An Economically Changing World

February 11, 2014

The world is changing. As Federal and Postal employees we face more economic challenges today than the majority of the current workforce has ever witnessed. The hardships of the Great Depression, we either read about in textbooks or heard stories from parents and grandparents, but hardly a reality for baby boomers and beyond.
Over the past several years, the reality of our finances and the turbulence of a global economy is a constant conversation at the average Federal and Postal employee’s families dinner tables

. Yet, our responsibility, regardless if we are CSRS or FERS, to do what is necessary to face a retirement future with readiness, still remains. I remember parents saying, “Save for a rainy day.” The economic uncertainty of our times requires that we save for a tsunami. The cost of maintaining our standard of living is much higher today than it was for our parents.
In addition, economically, conditions have created differing and varying levels of responsibility for Federal and Postal retirees. Retirement incomes are increasingly being shared to support other family members, including adult children who are either unemployed or under-employed. Providing support to family members is what we do as Americans until they can get on their feet.

Because our plates are fuller than ever before in recent times, planning for a long life after retirement must be approached with care and a deliberate commitment to live well below our means. We can no longer economically live at our means and certainly not above our means, but below them in order to have a cushion of economic longevity. Remember, economically, the goal is to have your resources outlast you.
The technical aspects of the federal and postal employees’ retirement system from FEHB, Medicare, to FEGLI and your TSP are difficult to understand and much more difficult to master. There are such a vast number of technical pieces of the federal retirement system it seems to justify the use and consultation of both your HR office or a qualified retirement benefit expert.