Federal Employees: Retirement & Layoffs

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Welcome to Something More with Chris Boyd.

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Chris Boyd is a certified financial planner, practitioner,

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and senior vice president and financial advisor at

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Wealth Enhancement Group, one of the nation's largest

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registered investment advisors.

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We call it Something More because we'd like

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to talk not only about those important dollar

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and cents issues, but also the quality of

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life issues that make the money matters matter.

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Here he is, your fulfillment facilitator, your partner

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in prosperity, advising clients on Cape Cod and

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across the country.

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Here's your host, Jay Christopher Boyd.

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Welcome to the program, Something More with Chris

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Boyd, and I'm here with Jeff Perry, my

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co-host, and we are pleased to have

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our guest today, Brian Kuhn.

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He's also a financial advisor with Wealth Enhancement

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Group, an authority, I will say, when dealing

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with federal employees.

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So with all that's been going on with

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DOGE and early retirement offers and layoffs, it

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has been a time for federal employees to

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have a lot of concerns.

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So we're going to talk about that.

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But before we do, Brian, let's start off

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with a little, get to know you a

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little bit.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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Appreciate it, Jeff and Chris, for having me

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here.

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So my name is Brian Kuhn, certified financial

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planner.

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I've been in the business for 24 years

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now.

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I'm also with Wealth Enhancement based out of

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the Maryland area in a county called Anne

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Arundel.

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And if anybody's familiar with the Maryland area,

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you know, there is this hub of federal

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employees, Montgomery, Howard, Anne Arundel, and Prince George's

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predominantly, but there's federal employees all over.

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But they're very highly located in that area

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in the suburbs of DC.

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So many years ago, I kept noticing them

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coming into the office looking for financial planning

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and retirement planning.

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This was around the 2006-2007 timeframe.

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It started due to a thing called BRAC.

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We had the base realignment after 9-11

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that took many years.

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And they all kept coming in with these

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monster pensions and thinking about retiring because all

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of the changes.

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So, and as you guys know, being financial

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advisors, we're all supposed to develop a niche,

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if you will, something we're really good at.

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So I said, well, if I could, I

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don't, not sure I could find a larger

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niche than the multi-million federal employees that

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there are out there.

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So I decided to devote my practice to

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helping them.

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At the moment, if we could only have

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something that was as complicated, is as complicated

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as BRAC, this is about 10 times more

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complicated than it, unfortunately, but we're all doing

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our best to navigate it.

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Well, I mean, I think it's definitely a

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topic on people's minds that just the general

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public is aware of all that's going on.

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And if you work in the federal government,

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you know, I think everybody's kind of watching

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their back a little bit of like, what's

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going to happen, right?

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And so I imagine you're dealing with people

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who are, this is really interesting expertise, by

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the way.

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You know, I think that we'll hopefully get

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some good lessons for our listeners and anyone

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who's dealing with these kinds of clients.

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But one of the things that I was

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thinking about is, you know, you must be

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dealing with not only people who have gone

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through a layoff recently, or a retirement package

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offering, but also people wondering, am I going

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to be next?

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Or what's my plan if things change?

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So where should we begin, do you think,

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tackling this topic?

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Yeah, so we'll begin where we are at

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the moment with the offers federal employees are

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being given to leave.

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Basically, that's pretty much how it's how it's

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going so far.

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So we had the original DRP, or fork

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in the road, as it's called, back in

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late January.

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And predominantly, federal employees didn't really sign up

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for that, because there was a lack of

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clarification, a lack of an understanding of what

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you were even signing up for.

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I mean, it was coming from OPM, rather

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than their direct agency was really how employment

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topics arrive.

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So we had the reconciliation bill, subsequent to

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that original fork in the road.

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So not too many people took that, unless

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they were intending, perhaps, to retire in the

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next couple months anyway, and just saw it

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as what they felt was an opportunity worth

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taking.

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Yeah, we're past the deadline of that one.

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But then VERAs have come out.

