Health
The
Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB)
program can help you meet your health care needs. Federal employees, retirees
and their survivors enjoy the widest selection of health plans in the country.
You can choose from among Managed Fee-for-Service (FFS) plans, regardless of
where you live, or Plans offering a Point of Service (POS) Product and Health
Maintenance Organizations (HMO) if you live (or sometimes if you work) within
the area serviced by the plan.
Life
The Federal
Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI)
provides group term life insurance. As such, it does not build up any cash value
or paid-up value. It consists of Basic life insurance coverage and three
options. In most cases, if you are a new Federal employee, you are automatically
covered by Basic life insurance and your payroll office deducts premiums from
your paycheck unless you waive the coverage. In addition to the Basic, there are
three forms of Optional insurance that you can elect. You must have Basic
insurance in order to elect any of the options. Unlike Basic, enrollment in
Optional insurance is not automatic -- you must take action to elect the
options.
The cost of Basic insurance is shared between you and the Government. You pay 2/3 of the total cost and the Government pays 1/3.
Retirement
The Federal
Employees Retirement System (FERS) is a response to the changing times and
Federal workforce needs. Many of its features are "portable" so that
employees who leave Federal employment may still qualify for the benefits. The
new retirement system is flexible. Covered employees are able to choose what is
best for their individual situation. FERS is a three-tiered retirement plan. The
three components are:
 |
Social Security Benefits (SSA),
| Basic Benefit Plan, and
| Thrift Savings Plan Benefits (TSP). |
As a FERS covered employee, TSP is an integral part of your retirement benefits, providing retirement savings income. The government will contribute an automatic one percent of your basic pay into your TSP account each pay period. Additionally, the government will match your contributions up to four percent of your basic pay. This brings the maximum government contribution to 5 percent.
OPM
Retirement Homepage
FERS
Overview
Thrift
Savings Plan
The
Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)
offers Federal civilian employees the same type of savings and tax benefits that
many private corporations offer their employees under 401(k) plans.
The TSP is a defined contribution plan. The retirement income that you receive from your TSP account will depend on how much you (and your agency, if you are a FERS employee) have contributed to your account during your working years and the earnings on these contributions. The contributions that you make to your TSP account are voluntary and are separate from your contributions to your FERS Basic Annuity or CSRS annuity.
Two of the main features of TSP are "tax savings" and "tax deferred earnings". This means the contributions you make to TSP come out of your pay before taxes and the earnings made on your TSP account are not taxed until you receive the money. Other features of the plan include a choice of investment options, interfund transfers, loans from your own contributions and earnings, in-service withdrawals, and portable benefits if you leave Federal service.