There are lots of conversations looming around about getting ready for retirement, including designing a plan for retirement security by saving more and more.  Another discussion might be – how do I get started developing a retirement plan?  Retirement is a huge part of the work-life process and is key to how older Americans survive in retirement.   Each of us need to diagnose and evaluate what our financial picture looks like making  adjustments  to support a healthy financial retirement future.

Sometimes getting just the right tools lined up to support your retirement may involve getting help from a financial planner or advisor.  Look for a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) in your area and make an appointment to see where you are currently in your financial profile versus where you would like to be in retirement.  Gather all of your financial information, make copies and get started working with a trusted advisor who can help you realistically assess your financial profile.  Never leave your original copies with anybody.  Even after developing a good relationship with an advisor you must still exercise common sense by keep your own records in a safe place.  Another tip is to write down all of your expenses – credit cards, mortgages, loans, and any other regularly recurring obligations.  In addition to writing down your expenses, also write down all of your sources of income/revenue including estimated Social Security and Pension payments.  What you have coming in and what you have going out is critical to evaluating your financial profile.

Have you set a goal of what you want your financial picture to look like in the future?  Setting goals are important so that you can measure your progress.   Figuring out the resources you will need in retirement is better achieved by starting early and keeping a watchful eye on your income and expenses.  By sitting down with a financial advisor, you can determine if you are saving enough or if you need to start saving more in order to achieve your retirement goals.  A knowledgeable financial advisor can help you find ways to grow your money long before you retire.

Getting to your retirement goals is not a path you have to walk alone.  Although no one can tell you exactly how much money you are going to need in retirement because of the many variables known and unknown that are involved.  A financial advisor can, however, come fairly close to helping you secure your retirement future by looking at where you are today and where you want to be tomorrow.  Start saving and investing in your retirement future now for a safe and comfortable retirement.

P. S.  Always Remember to Share What You Know.

Dianna Tafazoli

More and more individuals in the Federal sector are faced with the reality of retirement.  Many are eligible and have been eligible for some time but have major reservations about taking that next step.  Although, fearing not having adequate financial footing is a huge consideration, it is not the only one and perhaps does not take the highest priority.

The work environment is not only a venue by which we receive money to pay our expenses, it is a major source of networking, socializing and forming bonds with people you come to think of as family.  Leaving the safety and security of that niche can be both emotionally heart-breaking and intimidating.  What will you do and how will you do?  Who will make up my social circle when I retire?  What will dictate my schedule in retirement?  Who am I and what benefit am I to society or my family for that matter?  Do I matter now that my title and job have vanished?

Retirement is not simply working 20 to 30 years, getting a huge cake with your picture on it or receiving a golden watch.  It is about a life time of building relationships, investing in a job and learning your craft.  It is about becoming an expert and having the good feeling of being relied upon for your knowledge and service to your job.

Although, retirement can be and is a highly emotional encounter, you can use the same skills you acquired during the course of your work career to create a new life for yourself and add benefit to others.  There are countless opportunities available to retirees who have amassed a level of skills that should not sink into oblivion, but should be shared to improve society.

Beyond OPM’s Phased Retirement Program, there are volunteer as well as paid opportunities where Federal retirees can step-right in and fit-in just like a glove.  Schools need teachers and volunteers to set wonderful examples for children, preteen, teens and young adults.  It is not just elementary and high schools who could benefit from the talents of Federal retirees but colleges and universities as well.

On college campuses all over America retirees can join faculty and staff or they can cozy up into a classroom or on-line as  students.  They have as much to receive as they have to give.  Knowledge and learning are forever and it is immeasurable what Federal retirees can offer to a society they have help to cultivate.

P. S.  Always Remember to Share What You Know.

Dianna Tafazoli

We don’t often think of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) when it comes to feeding families and children who don’t have enough to eat.  OPM is part of an annual food drive – Feds Feed Families.  It is an endeavor all Federal employees are encouraged to participate in.  Each year the food donation drive ends prior to Labor Day.

