new page for ... retired Federal Employees
This information was requested by Bob, a page for retired federal employees.
Here you go Bob!
and here's a link to their website...
http://www.usa.gov/Federal_Employees/Federal_Employees_Gateway.shtml
Here you go Bob!
and here's a link to their website...
http://www.usa.gov/Federal_Employees/Federal_Employees_Gateway.shtml
Most federal annuitants would receive a tax rebate under the economic stimulus package (H.R. 5140) passed, 385-35, by the House of Representatives on January 29th. Retirees with no earned income, but with TAXABLE income -- which COULD include distributions from social security, pensions, annuities, traditional IRAs and other retirement income – would still qualify for rebate checks of up to the full $600 per person or $1,200 per couple allowed for those without dependent children. Wages, but not Social Security benefits and pensions, are included in the tax code’s definition of “earned income.” Those rebates would begin to phase out at $75,000 and $150,000 adjusted gross income (AGI) for single and joint filers, respectively – with the rebate effectively eliminated at $87,000 and $186,000 AGI for single and joint filers, respectively. (Roll Call vote 25 can be found at http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll025.xml)
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I know there are several Federal Retired Employees here and thought it would be a good place to share news of interest to ourselves. Each of us probably has links to a retiree organization and we can share news. Like above which came from NARFE. If there is interest, could probably form a chapter of NARFE here. ANYONE HAVE ANY NEWS?
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in late January the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on a number of Social Security issues. Prominent among those were the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision. NARFE did not participate directly. But Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), a member of Ways and Means but not on Social Security, was invited to sit on the dais and read a statement, and I'm told the statement he read was written by NARFE. Another highlight of the hearing was the testimony of an 89-year-old retired postmistress from Subcommittee Chair Michael McNulty's (D-NY) home town. She is a member both of NAPUS and NARFE, has long known Rep. McNulty, and described the problems the GPO presents her. So now both tax-writing committees in the House and Senate have held GPO/WEP hearings during this Congress, but NARFE members shouldn't get their hopes up. It's clear that the current top priority for those committees will be completing work on an economic stimulus package that the Senate and House can agree to and the President will sign. After that come any number of conflicts that have higher priority than those of retired public servants. Keep in mind also that although the number of State and local retirees affected by the offsets continues to grow, the number of affected federal retirees continues to decline, and NARFE's influence may wane accordingly.
However, there may be hope for the alternative version of premium conversion that Dan Adcock described in the January issue of "NARFE&#xu201D; Magazine (see p. 14). That measure is more likely to be introduced as an attachment to a larger measure, than as a stand-alone bill. It doesn't seem that the current economic stimulus effort will be that measure, but keep your fingers crossed for Premium Conversion Lite.
Finally, as this is written, the President's FY 2009 Budget has just been released. Past budget proposals from Presidents of both parties have occasionally been unfriendly to federal retirees, but defenders like Tom Davis have helped protect our benefits. This budget includes some health benefits proposals - health savings accounts in Blue Cross/Blue Shield, cuts in Medicare reimbursement - that have been shot down in previous years. Meanwhile, media in the Washington area seem to think Congress will treat this budget more or less as road-kill, i.e., to be shoveled into the ditch while Congress waits out the President's final year. But please stay alert for a possible request to contact your members of Congress.
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Bob,
First off, I found your post very interesting and informative. However, since you did ask if anyone had any news I wanted to throw this out there for discussion. As you know, most of us also have other sources of income to help subsidize our comfortable standard of living. For example, stock dividends, CDs, pensions, IRA distributions, annuities, etc, and I thought I would share another alternative with you that I live by. Please keep an open mind... If you had purchased $1000.00 of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49.00. With Enron, you would have had $16.50 left of the original $1000.00. With WorldCom, you would have had less than $5.00 left.
If you had purchased $1000 of Delta Air Lines stock you would have $49.00 left. But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, You would have had $214.00.
Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.
It's called the 401-Keg Plan
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Love the beer investment program! My comment is "YAHOO". It tripled in a year....
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I'm still many years from retirement and have been concerned about my future. According to Billybob, no worries! I started the 401 keg plan w/o realizing the dramatic impact it would have in my 'sunset' years. Thanks Billybob!!!
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From NARFE:
The NARFE Legislative Hotline, number 618, was released Thursday, February 14th. This Hotline leads with the economic stimulus legislation signed by the President. The next Hotline, set for Friday, February 22nd, will report on January consumer price news. (484 words; 3:26)
On February 13, President Bush signed the economic stimulus legislation, H.R. 5140. This package was first negotiated by House leaders of both parties and President Bush in late January. The Senate adopted an amended version (81-16) on February 7. The Senate version then passed the House (380-34) the same day. The new public law will provide economic stimulus payments to most taxpayers and federal retirees will be entitled to such rebates on the same basis as other Americans. Full details will appear in the April NARFE magazine. (Information on the signing ceremony is available at www.whitehouse.gov)
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WEP and GPO from NARFE
Rep. Michael McNulty (D-NY)
chaired a January 16 hearing of the
Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social
Security. The Government Pension
Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision
were among the subjects covered.