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So opportunities to retire under more favorable conditions,

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basically people who are eligible to retire that

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might not have otherwise been eligible for what's

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called an immediate retirement.

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And then also now we've had the DRP

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come back.

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And this time, through their direct agency and

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as with and with a lot more clarification,

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doesn't mean it's a good thing to take.

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And specifically, federal employment, unlike private sector employment

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is really a legal employment contract.

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There's all sorts of nuance and documentation and

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policies to working for the government that doesn't

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really exist in the private sector.

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So federal employment attorneys are a regular thing

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that I've been referring people to just to

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make sure they know as much as they

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can what they would be signing up for

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if they take it.

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So that's where we are right now.

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Different agencies have different deadlines.

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Some have passed, some are still ongoing.

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Some are actively pursuing as many people volunteering

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to leave as possible.

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Others are not.

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Some people, some agencies are actively forcing a

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return to office once the DRP is over

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five days a week.

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Some are a little bit more flexible with

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how they're implementing it.

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So it's not easy by any stretch of

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the imagination.

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All of the public speaking that I'm doing

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for feds and just talking to my clients,

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one of the biggest things I'm trying to

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convey is I'm just trying to give everybody

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a big virtual hug because this is what

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they're going through.

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It's one that...

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Would you start by giving us a little

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bit of an overview of how does the

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federal employee retirement system work?

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You know what I mean?

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There might be some nuances there.

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And are there differences, for example, in different

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kinds of federal employees, military versus something that

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works for the government in some other fashion?

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Maybe just give us an overview of how

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that all fits together.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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So if you work for the federal government,

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you can qualify for a pension.

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That's one of the main differences.

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And some private sector companies, they offer pensions,

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but they're different and rare.

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So if you work for the federal government

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and you have certain conditions, which is time

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and age, then you can exit federal employment

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and receive a pension.

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So the most common way that people want

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to do that is on what's called an

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immediate retirement, meaning there wouldn't be a delay

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between their last paycheck and other than processing

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time, the start of their pension.

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And an immediate retirement allows them to continue

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their health insurance throughout retirement, the FEHB plan.

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Not for free, they have to pay for

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it, but it's a plan that gives them

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the option to continue the health insurance they

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were previously on rather than switching over to

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Medicare or in addition to switching over to

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Medicare.

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So some basic credentials that you have to

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have is five years of civilian service and

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age 62, or you can have what's called

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MRA, which is an age range between 55

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and 57 and 30 years of federal service,

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which 30 years sounds like a real long

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time.

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But when you go into the federal government,

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on average, you don't leave, unlike the private

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sector.

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That could be a sign of how you

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might change from where you're doing it, but

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just right in the government.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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You could change around agencies.

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You could change your job description, but generally

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once you're in, on average, you stay.

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So 30 years in MRA is something people

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attain all the time.

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There's another one called MRA plus 10.

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So you would only need to be late

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50s and have 10 years of service, but

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there's a discount to your pension.

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And then there's another one age 60 and

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20, which is another one that a lot

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of people qualify for.

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So that's what everybody is striving for.

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The biggest thing with federal employment, I would

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say, is everybody is striving for a particular

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date in the future.

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In the private sector, you retire whenever you

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have enough money, or you think you have

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enough money, or when you reach some sort

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of round number like 65 or 60 or

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62, because that's when you can start social

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security, right?

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Or just when you get tired of it.

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There isn't as much precision to timing what

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you become eligible for.

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So all the federal employees, this is a

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common thing we're doing, is we're planning to

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get to some particular qualifier that would allow

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them to retire, ideally with that immediate pension.

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And then the VERA, which is an opportunity

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to leave under easier conditions, is a different

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set.

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So that's age 50 and 20 years in,

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or any age and 25 years in.

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So predominantly what I'm doing is we'll talk

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and the employee will have, I have eight

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years and I'm 55.

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Well, I don't care how good the offer

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sounds, if you could just make it another

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two years, or one year and seven months

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and three days.

