Any General Schedule (GS) Employees/Retirees?

[contax_shooter]

I just got picked up on the GS payband after being a contractor. Any good insight anyone want to share?

Huge downer is I lose my Tricare Reserve Select due to being eligible for FEHB as a FERS employee. What a bummer as my rate now increase by double of what I paid for health/dental.

I’ve got 92% of my Reserve basic pay going into TSP, I’ll be opting into the new blended retirement system so they’ll match up to 5%. On the GS side, I can afford about 20% to put away into the TSP.

As far as buying back my time, I’ll buy back 4 years of active service. I’m under age 30.

Am I doing anything wrong so far?

[gunnerblue]

I cannot speak for the military side of things, but I would strongly advise placing your TSP savings in one of the L funds (e.g. 2040 or 2050) or a TSP Roth. If you are stock-savvy you could pick and choose/move around your savings within the various funds. I prefer to have the work done for me��

[dwhitehorne]

Not doing anything wrong that I see. Put as much as you can in TSP. I started out with 5% of base pay for my first few years as a GS7. Now 25 years later I wish I had maxxed out from day one. I'm in L2040 by the way. Buy back your .mil time. Many years ago someone calculated out for me. My $2100 I paid back for 6 years time will get me $1800 more a year in retirement. David

[gunnerblue]

^ Forgot to add this- you cannot contribute too much too early

[qsy]

If you are a member of the Reserve you should also be able to "buy back" any time you were on Title 10 status....annual training, schools attended on active duty (not to include weekend drills).

[steyrman13]

I just got picked up on the GS payband after being a contractor. Any good insight anyone want to share?

Huge downer is I lose my Tricare Reserve Select due to being eligible for FEHB as a FERS employee. What a bummer as my rate now increase by double of what I paid for health/dental.

I’ve got 92% of my Reserve basic pay going into TSP, I’ll be opting into the new blended retirement system so they’ll match up to 5%. On the GS side, I can afford about 20% to put away into the TSP.

As far as buying back my time, I’ll buy back 4 years of active service. I’m under age 30.

Am I doing anything wrong so far?

Why are you opting into the BRS? I haven't seen a single example that would benefit anyone unless the stock market ALWAYS goes up. I could be wrong and am genuinely curious.

[contax_shooter]

Thanks for everyone’s input.

As far as opting for BRS on the mil side, I only served 4 years on active duty and my first year as a reservist. It makes sense to go into the BRS.

I’ve sent out my estimated earnings form RI 20-97 for an inquiry, awaiting to hear back to see how much t costs to buy my active time back. Either way, it’s a no brained for the little amount of active time I’ve invested in.

I will certainly read into the other funds (L) or Roth.

[USMC_Anglico]

I just got picked up on the GS payband after being a contractor. Any good insight anyone want to share?

Huge downer is I lose my Tricare Reserve Select due to being eligible for FEHB as a FERS employee. What a bummer as my rate now increase by double of what I paid for health/dental.

I’ve got 92% of my Reserve basic pay going into TSP, I’ll be opting into the new blended retirement system so they’ll match up to 5%. On the GS side, I can afford about 20% to put away into the TSP.

As far as buying back my time, I’ll buy back 4 years of active service. I’m under age 30.

Am I doing anything wrong so far?

Just make sure you do not exceed $18,000 a year total into the TSP as you are contributing from both reserve and .GOV (if you exceed the limits, the TSP will automatically return the excess after the year ends, but why wait?). I would stick with the .GOV and try to max it there, to keep things simple. If you plan on sticking with the .GOV until retirement then do not opt into the blended system on the reserve side, it offers no benefits as you already are in the TSP with matching. Might as well stick with 50% retirement for .MIL if you get there.

As far as .GOV, buying back .MIL time is a must. You have up to three years to pay the deposit before interest accrues, so get it moving.

Also get with your HR folks to get your military time credited towards vacation and retirement, also might effect pay steps.

Lastly if you have a VA rating, get it to them also. Puts you into a different bucket for .GOV employment actions in the future.

[steyrman13]

Thanks for everyone’s input.

As far as opting for BRS on the mil side, I only served 4 years on active duty and my first year as a reservist. It makes sense to go into the BRS.

I’ve sent out my estimated earnings form RI 20-97 for an inquiry, awaiting to hear back to see how much t costs to buy my active time back. Either way, it’s a no brained for the little amount of active time I’ve invested in.

I will certainly read into the other funds (L) or Roth.