OPM did a number of creative things this year to knock out hunger.  They walked, bowled, held bake sales and set up donation boxes at OPM headquarters in Washington, D.C., at the offices in Boyers, Pennsylvania and at field locations throughout the country.  OPM Director, Katherine Archuleta stated, “I walk by what I like to call our wall of inspiration.  On it are pasted copies of big red boxing gloves with the names of OPM employees who have donated 10 or more food items to help the hungry in our community.  It makes me happy to see how Team OPM has opened its heart to those in need.”

It is inspiration and an impetus for not only agencies, Federal and private, but to individuals all over the country to set a goal to knock out hunger, homelessness, joblessness, domestic violence, violence, illiteracy, bullying and so many other factors that detract from the positive growth of our nation.

OPM employees during the months of June and July donated more than 15,000 pounds of food, twice as much given by the same time in 2013.  OPM raised in total more than 38,778 pounds of food and pledged to beat that goal in 2014.  Across government Federal employees donated more than 9 million pounds of food last year.  By June and July of this year, the Federal workforce had donated nearly 5 million pounds of food.  They have added the S in service to the nation in a way that is inspiring to all.

It is reported that one in six Americans do not have enough food, a great many of them children.  Donations often decline in the summer months; so when you are having fun in the sun remember to drop by a local food bank or kitchen and drop off a non-perishable item to knock out hunger.

We salute the Federal workforce for a herculean effort to knock out hunger.

P. S.  Always Remember to Share What You Know.

Dianna Tafazoli

It is not often that heads of human capital management are featured in places they don’t necessarily have to be.  Individuals in Human Resources and Human Capital Management often get a bad rap.  They are blamed for bad jobs or the lack of jobs and most of all not setting the standard for good management and respect of employees at all levels.  For that reason, our Newsletter Weekly is focused on the Chief of Human Resources for the largest workforce in the world, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Katherine Archuleta.

OPM is the gatekeeper for everything human resources for the entire Federal workforce including retirees and their families.  The customer base is estimated at approximately 10 million strong.  Director Archuleta wrote a piece prior to the Labor Day holiday essentially wishing the Federal workforce a happy holiday.  However, she said something much more moving and heartfelt than just a simple–happy holiday.  She described the workforce as a Federal family expressing the need to work together, to respect each other in order to achieve the human resources goals of the nation.  Director Archuleta spoke to managers and supervisors appealing to their “humanness” to work with employees in creating a flexible environment that allows for balance in the work place and at home.  She spoke of the tug-of-war employees face when trying to make a decision involving a family matter and at the same time jostling to manage the demands of work.

Director Archuleta impressed upon managers and supervisors to expand the use of tools such as Alternative Work Schedules (AWS) and other flexible programs to create a culture of support within the Federal workforce.  She understands very clearly that if you give support to your staff they will reciprocate five times over.  It sounds as if Director Archuleta is a student of -The Art of War – by Sun Tzu.  It is a must read for anybody involved in battle who wants to secure the unblemished support of the troops.

Good leadership, engaging with people as different and as alike as each grain of  sand on a massive beach is indeed being engaged in battle.  When the grains of sand can be seen as a family no matter how scattered, the sand is not individual and separate grains of sand – but a sheet, a continuum without hard lines of separation.  Hard lines are barriers to cooperation, therefore, barriers to collective success.  Director Archuleta in her message to the Federal workforce asked that those barriers be removed and replaced with opportunities born of challenge to create a dynamic Federal workforce; a world class, high-performing, diverse workforce that not only represents America’s coat of many colors, but the promise of a nation whose very existence and sustainability is predicated on supporting and respecting one another.  Thank you Director Archuleta  for applauding and appreciating the efforts of the Federal family.

P. S.  Always Remember to Share What You Know.

Dianna Tafazoli

Federal employees have had a love/hate relationship with interim retirement payments for a number of years.  The interim payment is the check Federal employees receive before receiving their actual retirement annuity.  The interim payment is slightly less than the payment the employee will eventually receive.  OPM believes that much of the delay in processing retirement applications is due to agencies and employees not being as thorough as they need to be in completing the application.

