Author - John Sanders

05 Apr

Why US Postal Service Is a Breeding Ground for Celebrities

Several individuals who have worked for government agencies have fame and success in various industries like music, acting, and many others.
A few examples include Clara Barton, who worked as a clerk in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. During WWII, Julia Child worked for the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor of the CIA. Walt Whitman held positions in the Army Paymaster’s Office, the Treasury Department, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
On the other hand, the US Postal […]

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29 Mar

House Members Propose Reducing Public Service Retirement Limitation

According to new legislation introduced in the house on 3rd November, federal employees that retire under the Civil Service Retirement System would not have their Social Security benefits reduced anymore if they have spent some time working in the private sector. Pioneered by Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, and co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of 30 representatives, this act is known as The Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act. The aim of this legislation is to eliminate the impact of […]

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22 Mar

Don’t Make Your Retirement All About the Money!

Most people want to retire on a beach or in a tropical paradise where they will spend their golden years relaxing. But a lot of people forget to factor in what it means to retire mentally before they think about retiring financially.
Here are some interesting ways to spend your retirement and get involved in something new.
1.      Don’t Leave it All: Do your due diligence on financial professionals.
Financial professionals are one of the most trusted professions. However, there is no […]

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15 Mar

OPM Issues Guidance to Ensure 67,000 Feds Make at Least $15 per Hour

If you’ve been waiting for the guidance on what agencies should ensure all federal workers earn, the wait has now come to an end. Recently, the Office of Personnel Management issued the long-awaited guidance on Friday – it claimed and ensured that all federal workers would make at least $15 per hour in accordance with President Biden’s executive orders. The date allowed for implementation for agencies is until Jan 30.
This good news will be extended to a total of […]

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08 Mar

Pay Will Be a Barrier to Rebuilding the Federal Workforce

With the labor market being super tight, the General Schedule pay system has not been easy either. The rigidness is a hindrance in attracting and retaining employees.
U.S. workers began to resign in unusually large numbers in September 2018, nearly three times the previous record of 1.2 million in January 2001. A whopping 4.4 million Americans abandoned their jobs in September making a new trend of era “Great Resignation.”
The private sector is facing an unusually tough time finding the […]

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24 May

Proposed 2021 Budget Would Eliminate Some Benefits

Recently, the White House released its fiscal year 2021 budget proposal. The proposed $4.8 trillion budget makes some significant cuts to federal employees’ benefits and retirement programs.
For many the proposals sound familiar. This is because they have been seen in many past budget proposals. Up to now, none of these have been approved; they are just proposals put forth to start the budget negotiation process, each year, in Washington.
Some of the suggested reductions include;
Eliminate FERS COLA, Reduce CSRS COLA […]

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28 Sep

TSP Posts Gains as New Funds Come Online

The stock market gave a warm welcome to the new lifecycle funds, now available in five-year increments.
The 401(k)-style retirement savings program launched by the federal government has seen every portfolio end the month of July in red, with funds being slow to recover from the unpredictable volatility that had been experienced earlier this year.
The recent gains have been led by the S Fund from Thrift Savings Fund, which gained over 5.71% in the last month alone. However, the fund […]

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21 Sep

The General Schedule system is unresponsive to labor market dynamics and agency staffing needs.

Take a look at this old report written by the Office of Personnel Management in 2002 titled “A Fresh Start for Federal Pay: The Case for Modernization”. It was written based on conversations and feedback collected by many key personnel over 3 years. However, it’s distressing to note how many critical concerns voiced in this report are yet to be addressed effectively.
There were 6 reasons given by the authors as to why the existing pay system wasn’t of much […]

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14 Sep

Feds’ Pay Increase Doesn’t Make House-Passed Funding

The House Committee on Appropriations has evaluated and approved the FY 2021 general funding legislation, albeit without any provisions for a pay hike for federal employees.
The bill was approved and passed by the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, which was then presented to the full committee on July 8. The bill deals with funding provisions required by the government and other financial services.
The general government appropriation legislation is also generally used for setting the federal pay hike […]

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