FERS Retirement Course

Participants will receive all the information they need to make educated decisions regarding their personal retirement plans. This course explains everything covered in the CSRS Course with an emphasis on Shorter Term Planning. In addition, it covers the specifics of MEDICARE and the Federal Employee.

Understanding the FERS Retirement System

• Understanding Defined Benefit Retirement System
• The CSRS Annuity
• How service time and the annuity are computed
• Survivor Benefits
• Insurable Interest
• Disability Benefits
• Social Security Benefits
• Vesting and how it works
• Types of FERS Retirements
• COLAs and the FERS
• The FERS Special Supplement
• Federal and State Tax Considerations

Understanding Social Security

• How service is computed & retirement benefit before, at, and after full retirement age
• Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) for CSRS
• Spousal Benefits, Disability Benefits, Survivor Benefits and more

Understanding Health, Life and Long Term Care Insurance Benefits

• How these insurance programs work — and how to use them to meet your planning goals.
• Medical insurance (FEHB) now and at age 65
• Medicare
• The Military Retiree, TRICARE and Medicare
• Long Term Care Insurance
• Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) – How Life Insurance Works in Estate Planning

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)

• Health Care Flexible Spending Accounts (HCFSA)
• Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (DCFSA)

Understanding the Legal Ramifications of Financial Decisions

• How to designate beneficiaries for your federal programs
• Wills, trusts and probate; Medical directives and rights
• How to select an Estate Planning Attorney

Understanding the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)

• Defined Contribution Retirement Systems
• 2007 contribution limits and catch-up contributions
• Tax considerations and your take-home pay
• Determining your investment objective and time horizon
• The five funds, diversification, risk tolerance, penalty-free distributions, TSP loans, rollovers, beneficiary considerations, managing the TSP in retirement and much more

How the TSP works

• Contribution limits
• Importance of early and mid-career contributions
• Importance of meaningful and consistent contributions
• Tax considerations for contributions and distributions and how this affects your take home pay
• Asset classes
• Diversification
• Investment strategy & rebalancing
• Investing in index funds
• The 5 Funds and how to understand them
• Making informed investment decisions
• L Fund Choices
• Retirement programs including IRSs, 401(k)s, and Roth IRAs
• Loans and distributions
• Penalty-Free Distributions
• Required minimum distributions
• Agency Matching Contributions