Federal Retirement – Is There A Magic Formula?
Magic Formula for Federal Retirement
When it comes to federal retirement and specifically retirement from federal employment, unfortunately there is no magic formula to tell you exactly how much money you will need. But there are things you can do to better prepare for addressing the challenges you will inevitably face in retirement. There are just too many variables that exist to say exactly how much money any of us will definitely need during your federal retirement.
What we can do is compare current expenses and income against estimated expenses and income and evaluate the picture to see how adjustments can be made (a Benefit Analysis is strongly recommended). Clearly income in retirement for most is less than income as an active employee. Given that dynamic, a good course of action is to begin trimming your debt and maximizing your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) advantages while working.
Trying to right-size how much money you will need in retirement is best done by making certain that your debt is substantially lower than your income. It is not a time to start building debt when you are facing retirement, it is time to enter into a phase of debt-elimination and reduction. If you can lower your debt and possibly eliminate some debt now, you will have more retirement income to live on, making your retirement years much more comfortable and secure.
Another tip is to take advantage of ‘senior offerings’ from eating out, to hotels, to travel. Many insurance companies also offer discounted (car insurance) coverage to seniors. Fitness centers including the YMCA, YWCA, local and community recreation centers have special deals for seniors. You have earned the right to be pampered so take advantage of all senior incentives available to you. It really is the nation’s way of saying – We salute you for your service to your country. You see you thought nobody noticed that you had spent the better part of your adult life making a difference by going to work everyday and doing a job that made America just a little bit better.
Another tip that is extremely useful for any of us, but particularly retirees. The information age is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because there is so much information available right at our fingertips. It is a curse because very little about us is not known through some website on the internet. You are not the only one who knows when your annuity check is deposited or your social security check and other personal data. Since we know that some people study environments for prey, we need to be aware.
Don’t carry credit cards or money in your purse or any very personal items that would break your heart if they were snatched. As a matter of course, don’t carry a purse at all during the 1st and the 15th of the month, because that is when many retirees are targeted. Never open your wallet or purse in front of strangers, even in restaurants, when you have lots of cash. Remember you are trying to increase your revenue by loweing your debt, not by having your valuable resources stolen.
I am not going to tell you where to put your money because I just said information technology is both a blessing and a curse. Put your money somewhere safe so nobody can get to it except your trusted two hands. A little inconvenience is better than a heart-break, aggravation and the danger of having your resources taken and very possibly with no way of replacing them.
Although there is no federal retirement magic formula to determine exactly how much money we will need in retirement, but there are certainly some things we can do to lower our debt, increase your TSP savings and safeguard what we have worked hard to accumulate.
P.S. Always Remember to Share What You Know
