Feds... do you plan on staying forever?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a supervisory 15 just counting the minutes. Staff acts like babies, some don't want to work, and the management administrivia is soul-crushing. I keep thinking I can make it better or fix it but then something else happens that just sucks the heart out of me. Between upper management shenanigans, congress, and immature staff it's just awful.

I am trying to plan my escape.

This is exactly how I feel. I'm looking for a non-supervisory job where I can just do my work and not have to be subject to the crazy pointless hassles in mangement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 7 years under my belt and I'm 31. My goal is to put in 10 more years and retire at 41. To do so we will need to keep living off of my salary and saving my husband's salary, which is more than mine. I figure fifteen plus years of contributing to the pension will help. I make over 150k and I am maxing out the 401k plus have the match. I have to say that my job drives me crazy and I get sick of the BS. However, the work can be interesting, the pay is great considering the stability and I like my coworkers.

But you can't retire at 41, you will not have hit the MRA (minimum retirement age). You could look at early retirement, but even that requires 25 years of service (and decreases your annuity by a %.)
http://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/fers-information/eligibility/

By retiring I mean living off of my husband's salary. For my agency. My defined pension can be rolled into an IRA. Or I can choose the annuity and start receiving it at age 60. So yes, I would not earn retirement income from 41 to 61. However, by 41 we should be earning a significant income from our brokerage account since we live off of one salary and invest the rest.

[Anonymous]

This thread has been very interesting to me as I think about this question a lot. I'm 39 with 8 years in - won't make it until 40, but I could see myself staying another 22 years to get to 30 years in. My work-life balance is very good, and the work is sometimes challenging, sometimes dull. I work for a very highly ranked agency with a ton of smart, motivated people. Don't see myself going full-force for SES but could stay put and hit the top of the GS15 pay eventually.

Don't know what will happen in the future, but it's nice to think I could just be settled in for the rest of my career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a supervisory 15 just counting the minutes. Staff acts like babies, some don't want to work, and the management administrivia is soul-crushing. I keep thinking I can make it better or fix it but then something else happens that just sucks the heart out of me. Between upper management shenanigans, congress, and immature staff it's just awful.

I am trying to plan my escape.

Escape to management, if possible.

I AM management, lol. That's a lot of the problem. Squeezed between upper management's crap and staff's problems.

[Anonymous]

I'll probably stay. I chose government for the 40 hour work week and at my agency, I could make management and still work just 40 hrs most weeks. Most other companies in my field would require 50 or 60 and I value my work life balance. I would switch fields to keep the hours but get paid less. Maybe if we wanted to move somewhere with a LCOL or if we wanted to move closer to my parents.

But, reality is that I'll probably stay. I'm tenured, I'm respected, I'm doing what I always wanted, I'm the stable breadwinner for my family, I get to spend time with my kids, and my retirement package will be nice when the time finally comes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 7 years under my belt and I'm 31. My goal is to put in 10 more years and retire at 41. To do so we will need to keep living off of my salary and saving my husband's salary, which is more than mine. I figure fifteen plus years of contributing to the pension will help. I make over 150k and I am maxing out the 401k plus have the match. I have to say that my job drives me crazy and I get sick of the BS. However, the work can be interesting, the pay is great considering the stability and I like my coworkers.

You need to speak with your HR Dept. I think you might be misinformed about when you'll be receiving your retirement benefits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 7 years under my belt and I'm 31. My goal is to put in 10 more years and retire at 41. To do so we will need to keep living off of my salary and saving my husband's salary, which is more than mine. I figure fifteen plus years of contributing to the pension will help. I make over 150k and I am maxing out the 401k plus have the match. I have to say that my job drives me crazy and I get sick of the BS. However, the work can be interesting, the pay is great considering the stability and I like my coworkers.

You need to speak with your HR Dept. I think you might be misinformed about when you'll be receiving your retirement benefits.

I've definitely reviewed the pension benefits thoroughly and I'm well informed. I started at 24 so I actually can retire at 54 with full benefits if I stick it out. Don't think I will though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 7 years under my belt and I'm 31. My goal is to put in 10 more years and retire at 41. To do so we will need to keep living off of my salary and saving my husband's salary, which is more than mine. I figure fifteen plus years of contributing to the pension will help. I make over 150k and I am maxing out the 401k plus have the match. I have to say that my job drives me crazy and I get sick of the BS. However, the work can be interesting, the pay is great considering the stability and I like my coworkers.

But you can't retire at 41, you will not have hit the MRA (minimum retirement age). You could look at early retirement, but even that requires 25 years of service (and decreases your annuity by a %.)
http://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/fers-information/eligibility/

I have a dumb question related to that. Is it possible to do 10 years early career, transfer to private sector for some odd years, then 15 more years in government and get your years of service that way?

Yes, you can. Technically you only need 5 years at the end (pre-retirement) to be able to take your health benefits into retirement years. (People who do this are commonly called "Final 5'ers".)
In reality, this is tough. It is much more difficult to get hired as a 58 year old in a new job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 7 years under my belt and I'm 31. My goal is to put in 10 more years and retire at 41. To do so we will need to keep living off of my salary and saving my husband's salary, which is more than mine. I figure fifteen plus years of contributing to the pension will help. I make over 150k and I am maxing out the 401k plus have the match. I have to say that my job drives me crazy and I get sick of the BS. However, the work can be interesting, the pay is great considering the stability and I like my coworkers.