Do you plan to get 20 years? I still think the traditional mil retirement is a better deal if so. Unless the market sky rockets and never drops I can't see how it would benefit you. Congress came up with the BRS as a cost savings measure not to get the retiree more money. Especially as a reservist/guard you would never make enough in a paycheck for the latching to even make a dent. Only an active duty for 30 years service who is at your point in the career would come close to benefitting from the BRS

I guess if you plan to leave before 20 years it could benefit you some

[contax_shooter]

Whoa, soup sandwich crisis. I’m going to stick with the weekend warrior gig as long as I can, only 15 more years to go.

I was under the impression that junior mil would benefit more with the BRS. Election window begins in 2018 so I have some time to consider which direction - leaning towards opting out from what I’ve read. I really need to speak with a financial advisor as someone else mentioned.

I won’t come close to the $18k contribution cap, more like $9k per year if I can manage.

[USMC_Anglico]

BRS won't benefit you as you have a .GOV covered by the TSP already with matching. Stick with just contributing on .GOV side as that is your primary paycheck. If you are only doing $9K, no worries. Every year up it by 1%, you won't feel it in the take home as it will be covered by the annual raise/step increases. In several years you will be maxing it out....

[steyrman13]

Whoa, soup sandwich crisis. I’m going to stick with the weekend warrior gig as long as I can, only 15 more years to go.

I was under the impression that junior mil would benefit more with the BRS. Election window begins in 2018 so I have some time to consider which direction - leaning towards opting out from what I’ve read. I really need to speak with a financial advisor as someone else mentioned.

I won’t come close to the $18k contribution cap, more like $9k per year if I can manage.

Yeah definitely check with a financial advisor and if you have a good one on base that understands the system even better. When they came and spoke to us, the calculator was based on max contributions. I saw very few calculations that benefitted a weekend warrior and only a very tiny percentage of active duty enlisted who only had a year and half or less that t could possibly benefit.

The biggest thing I see is if you only do like 4 or five years and don't plan to stay for retirement, then you get a few extra bucks in your tsp that you didn't pay into but that's about it.

[qsy]

Whoa, soup sandwich crisis. I’m going to stick with the weekend warrior gig as long as I can, only 15 more years to go.

I was under the impression that junior mil would benefit more with the BRS. Election window begins in 2018 so I have some time to consider which direction - leaning towards opting out from what I’ve read. I really need to speak with a financial advisor as someone else mentioned.

I won’t come close to the $18k contribution cap, more like $9k per year if I can manage.

Make sure that you understand the Reserve retirement process and system before you make any decisions. I know many individuals who made decisions based on what they "thought" and what people "said" that turned out to be inaccurate. There may be advantages/disadvantages of one system versus the other when you factor in the deferment to age 60 on receiving benefits.

[dwhitehorne]

Good advice on getting the facts not the "my buddy told me " Also be careful with the financial advice. I had a gentleman after I got married try to tell me to put the minimum in TSP and invest the rest with him. I ran away from him quickly. David

[Dienekes]

There is an outfit called NARFE for current and retired federal employees that deals with these issues all the time. You might want to check them out to see what they can do for you by way of valid info. http://www.narfe.org/home/index.cfm

Beware of all the hearsay even if well meant. Your specific info may not match up with what someone else did n their case. When I was getting close to punching out I about memorized the guidebook I was using. I plumb HATE surprises!

Anything I knew then is no doubt totally obsolete now. For one thing, I was and remain the old CSRS which only dinosaurs have...

Just by way of illustration: https://www.amazon.com/You-First-Federal-Employee-Retirement/dp/0692335668

[CGSteve]

If you are federal LE, ask your MSS or HR person about getting a payment for attending a LE academy after military service. There is a program where they count that as post military employment training, which you can get some $ for.

[contax_shooter]

Thanks for all of your input. I sat down and read all about the TSP information on their website and have decided:

80% of my Reserve pay into traditional, TSP allocation into L2050 at 100%
20% of my civilian FERS pay into traditional TSP.

100% of previous employer's 401K into my civilian FERS traditional TSP.

[rocsteady]

I've been very happy with the way they've managed my tsp. I'm in the L 2030 and like everyone else doing very well with stocks right now. Tsp went up 25% in last 12 months

[qsy]

Thanks for all of your input. I sat down and read all about the TSP information on their website and have decided:

80% of my Reserve pay into traditional, TSP allocation into L2050 at 100%
20% of my civilian FERS pay into traditional TSP.

100% of previous employer's 401K into my civilian FERS traditional TSP.

Good job on getting schooled up on the "system". Make sure you stay up on it and adjust accordingly.

Also, get to know the Reserve retirement system as well. There are a lot of misconceptions and a lot of "experts" giving advice. A lot of guys take the wait 'til later approach and miss opportunities to maximize their benefits along the way.