June 27, government and private sector employees will be able to request reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions. That’s thanks to a new law, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. All employers have new requirements, but federal employees…
May 25, 2023
Today we focus on two possibilities, both unlikely, but that would have big effect on federal employees. One, of course, is the prospect of a debt default. We’ll talk about that with financial planner Art Stein.…
May 17, 2023
Federal News Network reporter Drew Friedman fills in again for Tom this week. Most federal employees see retirement as a three-legged stool, you have the FERS annuity, the Thrift Savings Plan and Social Security. But could a…
May 10, 2023
In this week’s episode, Federal News Network reporter Drew Friedman fills in for Tom Temin. If you’ve been teleworking for the past few years, you may be asking yourself, is that about to change? And if…
May 3, 2023
It’s an old story, but an enduring one. Thousands of retired federal employees from the Civil Service Retirement System days feel they are being unfairly denied benefits. That’s because of the Social Security provisions known as the Windfall…
April 27, 2023
We start with a review of the Thrift Savings Plan’s first quarter results. Investments can change seemingly as fast as the weather. Something plan holders have learned, or re-learned, pretty dramatically over the last couple of…
April 19, 2023
