OP I think it also depends on your situation. I am looking to have kids in the next few years and the feds have no maternity leave or short term disability. If you switched to a job that had either it would be a huge advantage. I figure if I had a baby I would have to take 8 weeks LWOP for each since I don't have much sick leave saved up.

I am Foreign Service, and we are under a different personnel system from the rest of the Civil Service. For me, I think leaving the Foreign Service for the private sector IN THE UNITED STATES would necessitate a fairly big jump in salary and compensation. In reality, I would only make the jump for a private overseas job with a full expat package or to relocate to the U.S. because I am sick of the FS lifestyle.

My total compensation, not including my Foreign Service lifestyle benefits like private education for the kids, housing, etc., are upwards of $140K. Add to this my housing at post and educational allowance for my DD, and we are approaching compensation upwards of $200K, depending on whether I send my DD to school at post or whether there is a boarding school option. Not included in the $140K are my hardship differentials, COLA allowances and language incentive differential and separate maintenance allowances for unaccompanied tours. These all add another 45 percent on top of my base salary of $96000. COLA and SMA are not taxed.

At my current savings rate in the TSP, I estimate I will have close to $1 million saved for retirement by the time I am actually ready to retire, which should generate a decent monthly income. Add to that at least $3K per month from the fixed pension, and I figure I can get between $7K - $10K per month in retirement. I am not sure at this stage in the game that I could do the same with a private sector move.

Additional benefits: 20 days paid vacation, 30 days home leave every two years, paid R & R travel to the U.S. or another location depending on post of assignment. I would say private sector domestic cannot compete.

I did 20 years gov't service and recently left for private sector. As GS 15 high step, my salary was not going to increase in the next few years and had not increased in the last three. Same matching program as feds, salary increase of 100K. Better life insurance in private. Husband carries our health insurance on fed plan. Less vacation time but office is flexible and is ok with days off when needed. Fed job was lots of travel and now I do half that travel.

PP here. 10% or 20% when you turn 62.

Anonymous wrote:If i retire at 62, my pension will be around 30k. And that assumes no raises between now and then. That seems like a huge benefit to me. The way i see it, i would need at least that much of a bump to even think twice about leaving. But honestly, i would not really cosider it at all for less than 100k. The job security and guaranteed retirement income mean that much to me. And it helps that I love my job.

Note that its not all or nothing. If you already have 10 or 20 years of service, for example, you would start getting 10% or 20% of your top-3 salary. If you have 20 years in and are maxed out in career growth, it could be a good deal to leave for a higher private sector salary.

Is this new? It was 1.1% the last time I checked, a few years ago even if you separate before 62 with under 20 years of service.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you're calculating the federal pension too high. It's 1% of your top salary for each year of service.

Actually it's 1.1%.

You get 1.1% if you retire with 20 years of service. Whoopee

and age 62

No, age 60

to get 1.1 % you have to have at least 20 years of service and be 62 or over

http://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/fers-information/computation/

Anonymous wrote:I recently went from the private sector to government. In my field, I really wanted the government experience and also the work/life balance. I took a 100K paycut, and don't really see how the benefits are much better in government (unless you are on the old pension plan and/or plan on staying at the government for the majority of your career). As a new employee I also contribute more to pension than anyone else who started earlier (I think prior to 2013?). Some things are great, as in you really get to take your vacation and you have dedicated sick days - but there's also no official maternity leave, and dealing with the bureaucracy is driving me pretty insane. It's all a trade off I suppose, and maybe I see the past with rosey colored glasses, but I do miss many aspects of the private sector, and will likely go back in a few years.

Wow-- that's a big cut. How much were you making?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you're calculating the federal pension too high. It's 1% of your top salary for each year of service.

Actually it's 1.1%.

You get 1.1% if you retire with 20 years of service. Whoopee

and age 62

No, age 60

I make $140k as an attorney. Id need to make at least 200k to make up for flexibility and interesting work. I used to
make more than that at a law firm but would never go back.

I recently went from the private sector to government. In my field, I really wanted the government experience and also the work/life balance. I took a 100K paycut, and don't really see how the benefits are much better in government (unless you are on the old pension plan and/or plan on staying at the government for the majority of your career). As a new employee I also contribute more to pension than anyone else who started earlier (I think prior to 2013?). Some things are great, as in you really get to take your vacation and you have dedicated sick days - but there's also no official maternity leave, and dealing with the bureaucracy is driving me pretty insane. It's all a trade off I suppose, and maybe I see the past with rosey colored glasses, but I do miss many aspects of the private sector, and will likely go back in a few years.

If i retire at 62, my pension will be around 30k. And that assumes no raises between now and then. That seems like a huge benefit to me. The way i see it, i would need at least that much of a bump to even think twice about leaving. But honestly, i would not really cosider it at all for less than 100k. The job security and guaranteed retirement income mean that much to me. And it helps that I love my job.

60-75k.
I'm a gs 15 3 now

Interesting. I'm not a fed, here's what I get :

7.5% 401k match
Unlimited sick (take what you need)
Unlimited vacation (but realistically 5 weeks)
ESPP at 15% discount (capped at 15% of your salary)
Deferred comp plan with 7.5% 401k match
$1,000 FSA or dependent care match
Company cell phone
Telework 3 or 4 days a week

OP, I think, like others have pointed out, you are valuing the fed benefits a bit much. While not terrible, the TSP match is pretty close to what I have seen as average in the private sector and the pension as others have noted is not all that great anymore. Vacation is in line with private sector once you have 3 years of service but the sick time is nice. I have been at places in the private sector that have from a few days of additional sick leave to unlimited so the fed's is generous but not the best i've seen. And the health benefits are pretty in-line with the private sector. The real thing the fed has (at least for me) over the private sector is reasonable hours and flexibility.

I'm currently a GS 15 and struggle with this very question. I think I would need a 20-30% bump in base salary and a reasonable bonus potential at the new gig.