Acquire the information you need to make fully informed decisions about retirement. Gain valuable retirement planning information related to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS). Learn how Social Security benefits are calculated, and how your health and life insurance benefits carry over into retirement. Learn about Medicare and Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) withdrawal options. Receive an overview of financial, estate, and "life" planning.
Determine when you are able to retire and explain the major steps involved in the retirement application process
Understand how your basic annuity will be computed and what benefits will be payable to your survivors
Identify your federal health and life insurance benefits after retirement, as well as your entitlement to Social Security benefits, including Medicare, and how/whether your Social Security benefit will be affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision
Identify TSP withdrawal options
Identify your retirement income needs and develop appropriate financial plans for your retirement
Outline:
Center for Health Sciences Information Session RSVP Form
Day one of two
Introduction to Federal Benefits
$ Course and student Objectives
$ Overview of course content
$ Definitions of retirement benefits terms
$ Retirement Questions
Retirement Eligibility
$ Retirement eligibility under CSRS and FERS
$ Establishing your AMinimum Retirement Age@
$ Determining the best time to retire
$ Eligibility considerations for special employee categories
Annuity Computations
$ Computing creditable service
$ Components of the AHigh-3" average salary
$ CSRS and FERS basic annuity computations
$ Components of special employee categories
$ Parameters for reductions to annuities
$ How Cost of Living Adjustments impact annuities
$ Re-employment annuities
$ Voluntary retirement annuity contributions
Survivor Benefits
$ Survivor benefits of deceased federal employees
$ Death after separation from federal service
$ Insurable interest eligibility
$ Court awarded survivor annuities
$ Selecting survivor benefits
$ Parameters for children=s survivor benefits
Health and Life Insurance Benefits (FEHB/FEGLI)
$ Eligibility considerations for the FEGLI
$ FEGLI continuation coverage options
$ Order of Precedence for FEGLI benefits
$ Post-retirement coverage under the FEHB
$ FEHB and Medicare
$ Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
Day two of two
Social Security/Medicare Benefits
$ Key terms and definitions of the Social Security program
$ Social Security eligibility requirements
$ Calculating Social Security benefits using PIA and AIME
$ Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO)
$ Eligibility requirements for Medicare
Income Tax Considerations
$ Application of basic tax rules to CSRS benefits
$ Taxation of TSP annuity payments
$ Taxes applied to Social Security benefits
$ Sources of information about retirement income taxes
Thrift Savings Plan
$ TSP participation requirements
$ Meeting your retirement financial needs
$ TSP and CSRS and FERS
$ TSP investment fund options
$ Withdrawal and transfer options of TSP funds
$ Estimating a TSP account balance
Application Forms and Information
$ Uses of the various retirement application forms
$ Information sources available to federal employees
$ Methods for making changes to your records
$ Points of contact for questions
$ Resolving common retirement problems