Like the November 6 Senate Finance
subcommittee hearing (January's
NARFE magazine pages 10-12), witnesses
for postal and public employees
told the panel of the onerous impacts of
the GPO and WEP. A McNulty constituent
and retired Postmaster, Frances
Rosenfield, testified for the National
Association of Postmasters. Ms Rosenfield,
also a NARFE member, has the
spousal survivor benefit, earned by her
late husband, offset by her postal annuity.
Teacher and school employee
groups also testified. Full coverage will
run in the March NARFE magazine.
Recent data indicates approximately
401,200 Social Security beneficiaries are
affected by the GPO, of whom about 75
percent are women, approximately 42
percent are widowed, and 85 percent
have lost their entire Social Security
spousal benefit. The data also showed
roughly 971,300 Social Security beneficiaries
affected by the WEP. About twothirds
were men, and 20 percent had paid
into Social Security for at least 21 years.
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from NARFE about OPM
New information on reporting a death to OPM
OPM has changed the procedures for reporting the death of an annuitant or survivor. The main changes are specific ways of notification and which forms need to be filled out and submitted. Following are the steps to take if you are the immediate survivor or executor:
Step One:
NOTIFY OPM of annuitant or survivor’s death. The Office of Personnel Management may be reached by phone, letter or internet. Phone: 1-888-767-6738 or 202-606-0500 (in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Calling Area), or 724-794-5216, or send a fax to: 724-794-1112.
A letter: can be addressed to: OPM, Retirement Operations Center, Boyers, PA 16017. The internet address, where there is a form to fill out and send online is: https://apps.opm.gov/retire/death/death.html
You will need to have at hand this basic information for OPM.
Ø Annuitant’s and/or Survivor’s name
Ø The Claim Number (found on OPM annual income statement)
Ø Social Security Number
Ø Date of death
Ø Name of contact person, telephone number of contact, and relationship to survivor
Ø Surviving spouse’s name, date of birth, Social Security Number
Ø Spouse’s address, telephone number, best time of day to call the spouse (during business hours)
Ø Whether there are minor children
Step Two:
OPM WILL SEND CLAIM FORMS AND INSURANCE FORMS YOU NEED.
Wait for OPM Forms to be sent to you—they will be dated and have bar codes to speed processing. [The F-100 and other “Survivor Kit” forms are for information gathering only.] These are the forms you will receive from OPM:
Ø Application for Death Benefits
Ø Claim for Death Benefits – Life Insurance
Ø “Report of Death” Letter, to change Health Insurance from “self & family” to “self.”
Step Three:
RETURN UNCASHED TREASURY CHECKS OR NOTIFY BANK OF DIRECT DEPOSITS AFTER DEATH.
Return un-cashed treasury checks to: U.S. Dept. of Treasury, Financial Management Services, P.O. Box 7224, San Francisco, CA 94120-7224.
If direct deposit, notify the financial institution of the date of death.
Step Four:
OBTAIN CERTIFIED COPIES OF THE DEATH CERTIFICATE.
You will need many copies, perhaps 12 - 15 or more, for everything in settling the estate.
Your funeral home can order these. See below under “Other uses for certified death certificates”
Step Five:
NOTIFY SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.
Call local office, make an appointment, and follow their guidance. Return SS checks after date of death. If direct deposit, notify financial institution.
Medicare, Medicaid or other benefits may be affected or need to be changed.
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From NARFE:
The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 0.5 percent in January 2008 according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (www.bls.gov/cpi or 202/691-6994). Released on February 20, the CPI-W for January is 206.7. For purposes of calculating the next COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) the index is currently 1.5 percent above the 2007 third quarter average base index of 203.6. February consumer price indices will be released on Friday, March 14.
Benefits awarded under the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) to individuals who left the workforce due to work-related injuries or illnesses are adjusted according to each calendar year’s percentage change in the CPI-W. January’s index, the first for the new year, is 0.5 percent higher than the December 2007 base of 205.7. As a result of the calendar year 2007 raise in the CPI-W, FECA beneficiaries will see a 4.3 percent COLA in their April 2008 benefit payment.
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NARFE TROUBLED BY OPM CALL FOR SEPARATE FEHBP RETIREE COVERAGE AND OPPOSES PLANS TO EXPAND CONTROVERSIAL HSAs
National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) President Margaret L. Baptiste said today that her association has concerns about proposals in the Office of Personnel Management’s “2008 Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) Carrier Letter” (also known as the “Call Letter”) which would create separate health plans for Medicare-eligible federal annuitants and expand controversial Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). However, Baptiste applauded OPM’s decision to encourage FEHBP carriers to offer enhanced hearing benefits for adults, including professional services and hearing aids.
