Weekend Reading on Your Federal Benefits 40-18.jpg

(for the week of September 29th – October 4th)

You’re too busy during the week to keep up on all the news around your employee benefits and pay. My weekly summary of the most interesting and relevant news stories could help you and includes my comments and insights.

By the way, if you’ve read something about your employee benefits that you think is important or interesting, share it. And, let me know about news sources that you follow. Have a great weekend.

George Ray
Federal Benefits Online

In this week’s benefits news for Feds, we get the latest update on your 2019 pay raise, answer five questions about the new TSP withdrawal options, hope for relief from the required minimum distribution rule, and ask ‘Will Artificial Intelligence replace many Federal workers?’ Let’s go.

What’s the Latest on the 2019 Pay Raise?

From Fedsmith.com

We’ll have to wait until Congress reconvenes after the mid-term elections to find out the final decision on whether you’ll receive a pay raise next year, but House Republicans say they’ve struck a deal on a pay raise for 2019. The raise would be the same as the Senate’s proposed 1.9% average raise. Barbara Comstock (R-VA) has been praised for her work in securing the agreement.

The National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) Association and the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) and are being cautiously optimistic. “It is not something to celebrate just yet,” NTEU National President Tony Reardon said in a statement. Even if the House and Senate do ultimately agree on a raise, the President had previously called for a pay freeze for 2019. Here’s hoping that we can warm things up a bit and thaw out the freeze.

5 Questions About TSP’s New Withdrawal Options, Answered

From Federalnewsradio.com

This week the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) partnered with the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (the TSP folks) to provide a webinar titled ‘Your TSP Account – What to Think About When Nearing Retirement or Considering Leaving the Government’. More than 5,000 Feds watched the live webinar which is available for replay on the SEC’s website at this link and lasts for about 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Much of the session covered information on the new TSP withdrawal options, but if you’re not up for a long webinar this weekend, Nichole Ogrysko’s article for Federal News Radio focuses on the answers to these five questions:

When will the new TSP withdrawal options be available?
So what are the new withdrawal options?
Will I have more options to determine where my payments come from?
Can I use new TSP withdrawal options if I’m planning to retire before September 2019?
Will the TSP withdrawal forms change?

If you’re getting close to retirement, the new distribution options (expected to be implemented by September 2019) will give you more flexibility with your retirement funds. And it’s even possible that you could see more good news when it comes to your retirement money as . . . .

Some Relief May Be Ahead from Minimum Distribution Rule

From Fedweek.com

For retired Feds with a pension and a well-managed retirement budget, the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) rule can be frustrating. The rule requires you to begin making withdrawals from your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) and other retirement accounts by not later than April 1st of the year following the year you reach age 70½ (or after you retire, if you’re still working at that age) whether you want to take your money out or not.

The amount of your required distribution is based on what an executive order calls ‘outdated’ IRS life expectancy tables with shorter life expectancy figures. This causes you to take your money out faster which can potentially leave you with insufficient savings in your later years. Most insurance companies have updated their life expectancy tables to reflect the fact that we’re living longer these days. Should the IRS be forced to update their tables, you would be required to take smaller distributions over a longer time period. (You’ll still have the option of taking more money out sooner if you desire.)

Before you get too excited, the order merely requires the Treasury Department to examine its tables and conduct a study to determine if they should be updated. The good news is the study is expected to be completed in early 2019. If you’re one of those Feds who can afford to leave their money in the TSP (and in IRAs), you’ll be much less grumpy about having to take out (and pay taxes on) money that you don’t currently need.

Will Artificial Intelligence Replace Many Federal Workers?

From ChiefHRO.com

Jeff Neal says the short answer to this question is ‘yes’, but with respect to the Federal workforce that’s not necessarily bad. The use of Artificial Intelligence (or AI) could allow us to devote more time to the ‘substance’ of our work and less time on the administrative and documentation aspects of it. Help desks are one area where AI has taken off. Many calls these days are answered by a computer, often with a human voice, that can assist us with basic needs or direct us to a human when our questions require more attention.

According to Mr. Neal ‘facial recognition, analysis of financial data from multiple sources, increased use of sensors to detect movement in remote areas and use of sensors, in general, have the potential to revolutionize law enforcement.’ There are many ways that technology helps us in research, medicine, and so many other areas.

So, will Feds lose their jobs? Not likely. Although some types of jobs may get cut, others will change to accommodate the new technologies which could create more fulfilling work with less drudgery. The challenge to change will more likely come from the tension to maintain privacy and security. No one seems to like ‘big brother’ watching them. And the Federal government is often considered your ‘big brother’. Press 1 if you agree, press 2 if you disagree, or just hang up and ask Alexa to order something to relax you. Be sure to get it with pumpkin spice.

See you next week. Thanks!

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