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We're literally calculating that timeframe down to the

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day so that they can qualify to exit

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under the conditions that they want.

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That's what we're doing a lot of, and

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that's what's unique about federal employment.

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So Brian, are any of these offers out

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there, rumors of offers, where they consist of

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giving credit for additional years?

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Yeah, the offers aren't producing additional credit.

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They haven't rolled out a system like that.

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That might be a good idea, actually.

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I don't know that the leadership wants to

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hear what we think, but if they were

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to consider that, that would incentivize a lot

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of people to consider, to think about it

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because they're trying to get to that date.

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But that's not how it works.

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The DRP was a program that didn't exist

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prior to three months ago.

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And that was basically just saying, we'll put

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you on paid leave until September.

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So you don't have to commute around the

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495 beltway and then you're done.

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And then the VERA is an established program.

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So that is sort of what you're describing

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where it makes things easier to exit, but

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they're not customizing it.

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00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:51,980
They're not making any easier than those conditions.

272
00:10:52,560 --> 00:10:56,300
So now the VERAs and the current DRP,

273
00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:58,680
as I understand, as I'm following things, a

274
00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:00,020
lot of people are signing up for.

275
00:11:00,100 --> 00:11:01,700
I've had more people sign up for this

276
00:11:01,700 --> 00:11:02,560
round of it.

277
00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:04,580
So there are a number of federal employees

278
00:11:04,580 --> 00:11:08,620
that are eligible and choosing to exit, but

279
00:11:08,620 --> 00:11:09,460
there are many more.

280
00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:11,860
There's been over a million people.

281
00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:15,340
It's called FERS-FRAE that have been hired

282
00:11:15,340 --> 00:11:19,580
by the federal government since 2014.

283
00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:23,520
So now we could have a discussion about

284
00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:26,280
whether the federal government needs an additional million

285
00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:28,260
people, but that's a different topic.

286
00:11:28,380 --> 00:11:29,500
And also there's been attrition.

287
00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:31,640
There's been people that have been retiring over

288
00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:32,200
that timeframe.

289
00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:36,260
But by definition, if they started since 2014,

290
00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:39,260
that means they have no more than 11

291
00:11:39,260 --> 00:11:40,500
years in.

292
00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:44,740
So that doesn't make them eligible for the

293
00:11:44,740 --> 00:11:46,900
early out offers that are being made.

294
00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:49,860
I wonder how much of the folks who

295
00:11:49,860 --> 00:11:51,820
are accepting some of these offers, which may

296
00:11:51,820 --> 00:11:54,300
not be the greatest offers, are doing so

297
00:11:54,300 --> 00:11:58,580
because they've been working remotely, meaning some of

298
00:11:58,580 --> 00:12:00,120
them, I've heard from a couple of people

299
00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:03,560
that we know through our practice that have

300
00:12:03,560 --> 00:12:06,040
actually moved and been working remote thinking that

301
00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:08,320
this was the way it was going to

302
00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:08,620
be.

303
00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:10,700
And so they're taking these offers because they

304
00:12:10,700 --> 00:12:12,440
don't have the ability to go back to

305
00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:12,700
work.

306
00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:13,520
Absolutely.

307
00:12:13,940 --> 00:12:16,460
I just got off a client, off the

308
00:12:16,460 --> 00:12:17,980
phone with a client earlier this morning that

309
00:12:17,980 --> 00:12:19,340
was specifically about that.

310
00:12:19,540 --> 00:12:21,720
You know, they are fully, their agency is

311
00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:24,780
now fully enforcing the return to office mandate,

312
00:12:25,290 --> 00:12:27,100
what appears to be five days a week,

313
00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:30,940
and that just doesn't work for their family.

314
00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:33,640
So they're considering all of their options.

315
00:12:34,060 --> 00:12:36,980
And unfortunately it appears that at least some

316
00:12:36,980 --> 00:12:39,200
of the agencies are intending to enforce that

317
00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,240
specifically to create attrition, best we can tell.