You need to speak with your HR Dept. I think you might be misinformed about when you'll be receiving your retirement benefits.

I've definitely reviewed the pension benefits thoroughly and I'm well informed. I started at 24 so I actually can retire at 54 with full benefits if I stick it out. Don't think I will though.

However, you can not begin to draw your retirement benefits until you hit the minimum retirement age (MRA). The government won't begin paying you until you are 58yo minimum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 7 years under my belt and I'm 31. My goal is to put in 10 more years and retire at 41. To do so we will need to keep living off of my salary and saving my husband's salary, which is more than mine. I figure fifteen plus years of contributing to the pension will help. I make over 150k and I am maxing out the 401k plus have the match. I have to say that my job drives me crazy and I get sick of the BS. However, the work can be interesting, the pay is great considering the stability and I like my coworkers.

You need to speak with your HR Dept. I think you might be misinformed about when you'll be receiving your retirement benefits.

My agency isn't part of the government retirement system. It is similar in many ways, but there are differences.

I've definitely reviewed the pension benefits thoroughly and I'm well informed. I started at 24 so I actually can retire at 54 with full benefits if I stick it out. Don't think I will though.

However, you can not begin to draw your retirement benefits until you hit the minimum retirement age (MRA). The government won't begin paying you until you are 58yo minimum.

My agency isn't part of the government retirement system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 7 years under my belt and I'm 31. My goal is to put in 10 more years and retire at 41. To do so we will need to keep living off of my salary and saving my husband's salary, which is more than mine. I figure fifteen plus years of contributing to the pension will help. I make over 150k and I am maxing out the 401k plus have the match. I have to say that my job drives me crazy and I get sick of the BS. However, the work can be interesting, the pay is great considering the stability and I like my coworkers.

But you can't retire at 41, you will not have hit the MRA (minimum retirement age). You could look at early retirement, but even that requires 25 years of service (and decreases your annuity by a %.)
http://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/fers-information/eligibility/

I have a dumb question related to that. Is it possible to do 10 years early career, transfer to private sector for some odd years, then 15 more years in government and get your years of service that way?

Yes, you can. Technically you only need 5 years at the end (pre-retirement) to be able to take your health benefits into retirement years. (People who do this are commonly called "Final 5'ers".)
In reality, this is tough. It is much more difficult to get hired as a 58 year old in a new job.

I would be in the same field, engineering, but would be able to have some private sector experience. So the plan may be something like this - stay until 33, spend 6 years in private, come back to fed at 39, then spend 15 more years til 54. Is that feasible?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 7 years under my belt and I'm 31. My goal is to put in 10 more years and retire at 41. To do so we will need to keep living off of my salary and saving my husband's salary, which is more than mine. I figure fifteen plus years of contributing to the pension will help. I make over 150k and I am maxing out the 401k plus have the match. I have to say that my job drives me crazy and I get sick of the BS. However, the work can be interesting, the pay is great considering the stability and I like my coworkers.

You need to speak with your HR Dept. I think you might be misinformed about when you'll be receiving your retirement benefits.

My agency isn't part of the government retirement system. It is similar in many ways, but there are differences.

I've definitely reviewed the pension benefits thoroughly and I'm well informed. I started at 24 so I actually can retire at 54 with full benefits if I stick it out. Don't think I will though.

However, you can not begin to draw your retirement benefits until you hit the minimum retirement age (MRA). The government won't begin paying you until you are 58yo minimum.

My agency isn't part of the government retirement system.

Oh, now you have to share, - what Federal agency does not take part in the "government retirement system"? I don't believe there are any.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 7 years under my belt and I'm 31. My goal is to put in 10 more years and retire at 41. To do so we will need to keep living off of my salary and saving my husband's salary, which is more than mine. I figure fifteen plus years of contributing to the pension will help. I make over 150k and I am maxing out the 401k plus have the match. I have to say that my job drives me crazy and I get sick of the BS. However, the work can be interesting, the pay is great considering the stability and I like my coworkers.

You need to speak with your HR Dept. I think you might be misinformed about when you'll be receiving your retirement benefits.

My agency isn't part of the government retirement system. It is similar in many ways, but there are differences.

I've definitely reviewed the pension benefits thoroughly and I'm well informed. I started at 24 so I actually can retire at 54 with full benefits if I stick it out. Don't think I will though.

However, you can not begin to draw your retirement benefits until you hit the minimum retirement age (MRA). The government won't begin paying you until you are 58yo minimum.

My agency isn't part of the government retirement system.

Oh, now you have to share, - what Federal agency does not take part in the "government retirement system"? I don't believe there are any.

I don't want to say out of fear someone I work with will read this and recognize me. But I can assure you that not every single government employee in DC has the same retirement plan. My agency for example usually follows what OPM announces, example snow days, but isn't required to do so. My agency also isn't funded by the federal government.

[Anonymous]

PP here. Wanted to point out I'm not referring to the thrift plan but to the pension. Our pension is different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here. Wanted to point out I'm not referring to the thrift plan but to the pension. Our pension is different.

Federal Reserve and CFPB are on different pension systems than FERS right? Ex-Im Bank probably also has it's own deal.