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[quote=Anonymous][b][quote]Op again. Thanks for the clarifications- it helps a lot. You really seem to have a handle on how best to make an informed decision.[/quote][/b]

&lt;blush&gt;  Thanks!  I took those retirement courses three times over the course of my career which has helped, but still there's more to learn and to tweak.  I have made some mistakes over the years-- not really big ones, like not contributing to TSP, but smaller things that I could have done better.  It's very hard to figure everything out and the landscape keeps changing.

One thing that I'm noticing in my workplace is that the CSRS folks had it SO much better.  Depending on their age, they are retiring with 70% or more of their salary, plus whatever they were able to save on the side.  It's such a better deal than FERS.  They switched from CSRS to FERS in about 1984-1985 or so, so you are starting to see the first FERS retirees.  They can only do it if their spouse is still working, or they have another job to go to right after retirement, or they sell their home here for a nest egg and then move somewhere with cheaper cost of living.

The main rule for FERS is that retirement is a 3-legged stool:  the FERS pension (approx 30-40% of your income, each 1.1% is equivalent to a year of service); the SS supplemental benefit or regular SS, depending on how old you are; and your own savings (TSP and other).  A fourth leg would be any part-time or full-time work that you would start after you retire from the Feds, but there's an income cap on that to get the SS supplemental (I believe it's $17,000 per year).  Anyway, GL OP! [/quote]

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