318
00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:45,220
Also for what they believe to be productivity.

319
00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:50,120
But so yeah, where you live and your

320
00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:53,840
return to office mandates are factoring into their

321
00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:58,920
decision because they just can't, or they don't

322
00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:00,420
want to do it.

323
00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:02,780
So what happens to an employee who doesn't

324
00:13:02,780 --> 00:13:05,300
have that minimum level of time when they

325
00:13:05,300 --> 00:13:07,400
leave federal service?

326
00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:10,820
Do they get their contributions back or?

327
00:13:11,140 --> 00:13:11,380
Yeah.

328
00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:11,880
Yeah.

329
00:13:11,900 --> 00:13:12,820
They would get that.

330
00:13:13,180 --> 00:13:14,800
That would only, so if they don't qualify

331
00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:16,540
for anything, that would imply that they have

332
00:13:16,540 --> 00:13:20,400
less than five years of civilian service, which

333
00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:22,500
actually is somewhat rare, at least for the

334
00:13:22,500 --> 00:13:24,960
people that I talk to, you know, there

335
00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:26,960
are the probationary employees, right?

336
00:13:27,020 --> 00:13:28,940
There's hundreds of thousands of them and they

337
00:13:28,940 --> 00:13:30,960
all deserve two hugs in my opinion.

338
00:13:31,060 --> 00:13:32,720
I've made the news recently too.

339
00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:33,640
Yeah.

340
00:13:34,300 --> 00:13:37,900
So, but by definition of your probationary employee,

341
00:13:38,020 --> 00:13:39,760
you have fewer than five years, so they

342
00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:42,420
would get a return of contributions.

343
00:13:42,860 --> 00:13:46,240
But if you have five years in, you

344
00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,580
know, that's then you would qualify for a

345
00:13:48,580 --> 00:13:48,860
pension.

346
00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:51,800
It just, you would have this gap period

347
00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:53,920
between your last day at federal employment and

348
00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,140
the start of the income and the income

349
00:13:56,140 --> 00:13:59,280
probably wouldn't be enough to exclusively retire with,

350
00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:01,320
and it wouldn't have the ability to sign

351
00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:03,740
up for the health insurance later, but it

352
00:14:03,740 --> 00:14:04,520
would still be a pension.

353
00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:06,380
So that's good.

354
00:14:07,820 --> 00:14:08,260
Great.

355
00:14:08,260 --> 00:14:10,500
So let's go on to the idea of

356
00:14:10,500 --> 00:14:12,900
if someone is concerned that they might lose

357
00:14:12,900 --> 00:14:16,680
their job, what should they be doing?

358
00:14:16,860 --> 00:14:18,500
What steps should they take?

359
00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:20,860
Yeah, there's lots of things that they can

360
00:14:20,860 --> 00:14:23,800
be doing and human nature, you know, some

361
00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:27,360
cases, what I'm finding out is people are,

362
00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:32,500
they're ready, fire, aim, or they are just

363
00:14:32,500 --> 00:14:34,880
continuing to do the job until they're told

364
00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:35,280
otherwise.

365
00:14:35,900 --> 00:14:36,920
And we don't want to do that.

366
00:14:37,020 --> 00:14:38,620
We want to consider all of our options,

367
00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:42,280
even if we don't like that particular option.

368
00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,840
So there's a whole industry of number, there's

369
00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:48,240
three different industries that I would consider exploring

370
00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:51,040
and I refer them, refer my clients to

371
00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:51,760
them all the time.

372
00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:53,540
There's federal employment law attorneys.

373
00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:56,600
So these are people that make sure your

374
00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:59,660
rights have not been infringed upon and help

375
00:14:59,660 --> 00:15:03,060
represent you in front of like the MSPB.

376
00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:08,040
If there is something that has happened, that's

377
00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:10,860
mostly in the cases of terminations rather than

378
00:15:10,860 --> 00:15:13,740
any sort of voluntarily leaving the government, but

379
00:15:13,740 --> 00:15:16,040
they still consult on, you know, what forms

380
00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,080
you're being asked to sign because there are

381
00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:20,000
new forms that didn't exist before.

