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Category Archives: CSRS

Don’t Overlook Medicare, Survivor Benefits, and Health Savings Accounts

03/20/2023
STWS Advisor Jennifer Meyer dives deep into items 5 through 7 from her “10 MORE Easy Ways to Ruin a Federal Retirement” Series. Jennifer Meyer, CFP© Hello readers. Here is my next offering in my “10 MORE Easy Ways to Ruin ... Read More

Federal Benefits Quiz: TSP, Taxes, and More

03/17/2023
The 48th weekly quiz focuses on recent TSP performance, taxation of FERS and CSRS, and budgetary talks in Congress. Take Our Other Quizzes: Quiz #47 Quiz #46 Quiz #45 [ays_quiz id=”48″] You Might Also Enjoy This Podcast: FedLife Podcast: Top ... Read More

How Survivor Benefits of Deceased Federal Employees and Annuitants Are Taxed

03/16/2023
How the IRS Taxes the Surviving Spouse Benefits of Deceased Federal Employees and Annuitants Ed Zurndorfer – Unfortunately, over the years there have been married federal employees who died while in federal service or after they have retired from federal ... Read More

Social Security Benefits May Be Payable to Eligible Family Members

03/15/2023
Edward Zurndorfer discusses how a spouse and young children become eligible for a Social Security benefit based on the individual’s Social Security earnings record– A previous FEDZONE column discussed how an individual becomes eligible for a Social Security monthly retirement ... Read More

How the IRS Taxes CSRS and FERS Annuities

03/08/2023
Tax season is now in full swing. This article breaks down the federal taxation of federal government pensions – both FERS and CSRS. Edward A. Zurndorfer Both a CSRS/CSRS Offset and FERS employees make nondeductible contributions to their respective retirement ... Read More

The Importance of Having an Estate Plan

02/24/2023
Six estate planning tips for federal employees, including wills, POAs, and more… Edward A. Zurndorfer Over the last three years, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance for all individuals – young, middle aged and retired – to address their ... Read More

2024 COLA Outlook: Gauging Inflation and Introduced Bills

02/23/2023
Upcoming Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security beneficiaries and federal annuitants. Plus, proposed legislation about both COLA and leave. COLAs for federal retirees’ pension income and social security benefits are linked to inflation, which is measured by one of the ... Read More

Four Follies that Can Ruin Your Federal Retirement

02/21/2023
Jen delves into items 1 to 4 from her ’10 more ways to ruin a federal retirement’ list. Jennifer Meyer, CFP© Hello again readers and thank you for joining me in our discussion of “Ten More Easy Ways to Ruin ... Read More

Medicare Part B Premiums Decreased in 2023: Is There a Catch?

02/09/2023
Is There Any Downside Resulting from the Decrease of Medicare Part B Premiums During 2023? Edward A. Zurndorfer For the year 2023, Social Security recipients received an historic 8.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), the highest in 40 years. Meanwhile, Medicare ... Read More

2024 Federal Pay Raise Update: FAIR Act Introduced Again

01/30/2023
An 8.7% raise for the US Federal Workforce? Speculation over next year’s pay raise has begun! Since 2016, the FAIR act has started the process for determining the pay increase for feds. The 2017 pay raise was ultimately decided by ... Read More