Once the agency where the employee works has gathered all of the relevant information needed from the employee, that information is electronicaly transmitted to OPM.  There are two possible glitches that might delay or impeded the process.  If there is missing information from the initial application package to the agency, then the agency personnel office will have to send the package back to the employee.  Now the delays are in motion before the application package can ever leave the agency; thus, setting up a downward spiral.

If there are additional glitches in the application package once the package reaches OPM, it will be returned to the agency for corrections and/or completion.  The Office of Personnel Management is the human resources gatekeeper for the entire Federal Government, including retirees and their families.  The number of customers under the umbrella of OPM is said to be well over 10 million.  The task before the agency is enormous.  It is also an agency whose importance is often overlooked.  I have long-supported the idea that OPM should be elevated to the Cabinet level.

The agency is responsible for the greatest asset the Federal Government has – its people; the one intricate, irreplaceable component  of which there is no duplication possible.  No, machines and automation will never totally replace humans.  Case-in-point – the grocery store check-out.   There they are those shiny self-checkout lanes waiting for the next customer in line.  Then suddenly a human appears because the machine has malfunctioned and is screaming for the items to be removed from the belt.  Machines are the creation of humans and therefore cannot replace its creator.  Perhaps, temporarily.  I absolutely abhor the automated 411 information robots or whatever they are.  They cannot for their very  life, understand plain, everyday English.

Example:  Robot speaks:  Say the city and state.  Say what you are looking for.    I speak:  Alexandria, Virginia.  Robot speaks:  Orlandro Virgin.  It is now a back and forth battle to communicate.  I give up and look it up on the Internet.  Get my point.  Human beings are critically important and it would be good to treat another human being with great courtesy and respect the next time you get an actual human on the phone.

Okay, back to interim payments.  A suggestion to those preparing for retirement.  About one year before you plan to retire, download a copy of the entire Application Package and become thoroughly familiar with it.  Find out what documentation you need to help complete the application.  When the time actually comes for you to submit the application, because you have spent time preparing for that moment, your package will be complete and error free.    Using this strategy will help OPM  process your application faster and get your check to you on time.

P. S.  Always Remember to Share What You Know.

Dianna Tafazoli

Every time I think there might really not be the kind of need I think there is for educating the Federal workforce and others who work with Federal employees, I am quickly snatched back to realty.  I have an unwavering passion for educating the largest workforce in the world about their retirement benefits and how they work during active employment and particularly how they work in retirement.

I have had a long career in human resource/human capital management and think everything should be done with a sense of excellence and a desire to do a service.  That sounds so funny because I am a huge -Godfather- fan.  I am reminded of when Sonny met his demise at the toll gate. His father, Vito Corleone, played by the great Marlon Brando asked the funeral parlor proprietor – “Are you ready to do a service?”  What a fantastic scene.  Okay, a bit of a deviation, but it makes the point.

I am always ready to do a service for a group of dedicated employees who often are not recognized for the service they provide to our nation.  Just as I am humbled and indebted to military personnel who provide a most noble and dignified service to the nation, I by the same token hold the same reverence for the service Federal employees provide to the nation.  As such, quite recently in my capacity as a University Professor, I had the opportunity to speak with a fellow Professor who had spent 32 years in the Foreign Service.

First, I could not believe she had had such a long career because not only had the complexion of a model, but looked ready for the runway, ergo a second career.  Nonetheless, the students at the university get to have the benefit of her knowledge and wisdom as the runway bites the dust.

She was a bit disheartened because she was not ready to retire.  She felt forced out of her job because of a mandatory retirement age.  She had so much more to give and was certainly physically able to continue providing a service to the Federal Government.  Unfortunately, their loss and Phased Retirement had not made its debut prior to her retirement.