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The approach of the tax filing deadline, April 15, is an appropriate time to remind all NARFE members that a NARFE legislative priority, Premium Conversion, H.R. 1110 and S. 773, need your help to obtain new cosponsors, particularly Members of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees which have jurisdiction over this legislation. While 31 Ways and Means Members have signed on to the bill, ten have not. Likewise 12 Senators on the Finance Committee have cosponsored, but 9 have not. The legislators, by state, who serve on the jurisdictional committees but are not among the current cosponsors are: Rep. Artur Davis, AL-7, Sen. Jon Kyl, AZ, Rep. Devin Nunes, CA-21, Sen. Ken Salazar, CO, Rep. John Larson, CT-1, Sen. Charles Grassley, IA, Rep. John Linder, GA-7, Rep. Jim McCrery, LA-4, Sen. John Kerry, MA, Rep. Sander Levin, MI-12, Rep. Kenny Hulshof, MO-9, Sen. Max Baucus, MT, Sen. John Ensign, NV, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, NM, Rep. Charles Rangel, NY-15, Rep. Thomas Reynolds, NY-26, Sen. Kent Conrad, ND, Sen. Ron Wyden, OR, and Rep. Sam Johnson, TX-8. Enactment of this legislation would allow civilian and military retirees to pay for health insurance premiums on a pre tax basis and would save a typical retiree enrolled in FEHBP an average of $820 per year. (The gateway to NARFE priority legislation is www.capwiz.com/narfe/issues/bills)
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Food banks in most areas of the country report low food stocks and high demand. On SATURDAY, May 10, the National Association of Letter Carriers will conduct their annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. In 2007, this NARFE supported drive delivered 70.7 million pounds of non-perishable items donated by patrons to local food organizations. NARFE members are urged to collect and bag non-perishable food items and place the bag by your mailbox for your letter carrier on Saturday, May 10, 2008. Results of the Food Drive will be reported in our magazine
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The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 0.9 percent in March 2008 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov/cpi or 202/691-6994). Released on April 16, the CPI-W for March is 209.147. For purposes of calculating the next COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) the index is currently 2.7 percent above the 2007 third quarter average base index of 203.6. April consumer price indices will be released on Wednesday, May 14, 2008.
Benefits awarded under the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) to individuals who left the workforce due to work-related injuries or illnesses are adjusted according to each calendar year’s percentage change in the CPI-W. March’s index is 1.7 percent higher than the December 2007 base of 205.7.
On April 16, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted 21-10 to report H.R. 5781, the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2008. The bill, introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, would amend existing law to provide four weeks of paid parental leave for all federal employees. Employees will also, for the first time, be allowed to use their accrued sick leave for an additional eight weeks of paid leave for parental leave. No date has been set for floor consideration.
On April 2, Rep. Danny K. Davis, D-IL, introduced House Resolution 1073, which supports the annual national week of recognition for public employees and the services they provide to our country. In a press statement, Rep. Davis, Chairman of the Federal Workforce Subcommittee, stated he “wishes to use H. Res. 1073 to raise the awareness of future generations about the vast rewards that come from working for federal, state, and local governments.” Public Service Recognition Week will be held May 5 through May 11. Public Service Recognition Week is prominently, and colorfully, displayed on the NARFE web site, at http://www.narfe.org/departments/hq/guest/articles.cfm?ID=1421
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Sen. Arlen Specter, R-PA, is the newest cosponsor of NARFE priority legislation, Premium Conversion. Sen. Warner, R-VA, sponsor of S. 773, to allow civilian and military retirees to pay certain health care premiums on a pre-tax basis, made Specter the 61st cosponsor on April 23. During the 109th Congress, 2005-2006, identical legislation reached 64 cosponsors. Companion House legislation, H.R. 1110, sponsored by Rep. Tom Davis, R-VA, has 323 official cosponsors and two waiting to be added. This impressive number is still twenty shy of Premium Conversions 108th Congress total.
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Gov Gab is written by seven federal employees who work in the Office of Citizen Services and Communications at the U.S. General Services Administration. Through Gov Gab, these employees--who specialize in researching government information--share personal observations and helpful tips on a variety of topics, including saving money, protecting the environment, staying healthy, and much more.
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On May 20, NARFE will testify in support of legislation, H.R. 3579, to facilitate the temporary reemployment of federal annuitants. Annuitant reemployment occurs now typically with the individual’s new pay being offset by the dollar amount of the previously-earned annuity, and in rare cases a restrictive OPM-led waiver process can allow a specific agency to pay these annuitants without the dollar for dollar loss. This legislation would allow annuitants to earn full pay and their annuities. The hearing will be held by the Federal Workforce Subcommittee (http://federalworkforce.oversight.house.gov/), chaired by Rep. Danny Davis, D-IL. Proponents, NARFE and the Office of Personnel Management (www.opm.gov) and opponents, National Treasury Employee Union (www.nteu.org), will testify and answer questions from Members of the subcommittee. H.R. 3579 is sponsored by Rep. Tom Davis, R-VA. A Senate companion bill, S. 2003, is sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME. (The Library of Congress “Thomas” service has additional information at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR03579:@@@L&summ2=m&)
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