Clear answers for your federal & military retirement.
Sourced guides and calculators for federal employees, military retirees, and disabled veterans.
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Pick a topic to dive in.
FERS & CSRS
The federal pension. Computation, MRA, supplement, COLA, survivor benefits.
Money Basics
The fundamentals: compound interest, budgeting, index funds, debt, credit, and your first savings.
TSP
Allocation, contributions, Roth conversions, withdrawals, RMDs.
Social Security
Claiming strategy, spousal and survivor benefits, taxation.
Retirement Savings
How much you need, how much Americans have, and the safe withdrawal math.
Life Situations
Divorce, caregiving, low income, disability, renting, starting late — real-life retirement.
FEHB & Medicare
FEHB continuation, Medicare timing, PSHB, TRICARE for Life.
Tax Strategy
Drawdown sequencing, Roth conversions, IRMAA, state exemptions.
Military Retirement
Legacy vs BRS, SBP, concurrent receipt, Reserve and Guard at 60.
VA & Retirement
Where VA disability meets retirement income.
Start with these.
Deep, sourced explainers across every pillar — the kind of reference you’d want before filing.
OPM Is Asking Whether to Cut the Number of FEHB Plans
A September 15 request for information asks whether FEHB carriers should offer more, fewer, or different plan options. Nothing changes for 2027. Comments close November 16.
FERS & CSRSThe Best Dates to Retire in 2027
October 30, November 27 and May 29 for FERS; three more dates for CSRS. Every pay period end in the leave year, the leave-year end, and the December 31 catch specific to 2027.
TSPMonthly TSP Fund Returns
Every fund’s return, updated in the first week of each month — G, F, C, S, I and all eleven Lifecycle Funds, with year-to-date and 12-month figures and closing share prices.
FERS & CSRSOPM’s New RIF Rules: Performance Replaces Seniority
Bump and retreat are gone and retention standing is now a numeric score from your last three ratings. What changed on September 2, how to compute your own score, and the retirement options a notice puts on the table.
FERS & CSRS2027 COLA Tracker
The running calculation as each CPI-W release lands, the scenarios that bracket it, the FERS reduced formula, and what it means for your own annuity after the Part B increase.
TSPUsing Your TSP to Bridge to Social Security at 70
Claim at 62 for 70% of your benefit, or spend TSP first and claim 124% at 70. What the bridge costs, the G Fund bucket that funds it, and when it’s the wrong call.
Money BasicsThe Financial Order of Operations
Match, high-interest debt, emergency fund, HSA, Roth, TSP — the exact order every federal dollar should go, so none is wasted. The ladder that answers “where does my next dollar go?”
Social SecurityWhen to Claim Social Security: Federal Edition
62, full retirement age, or 70 — the claiming math for federal couples, including life after WEP/GPO repeal.
Tax StrategyThe Roth Conversion Ladder
Filling the low brackets before RMDs and IRMAA arrive — the multi-year sequencing that can save six figures in tax.
Latest dispatches.
Short, data-driven briefs on the policy and numbers shaping federal retirement.
August CPI-W Lands: The 2027 COLA Count Moves to 3.3%
Two of the three counting months are in. The running figure is 3.3% for CSRS and Social Security, 2.3% for FERS — and one release left on October 14.
The RIF Rule Took Effect September 2. Seniority Is Now a Tiebreaker.
Bump and retreat are gone. Retention standing is a score from your last three ratings, and length of service only breaks ties.
No October 1 Shutdown: The CR Moved the Cliff to December 11
Fiscal 2027 begins without a lapse. What a December lapse would touch, and the much longer list it cannot.