What was most disconcerting during our conversation is that she had not fully understood the benefits and how they really worked in retirement.  She also thought her annuity would be much more than it turned out to be.  The good it will do her now, but I gave her a quick and easy way of calculating the annuity estimate.  She can’t use it for her planning purposes, but maybe it will help someone else.   She, like many Federal employees, feel the benefits explanation or narrative given on the OPM website are written much too technically causing many to simply ignore it.  Not good, not good.  Although, the dresses at LaFerMe are some of the most beautiful designs in the world, they are not sized to service the average woman and therefore remain a beautiful window decoration with too few customers to sustain itself.

The Federal Government will certainly continue, as it should and needs to, but a much better job needs to be done in terms of educating the largest workforce in the world.  The benefits offered to Federal employees are unrivaled by most organizations in the nation, but those benefits must serve their public – the Federal workforce and their families.  Having a robust retirement community can only strengthen the nation’s economy and the overall wealth of our union.

I want to thank my fellow professor at our beloved Marymount for letting me know the passion of educating continues  outside the walls of schools, colleges and universities.  There remains a significant need for educating the workforce where perhaps we will face our greatest challenge – transitioning in comfort and security from the workforce to retirement.

P. S.  Always Remember to Share What You Know.

Dianna Tafazoli

Information sharing just never ends.  The importance of sharing information and knowledge can never be overemphasized.  Just when I thought I knew the importance of my numbers, I find there is yet something new to learn.  Recently, I reconnected with a dear friend  from my undergraduate days.  We had seen each other through marriage and starting our families and even worked on the same job for a period of time.  Somehow through the journey of life we lost contact and yet I never stop thinking of the friend who shared my most intimate secrets.  We laughed and cried together and got up and tried it again and again and again.

I had sent an email over social media and didn’t have much hope of making a connection.  However, to my wonderful and delightful amazement, her daughter contacted me after a number of months.  She said, “Obviously you know me because you know every detail of my life, including my birth.  I asked my mother if she knew you and she responded with a resounding Yes, Yes, Yes.”    This is all communication via email including the exchange of phone numbers.  With my friend’s number in hand, I wanted to wait until I had all the time in the world to catch up.  My travel itinerary had me off to the West Coast to facilitate a mediation/conflict resolution training.  I was counting down the days to have some great marathon catch-up talks with my friend.

We literally screamed with joy at the sound of each other’s voice, then we talked for 3 nights until sunrise before we decided to sleep.  With little or no preparation during our next conversation, she said, “Do you know that I am blind?”  With the same suddenness I said, “Yes, your daughter told me and how are you handling that?  You have such a busy schedule so you must be about your business just as you have always been.”    “I certainly am,” she said, ” and I am not about to sit in a corner and feel sorry for myself.”

Eugenia did not lose her sight until after age 40 and she had no idea how to function like an unsighted person.  She was absolutely unintelligent about being blind.  She had become a member of the Federation for the Blind (FFB) and was a regional president.  She had 2 grandchildren and the way she interacted with them over the phone, I would never know she was blind.  Take out your pencil and paper and let me see you practice your letters so that you can perfect your writing your name.  Eugenia had spent her career as an elementary school teacher and majorette instructor.  Eugenia had been a beautiful majorette with some of the best legs on this side of Oklahoma.  Her laugh was infectious and remains that way with an Oklahoma accent mixed with the hit and miss cadence of the North.  Eugenia was uniquely Eugenia with a cadre of international friends as big as her circle of friends in the U.S..

We talked about everything and all things in between, then somehow we got on the subject of numbers and the telephone.  The teacher in her asked if I knew what the little notch  above the 5 on the telephone meant.  Frankly, I had never paid it much attention and had no idea what it meant.  I learned from Eugenia that the notch over the 5 had been a policy initiative of the Federation for the Blind compelling telephone manufacturers to design the telephone in that manner so that unsighted persons would have a point of reference to independently use the telephone.  I had no idea.  Now I am very cognizant of the notch above the 5 on the phone.

Although my profession demands that I am thoroughly familiar with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), I missed about the mark about that aspect of the telephone and ADA compliance.  The ADA covers more aspects of accommodation and compliance than is readily apparent.  Not only did I reconnect with my friend, but gained knowledge and information I might otherwise have missed.

