News & Commentary FERS Sick Leave Remedy The House passed a measure that would allow workers covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (generally those hired in 1984 or later) to apply their leftover sick leave toward their retirement annuity. . . . . more Medicare & FEHBP: Do you need both? When you retire from the federal government you will have the option to keep your Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan and to sign up for Medicare, and pay premiums to both. Keeping the FEHBP plan is a no-brainer, unless you have a spare $300,000 laying around to pay medical bills for yourself and a spouse. But the Medicare question is more complicated. . . . . more Less Federal Employees Retiring After years of seeing retirements regularly outpace official projections, 2006 and 2007 witnessed a shift: Fewer federal employees retired than expected. And for the first time in at least five years, the Office of Personnel Management this year revised its future retirement projections downward. The reason: the souring economy. . . . . more Retirement Planning To-Do List If you are close to the point of setting a date for your retirement and wondering what needs to get done before you go, here's a simple to-do list (includes the forms you will need, too). . . . more Sick-Leave Abuse Prompts Calls to Compensate for Unused Time A recent report from the Inspector General for Tax Administration states "the lack of compensation for unused sick leave at retirement has contributed to the higher amount of sick leave used by FERS employees" and that a change to the use-it-or-lose-it rule might be warranted if the change is less expensive than the current policy. . . . . more OPM Halts Work on Retirement Calculator OPM officials discuss why the agency has ceased work on the retirement calculator and what it plans to do while attempting to move ahead . . . . more