What Federal Workers Can Be Thankful For
One of the daily habits I have been getting into lately is my practice of gratitude. It is something that has been uplifting during a part of my day. If this is something, you want to try out, here is a list of reasons why you may want to be grateful when it comes to your federal employment.
Pension. There is a defined benefit package for all federal employees. The FERS plan is what most current employees have, but there are some long-times that are on the older plan, CSRS. For those uniformed service members out there, they either have the Legacy Retirements System or the Blended Retirement System.
There was some data released recently that show that 11% of workers in the private sector have a pension of some sort. Only a few years ago, that number was about 25%, which shows a quick decline with this benefit for those that are in the private sector. A FERS worker who has been employed for 30 years will receive a pension of 30 to 33 percent of their top three earnings. After 20 years of uniformed service, LRS will pay 50 percent of the base pay. The BRS pays about 40 percent after 20 years of service. A pension is something that can definitely help you along through your retirement.to have a stable and comfortable retirement
Another thing to be thankful about? Social Security
Like most working Americans, we will be able to benefit from Social Security. Since the average federal wage is greater than the average salary of those that are non-federal, federal workers will receive a higher benefit than the average beneficiary of social security.
For this year, the average annual payout for SS is a few dollars over $17,530. Note that this incentive is the baseline for most workers because they do not have a pension to depend on. This generally means that they have to depend on other investments, if they have any, to have a stable retirement.
A Third Thing to Appreciate: The Thrift Saving Plan
A defined contribution program is not applicable for 35 percent of private-sector workers. For those that are eligible, only about 80% of employers will provide some type of matching contribution. In comparison, the 5 percent match offered for FERS and BRS members is greater than the average (at 4.17 percent) as well as the most common 3 percent match offered by other employers.
Another benefit to be grateful for?
Federal civil employees have the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, also simply known as FEHB, and for those that are in the military, they have the TRICARE system. Both these health benefits programs can also be used during retirement and even beyond when you are eligible for Medicare, which is something that is not seen for those that are in the private sector.
And lastly (yet there are definitely more things to be grateful for that have not been mentioned), job security is much more stable than those that are non-federal or military employees. After you have completed your probationary period, you can only be released due to cause or cut in the labor force.
Maybe with a few of these reasons to be grateful for, it will put a pep in your step for the day.
