FEHB for health care in retirement is the only thing, I guess. Tricare used to be better, but I heard it kind of sucks now.

I’m also debating a jump to the feds, OP, minus a military spouse. But because I’m in my 50s, I’m not sure it makes sense for me financially. I still have at least 10 years of working but the jobs I’ve been working at would require me to be onsite and the jobs I have now is very flexible; I have a lot of vacation and sick leave accrued (close to a year of sick as well), a hybrid schedule and a practically nonexistent commute.

I’m looking around bc I’m sick and tired of my bosses (lots of change at the top and none of it good). Feds sure pay better as well. Private industry situation might be harder to find but ultimately be more flexible with schedule and better commute.

I’m a fed and I think the main perks are job security, good health benefits, and a pension.

Based on the length of your employment it sounds secure. And you have good perks with being remote and lots of PTO. If you jumped to the gov you could have an in office requirement that could make moving in the future difficult. I assume you have access to medical benefits through your employer and/or the military b/c of DH. Also, if you got hired now you’d contribute a lot more to your pension than what longer time Feds pay. (I pay in less than 1% of my salary while new hires pay in 4.4%). So it’s not quite as good of a deal as it once was and even FERS is not as good as the old CSRS pension.

There are a lot of things I like about being a federal employee, but I don’t think there is a compelling reason for you to jump ship.

Anonymous wrote:What’s the weird culture in government jobs? (I’m not in government, just curious.)

Many agencies and groups are dominated by not very intelligent people who can't be fired or pushed out, who create a culture of self important incompetence justifying their very slow work habits and resistance to progress and improvements. I know people don't like my saying they aren't intelligent but that's the harsh truth about bureaucracies. Their nature means they attract people who seek stability over anything else and are afraid of change, they're bright enough to get the job in the first place and then they effectively shut down and dumb down into an ossified stasis.

What’s the weird culture in government jobs? (I’m not in government, just curious.)

Anonymous wrote:Hard to know without more context. Maybe they think you're bored? Or that the mission of your organization is sketch? I spoke to someone like this at a dinner thing (talking about how perfect their job was) and turned out they worked for one of the companies that builds military weapons.

Yes, building weapons is so much worse than using them.

Anonymous wrote:Layoffs are a concern in the private sector.

The pension is okay but it’s not as comprehensive as it once was, and government employees have to put a lot of money into it now, according to my complaining relatives who work there.

Yes. They deduct 5% of your salary for your retirement and then for the equivalent of a 457b plan they will match you up to 5%. So to really maximize this, you will have 10% of your salary deducted every two weeks which is a lot. In my previous government role, the city contributed 5% of your salary to your retirement plan and then there was a 457 plan. So even if you did nothing, you would walk away with nice sum. Of course there is no pension though - that said unless you get in the Feds pretty early I don’t find the pension to be enough of an attraction.

Layoffs are a concern in the private sector.

The pension is okay but it’s not as comprehensive as it once was, and government employees have to put a lot of money into it now, according to my complaining relatives who work there.

Anonymous wrote:Pension. That’s it.

The really good Federal pension was called CSRS. and that was closed to new hires roughly in 1984-1985. The current Federal pension scheme is called FERS, which is only slightly better than a well matched 401(k). opm.gov has all the details of the FERS plan, including its small pension component.

The main reasons people switch to civil service are stability (it really is hard to fire people in the competitive civil service) and the ability to keep working as one gets older (private industry often will push older employees out; age discrimination is not legal but also is difficult to prove in court). Sometimes, civil service benefits (like healthcare) are better than someone’s private employer.

This used to be the move (federal government) but the salaries have not kept up with the cost of living; you have to pay more into retirement nowadays than you had to way back when and you are right, many offices have weird cultures. Once you get in, you can get stuck. I'm desperately trying to leave.

Not sure what you mean by "weird culture"

If you make "just over six figures" it may or may not be a pay cut depending on the role/GS level

Job security is the absolute biggest boon

Of course plenty of ppl never work for the govt and have great careers. People are just trying to make conversation.

Don’t switch.

The nonsense and inefficiency of the public sector is crazy-making.