Lots of federal employees like to pin their retirements to the end of the year. It makes for nice closure on a career. But if you mean this year, there's no time to lose. Retirement is all about the planning you do ahead of time. I got the lowdown from one of the top retirement planning experts, Tammy Flanagan.

Plus, people concerned with the federal workforce and government operations generally are wondering. If he returns to office, would former President Donald Trump bring back Schedule F. That was his plan to turn certain senior career civil service employees to essentially political appointees. Earlier I spoke with one long-time observer who's worried, Washington attorney George Chuzi.

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