We never know how we are going to gain information and how valuable that information might be in helping to make the lives of others easier.  Thanks Eugenia for letting me know why the number 5 is King.

P. S.  Always Remember to Share What You Know.

Dianna Tafazoli

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RHODES MUST FALL CAMPAIGN – by Dianna Tafazoli

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I had the wonderful experience of meeting some financial advisers out in Arizona last week.  The heat was on, but the warmth and engagement in a room of the most magnificent men were beyond explanation.  I conducted a training aimed at introducing  Financial Advisors to the federal retirement systems.  I have long believed that there needs to be a marriage between financial advisors and federal employees.

The federal retirement systems can be rather complicated with its many and varied provisions and who falls into which retirement system.  Many changes have taken place since the advent of the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) created in 1920.  Things, I suppose, seemed so much simpler then.  Everybody had the same thing – a defined benefits plan – and that was it.  There was no thrift savings plan (TSP) and all the special categories and classification of workers did not exist.  The Federal Employees Retirement System would not enter on the scene until an enactment by Congress in 1986 with full implementation in 1987.

Just think about it CSRS was the bell of the ball for 66 long years.  CSRS ruled the roost with not another competitor in sight.  There is no denying that CSRS offered great retirement benefits to its recipients.  However, implementation of the system was becoming much too expensive as the federal workforce expanded.

Federal employees need financial planners as much as financial planners and advisors need to speak the language of the federal workforce so that they are in a position to guide federal wealth management.  The group of advisors I had the pleasure of working with understood most emphatically the need to get to the federal workforce.  They were so enthusiastic with so many wonderful, thought-provoking, relevant questions, I could literally hear wedding bells ringing.  How refreshing it was to have a group of financial advisors ready to gain the knowledge necessary to service the largest population of workers in the world.

Federal employees need good, well meaning financial advisors who speak their language and understand the importance of leveraging their resources.  The earlier you start most things, the better.  The phrase certain appropriate for  federal workers.  Having a fairly decent benefits package is not enough.  Knowing how benefits work now and in retirement is the best, most valuable wedding gift any financial advisor could give to a federal employee.

The federal workforce is not going away and their needs are not going away.  The old Civil Service Retirement System marked its 94th birthday this August, but it will not see another 94 years I don’t think.  The old system will dissipate as part of the active workforce in years to come.  However, as people are living longer and longer, the old system will still be around for retirees who retired under the Civil Service Retirement System.

Financial Advisors and Planners have a lot of work ahead of them and what some might describe as a high calling.  Helping the federal workforce retire well, living in comfort and security where they get to live out their years on their own terms – is a calling of the highest degree.  Advising federal employees about their business and financial needs is not only a strategy to keeping them financially healthy, but one that adds to the financial health of the nation.

P. S.  Always Remember to Share What You Know.

Dianna Tafazoli

When driving a car there is the phenomenon of the blind spot.  If you are not very careful you will have an accident because you cannot see what’s there.  Sometimes as workers struggling to advance in our careers, putting everything on the agenda but our futures, we hit a blind spot.

It is amazing how quickly youth turns into middle age and middle age turns into the senior ages that lead into retirement.  The sudden changes of age and what comes with age is unforgiving.  There is no real warning and yet it appears as suddenly as day passing into night.  I often hear a dear friend of mine say, “I went to bed very young and I woke up an old woman.”  It sounds funny when she says it, but there is more than a grain of truth to it.

When we are young and just starting out many things we wish to purchase are less expensive, like insurance.  The caveat is we don’t believe we can afford it on seemingly very limited income.  The average American has more resources as they age because they have grown in their jobs, gotten promoted and have greater incomes.  Although their purchasing power is greater, what they wish to purchase is much more expensive than had they purchased it 20 or 30 years prior.

It is really a matter of the thought process.  Many of our parents never reached the financial borders we’ve crossed.  Yet, some how they managed to keep up the premium on the whole life insurance and there was always enough money to put them away when the time came.  The statement in no way advocates for purchasing whole life insurance, it is merely a demonstration of prioritizing what is important to assure we are taking care of the final business of our lives.

