Federal workers, retirees and their surviving spouses are fortunate in many ways. They have a large number of health plans to choose from. The government will pay much if not most of the premium. No one can be turned down for any reason. Full coverage continues in retirement, which is not the case in most private plans.

While the choice of 20 to nearly 40 health plans and options is bewildering, it is an effort everybody should make. Many federal agencies have made it easier for people to shop at work, on the clock, by subscribing to Checkbook’s Guide to Health Plans For Federal Employees. The online guide makes it easy for people to check out plans, benefits, networks, catastrophic coverage and, of course, premiums.

The good news, for you and me, is that Walton Francis is my guest today on Your Turn. Remember, the countdown clock is ticking and you’ve got skin — literally and in money — in this open season. Francis is the long time editor of the Checkbook Guide, which, if your agency hasn’t subscribed for you, you can get by clicking here. You can save an additional 20% with the promotion code FEDNEWS.

Hidden gems (and time bombs) in your health plan

Federal News Network Senior Correspondent Mike Causey discusses everything of interest to federal employees, from pay, benefits and retirement, to buyouts, COLAs and pay freezes.

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Listen to the final Your Turn with Mike Causey show. It’s a special tribute to Mike, who passed away in late September 2022, hosted by Federal Drive anchor Tom Temin and executive editor Jason Miller.

Current and former Federal News Network colleagues and long-time guests of Your Turn will join this hour-long, commercial-free discussion about Mike’s impact on the federal community, share stories and memories of a man who impacted all of us with his wit, his knowledge and his desire to share and explain the intricacies of the federal world.

Guests include:

FNN General Manager Joel Oxley
WTOP Program Director and former FNN Web Operations director Julia Ziegler
FNN reporter Jory Heckman
Tammy Flanagan
Jessica Klement
Art Stein
Abraham Grungold
Former FNN Editor-in-Chief Lisa Wolfe
Former In-Depth anchor Francis Rose
Former Federal Drive co-host Jane Norris
Former Your Turn producer Lauren Larson

Final Your Turn episode to pay tribute to Mike Causey

In many ways, the way you handle your final affairs will determine how your family and friends remember you. So it’s important to get it right.

Years ago, my uncle died and left his large, 700-plus acre farm (for comparison, New York’s Central Park is about 840 acres) to his daughter.

Not his wife.

On purpose. Or so he thought!

He knew exactly what he was doing! That is, he thought he knew what he was doing. But instead of making a postmortem point, he messed up. Big time.

It was not his first will. Nor (maybe) his last. That’s because he wrote wills all the time. Sometimes to punish some individual or group. And that may have made him feel good, or at least satisfied. But in the end it created a mess. Why? Because the only will that counts is the last one you wrote (or that your family finds) that was done properly. The notarized copy his wife found became the official one. It cut her out of the farm. Or so he thought. What apparently happened is that my uncle, acting as his own attorney-estate planner, managed to leave the farm (as in land, creek, trees, etc.) to his daughter but somehow all the property on the farm — several houses, some barns and other buildings — went to his wife. Cut to the chase. Bottom line is the will that took effect was the only one (or most recent one) found. It left his daughter the land and his wife the buildings on that land. Probably not what he had planned!

After a bitter period of time his daughter bought the property on her land even though she was in debt for years paying for it. His wife got something. But nobody, including my uncle (who was a great guy), got what was intended. Lesson (if there is one): be careful who does your will. And your estate plan. And your trust. Do you know what you need? What’s best for your family? One of the first things to consider is do you have an estate? Many, if not most, career feds and retirees do. Worth more than they think. So what do you do?

We tapped Washington attorney Tom O’Rourke for some estate planning help. He’s a former IRS lawyer who specialized in taxes and estates in private practice. He’s going to be the guest on today’s Your Turn radio show.

Your estate plan: How to secure (or tarnish) your legacy

Many people consider Michelangelo’s statue of David to be the most perfect sculpture ever. It was done in the early 1500s and stands 10 feet tall. Pretty impressive.

Yet a friend of mine, Bill B, claims that his brother in-law, who has seen it in the flesh, thinks the masterpiece is overrated. After studying it for a few minutes, he concluded that virtually anybody could have done it.

“All you have to do,” brother-in-law-said, “is get a really good piece of marble, then chip away all the pieces that don’t look like David.”

Of course he’s right. Up to a point! But he’s leaving out some important details. The sort that face federal, postal and military personnel deciding how — and how much — to invest in their Thrift Savings Plan accounts. For some, TSP (with its generous government match) will provide one-third to as much half the money they have to spend in retirement. Regardless of the percentage, it’s a lot. So how do you become a TSP millionaire? We asked D.C.-area financial planner Arthur Stein if there is a magic formula. Several of his clients are TSP millionaires. The recent stock market nosedive reduced that number. And it has many investors rethinking their situation. Which is the subject of today’s Your Turn radio show  with Art Stein.

Wanna be a TSP millionaire: Have you got the right stuff?

Have you got what it takes to make the final cut, and maybe become a contestant on the popular TV show Jeopardy? Maybe become a millionaire? Interested? Take this test.

If you dare…

What weighs 990 million pounds, is worth $743 billion and has 6.6 million units found in every country of the world, every U.S. state, as well as Greenland and Antarctica. Oh, also in outer space.

Correct answer:

What is the federal Thrift Savings Plan, Uncle Sam’s in-house 401k for active and retired civil servants and government officials, and members of the military?

The TSPs’ governing body, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, met yesterday for its monthly meeting. Federal News Network’s Drew Friedman covered it. She’ll be my guest today on Your Turn.

Hidden gems (and time bombs) in your health plan

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