Benefits

  • The rollout of the Roth option for the Thrift Savings Plan, which would allow federal employees to invest already-taxed income, has long been discussed in the federal pay-and-benefits world. That launch moved another step closer, with the planned publication Wednesday of draft regulations in the Federal Register. And TSP participants will soon have more information about what the plan will look like.

    February 07, 2012
  • No matter what condition your hair is in, the vast majority of federal workers get a new wig every one, two or three years. But that may be about to change, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    February 07, 2012
  • The Thrift Savings Plan has hit an eye-popping milestone. The Thrift Savings Fund balance — the total invested across the TSP\'s 4.5 million accounts — climbed to $302.1 billion by the end of January, Tom Trabucco, the director of External Affairs at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, told In Depth with Francis Rose.

    February 06, 2012
  • Federal unions and some lawmakers have lambasted a proposed bill that would make changes to federal retirement benefits. The \"Securing Annuities for Federal Employees Act of 2012\" is set to go before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Tuesday for a markup session, in which lawmakers will be able to introduce amendments.

    February 06, 2012
  • Federal workers are considered lucky that the White House wants them to have a 0.5 percent raise next January. But what would G-men and women of your Mom or Dad\'s era have said to a pay raise of that — new word — minatude, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey wonders.

    February 06, 2012
  • As a House-Senate conference committee continues negotiations over how to extend the payroll tax cut, ahead of a Feb. 29 deadline, there\'s at least one issue that has never left the table: federal pay and benefits. The eight House Republicans on the conference committee all voted in support of the stand-alone pay freeze bill. Of the five House Democrats, only Rep. Allyson Schwartz, of Pennsylvania, voted yes on the bill.

    February 03, 2012
  • Now that government workers are under attack by politicians, how much clout do federal and postal workers have, and are they going to use it in November? Senior Correspondent Mike Causey searches for answers.

    February 03, 2012
  • The Office of Personnel Management has a new strategy for tackling its backlog of 62,000 retirement applications. But, after 25 years of hearing such promises, lawmakers are skeptical. The Senate Homeland Security and Government Reform Subcommittee on Oversight brought agency director John Berry to Capitol Hill to explain why this strategy is different.

    February 02, 2012
  • Federally Employed Women, which is aimed at improving the status of women working for the federal government, reviewed legislators\' voting records on 10 bills mostly related to federal pay and benefits. The group gave its highest score — a 100 percent — to two senators and 23 House members, all Democrats.

    February 02, 2012
  • Is a temporary pay freeze better than a permanent cut in your federal benefits package? Or are people ignoring the long-term effects of a \"temporary\" pay freeze, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey wonders.

    February 02, 2012
  • Host Mike Causey is joined by Tom Trabucco, director of external affairs for Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, and Federal Times senior writer Stephen Losey. February 1, 2012

    February 01, 2012
  • Thanks largely to transfusions from outside retirement plans, Uncle Sam now has 208 employees with million-dollar Thrift Savings Plan accounts, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says,and there\'s at least one person whose 401(k) plan is worth more than $4 million.

    February 01, 2012
  • The House is scheduled to vote on a bill on Wednesday to extend the civilian federal pay freeze another year — through 2013.

    January 31, 2012
  • A number of self-proclaimed insiders, reporters, lobbyists, think tank residents and a select group of psychics think they know what what\'s going to be in the election-year survival kit for members of Congress, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says ... and they say you are not going to like it.

    January 31, 2012