Benefits, Retirement on the Chopping Block?

When the history of this Congress is written, somebody may say it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. So what do the coming elections and lame duc...

In France this week people are rioting (well, at least acting up) protesting a number of things. Chief among them: A proposal that would raise the national retirement age from 60 to, brace yourself for this one, 62.

Oh, the humanity!

Of course there are other things that Parisians don’t like. Many in fact!

But raising the retirement age appears to be at the top of the I-hate-this list. (To confirm same, I have volunteered to spend an all-expenses-paid month in Paris to research the situation and report back my finding. My boss said “don’t hold your breath,” which I take as a good sign.)

Meantime, back in the US of A.

Lobbyists representing federal and postal workers expect the next couple of months, which include the November elections followed by a lame duck session of Congress, to have an unusually high number of soon-to-be-out of work politicians. This will be an interesting, potentially dangerous time for feds and the federal benefit package. Anything and everything could come up ranging from diet COLAs (cost of living adjustments) for retirees, to raising the retirement age to changing the retirement computation formula for the high-3 to highest-5 years of service.

The special presidential panel on deficit reduction could make a run at Social Security benefits for feds under the CSRS system.

Nobody should lose any sleep over what might/could, or might not, happen in coming months. But stay tuned because we live in interesting and fast-changing times.

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com


Nearly Useless Factoid
by Suzanne Kubota

How hot is it? A Kentucky farmer says it’s so hot, his corn is popping in the field and he’s sent a photo of the burst kernels to the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service to prove it. And it’s just in time for the 30th anniversary celebration of the Marion Popcorn Festival in Marion, Ohio which kicks off today, featuring a double elimination “Corn Hole Classic“.


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