The Federal Reserve’s September rate hike widened the gap between what a typical bank pays on savings and what’s actually available. This guide compares savings accounts, CDs, Treasury bills, and money market funds, explains why locking up cash in a five-year CD deserves more scrutiny right now, and lays out a tiered approach for keeping cash flexible as rates continue to move. more…
Recent Articles
What a Higher Prime Interest Rate Costs You in Retirement
The prime interest rate just rose to 7%. Here’s what that means for debt carried into retirement, and how it stacks up against a federal retiree’s cost-of-living adjustment. more…
Federal Employee Pay Raises vs. Retiree COLAs: How Each Is Determined
The federal employee pay raise and the retiree cost-of-living adjustment are determined differently and rarely land on the same number — here’s why, and what it means for retirement income planning. more…
House Republicans Push OPM to Review Federal Law Enforcement Retirement Classification
A group of House Republicans has asked OPM to reconsider how it classifies certain federal police forces for retirement purposes, arguing that officers at agencies like VA Police and the Pentagon Force Protection Agency perform law-enforcement-level duties without qualifying for enhanced retirement coverage. The push draws on a recent GAO report documenting the same disparity across 17 agencies, including higher attrition among officers without enhanced benefits. Nothing has changed yet for affected employees, but the story is worth tracking given the retirement formula differences at stake. more…
The TSP Rule That Can Drain Your Nest Egg During a Downturn
When the market drops, many federal retirees count on a G Fund allocation to protect their nest egg — so withdrawals come from that safe cushion instead of digging into savings while they’re down. But the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) doesn’t let participants choose where a withdrawal comes from. Every payment is pulled proportionally, no matter what the market is doing, which can quietly drain the very savings a retiree was trying to protect. Using real TSP data from the 2008 financial crisis and the 2009 recovery that followed, this article shows exactly what that can cost, and walks through two practical ways to keep a downturn from working against a retirement nest egg. more…
OPM Eases Approval for $25,000 Federal Employee Awards
The Office of Personnel Management has delegated to agency heads the authority to approve individual federal employee cash and performance awards above $10,000 and up to $25,000, a review step that previously required OPM’s own sign-off. Agencies can now approve these awards in-house, or pass that authority down to a Chief of Staff, Chief Human Capital Officer, or bureau/component head. This guide includes a FAQs that clears up some common points of confusion about how the change affects employees and retirement planning more…
How Living Benefits Riders Let You Use Your Life Insurance Death Benefit Early
Most life insurance policies today include a way to access money from the death benefit before you die — through a living benefits rider. Ed Zurndorfer discusses the four types of riders (terminal illness, chronic illness, long-term care, and critical illness), how to add and activate them, and the trade-offs every policyowner should understand before filing a claim, including how much a payout will reduce what’s left for beneficiaries. more…
Lawmakers Push Back on 2027 Federal Pay Freeze
A group of 110 lawmakers is urging congressional leaders to authorize, at minimum, an across-the-board 3.8% pay raise for civilian federal employees, in line with the increase President Trump has proposed only for law enforcement personnel — and preferably the fuller 4.1% called for in the FAIR Act. Here’s what the letter argues and what federal employees should realistically expect before a final decision lands in December. more…
TSP Week in Review: Sept. 14 – 18, 2026
The Fed hiked rates this week, and TSP funds didn’t all react the same way. See which funds held steady and which took a hit. more…
Understanding the Different Types of Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance isn’t one-size-fits-all. Ed Zurndorfer walks through the five main variations explaining how each one works, who it tends to fit best, and the trade-offs in cost, flexibility, and long-term value. Whether you’re weighing a policy for the first time or reconsidering coverage as you approach retirement, understanding these differences can help you match a policy to your actual needs. more…