FERS, CSRS, TSP, survivor elections, sick-leave credit — thousands of pages of rules, no one at the agency left to walk you through them, and decisions that lock in for life. This is the retirement that punishes guessing hardest — and rewards planning most.
The government used to staff people to help you retire. Now you're on your own — and several of these choices, once filed, never reopen.
Full, partial, or none — chosen once, at retirement, with your spouse's notarized consent. The wrong election can cost a surviving spouse the pension income and the health coverage that rides with it.
Keep it in the TSP with its famously low costs, or roll it over for consolidation and flexibility — there are honest cases both ways. A fiduciary is obligated to tell you when staying put is your better move. That's the difference between advice and a sales pitch.
Unused sick leave converts to service time under FERS. Deposit and redeposit decisions for temporary or refunded service can move your pension meaningfully — but only if handled before the paperwork goes in.
End-of-month versus end-of-year, your MRA, the FERS supplement before 62 — retirement-date mechanics that are worth planning years ahead, not discovering in the exit packet.
We plan the whole retirement — the pension election, the TSP decision, taxes on all of it, and the estate around it — as one coordinated plan. Fee-based, no products, no commissions: if the numbers say leave the TSP right where it is, that's exactly what we'll tell you.
Educational only — not investment, tax, or legal advice. Every situation is different; the right answer depends on the numbers, and that's what the strategy session is for.
Sit down with a fiduciary — not a salesman — and leave with a complimentary strategy for your exact situation, whether or not you ever hire us.