We have better jobs and resources than our parents for the most part.  We are better educated and have greater access to knowledge.  The information highway is boundless.  We even have better health care than our parents, but I am not sure if our planning skills are as good.  Is having more really the answer to good planning or is good planning predicated on how one views the world?  I don’t know the answer.  There are, however, too many individuals who work their entire lives and at retirement, are not ready emotionally, mentally and most profoundly – financially to retire.  When we don’t prepare for our future, suddenly we are awakened by a crash – we just hit the blind spot in the mirror.

It is never too late to start planning for your retirement future.  It is only too late if you never get started.  The earlier you start planning for your future the more wonderful your future will be.

P. S. Always Remember to Share What You Know.

Dianna Tafazoli

I cannot emphasize enough the need to -have the talk- and take care of the business of the end of our lives as soon as humanly possible.  Nobody can predict when death will come, but we can start planning because we know death is  inevitable.  When we think of celebrities we think -What a Life.  They have it all – money, fame, and access to the best of everything.  People are jockeying to be in their presence.  Designers want to dress them and jewelers want to adorn them with expensive trinkets.  What a boost to have a celebrity wear your design.  On the red carpet the mics appear and the question is – Who are you wearing?

Mr. Philip Seymour Hoffman was reputed to be an actor of unparalleled skill able to move seamlessly from one character to another, stellar in each role.  In the movie -Capote- Philp Seymour Hoffman vanishes and Truman Capote surfaces.  Mr. Hoffman won the Academy Award for Best Actor in his portrayal of the writer.  He was magnificent and equally so in Flawless, Charlie Wilson’s War, Doubt, and the Master.  Hoffman was also an accomplished stage actor and director.  His portrayal of Willie Loomis in the Death of a Salesman was illuminating.  It is said that Mr. Hoffman went to great lengths to prepare for his roles, spending countless hours getting into character.

There is no denying that Mr. Hoffman was an actor of immense talent, but failed as so many of us do, to take care of the business of the end of his life.  He was only 46 at the time of his death.  He had a decorated role off stage, away from lights, action, cameras.  He was a father of 3.  He had a family, one son and two daughters.  It is not that he did not have a Will, the tragedy of it is that he had not updated his Will.  Mr. Hoffman’s 3 children were from a relationship he formed with designer, Mimi O’Donnell, while on the set of – In Arabia We’d All Be Kings.

Mr. Hoffman’s Will made provisions for his son, but no mention was made of his two daughters.  As circumstances change in ones life, revisiting and updating important documents is invaluable to protecting ones family.  Mr. Hoffman’s advisers would have served him best, had they vigorously pursued him to update his will.  He was probably so excited to have his first child in 2003 that he made every provision possible for his son.  His daughters came along later in 2006 and 2008 and it appears that his Will had not been updated since the birth of his son in 2003.  Although, I am sure a respectable sum of money is apparent in Mr. Hoffman’s estate, a great deal of his acquired assets might not benefit his family.

People who have lots and lots of money need very skilled and knowledgeable financial advisors and planners to help them manage their estate.  They need someone who understands the tax laws and the constant changes that occur in the laws relevant to estate planning.  Just as we want to take care of our families in life, it is equally as important to make certain our families are taken care of when we are no longer around.

It is not only important to find a financial advisor of which you have a pleasant and respectful relationship, but one who is competent.  The person should have a financial planning designation along with other financial expertise.  Although, the Federal Government does not recognize Wills, your federal benefits are probably not the only assets you might want to leave to your family.  If you have a Will or a Trust, it is worth it to make it a part of your Action Plan of documents to review intermittently.  I tell women and men to set a time to review all important documents (Wills, Designation of Beneficiaries for  Annuity and TSP accounts, Living Wills, Durable Power of Attorney) at the same time each year.  Your birthday is a time that is usually remembered or maybe the birthday of a child might call you to action each year.  You will feel better knowing that your family is protected.

P. S.  Always Remember to Share What You Know.

Dianna Tafazoli