382
00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:23,460
So that's one position or occupation that I

383
00:15:23,460 --> 00:15:25,560
would definitely encourage federal employees to talk to

384
00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,080
before signing anything or making any decisions.

385
00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:31,600
There is the whole industry of career counselors,

386
00:15:31,900 --> 00:15:32,000
right?

387
00:15:32,060 --> 00:15:33,800
So these are the standard people who help

388
00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:36,080
with LinkedIn profiles and resumes.

389
00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:38,460
And it's somewhat ironic.

390
00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:40,860
There's a lot of people who their whole

391
00:15:40,860 --> 00:15:44,060
job was focusing on landing people federal jobs,

392
00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:44,300
right?

393
00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:48,580
So the niche within career counselors who help

394
00:15:48,580 --> 00:15:51,000
you find a job within federal employment, they're

395
00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:53,340
actually going in the opposite direction now, right?

396
00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:55,500
So they know the terminology, they know the

397
00:15:55,500 --> 00:15:57,780
industry and the agencies, but they're going in

398
00:15:57,780 --> 00:15:58,500
the other direction.

399
00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:02,940
So helping people land with contractors and so

400
00:16:02,940 --> 00:16:03,220
forth.

401
00:16:03,820 --> 00:16:05,740
But also, you know, with federal employees, you

402
00:16:05,740 --> 00:16:07,740
have tenure, you have the same job for

403
00:16:07,740 --> 00:16:09,400
the last 30 years, the last time you

404
00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:10,940
had a resume, you know, you might have

405
00:16:10,940 --> 00:16:13,860
faxed it to an employer.

406
00:16:14,500 --> 00:16:16,980
So it doesn't really work like that anymore.

407
00:16:16,980 --> 00:16:18,780
So there's a lot to learn if you

408
00:16:18,780 --> 00:16:21,300
are going to transition and keep working.

409
00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:23,800
So career counselors can help a lot with

410
00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:24,040
that.

411
00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:26,780
And then there's a whole other industry called

412
00:16:26,780 --> 00:16:29,280
federal employee benefits specialists.

413
00:16:29,860 --> 00:16:32,700
So not specifically financial advisors like me, we

414
00:16:32,700 --> 00:16:35,200
compliment them, but these are people who typically

415
00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:37,080
worked in the federal government in like an

416
00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:40,140
HR capacity for years or decades and know

417
00:16:40,140 --> 00:16:42,740
all of the paperwork and technicalities and things.

418
00:16:43,060 --> 00:16:44,520
And there's a lot of nuance.

419
00:16:44,780 --> 00:16:46,040
So I don't claim to know everything.

420
00:16:46,260 --> 00:16:48,020
I bring them in to make sure, you

421
00:16:48,020 --> 00:16:51,600
know, we're sharing accurate information and they charge

422
00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:52,860
for their time, but a lot of time

423
00:16:52,860 --> 00:16:54,640
it's really worth the hour or a couple

424
00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:56,220
hours to walk through that.

425
00:16:56,300 --> 00:16:58,060
So I would check with them because there's

426
00:16:58,060 --> 00:17:00,840
all sorts of instances where, you know, you're

427
00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,380
not exactly familiar with what actions you might

428
00:17:04,380 --> 00:17:06,339
need to take to get credit for all

429
00:17:06,339 --> 00:17:07,020
of your time.

430
00:17:07,060 --> 00:17:07,260
Right.

431
00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:08,680
So I was talking to a lady the

432
00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:10,520
other day, she said she had 1.7,

433
00:17:10,980 --> 00:17:13,280
one year and seven months in, but then

434
00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:14,800
it turns out there was another two years

435
00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:16,540
prior to that, that we weren't sure whether

436
00:17:16,540 --> 00:17:18,420
that counted or she wasn't sure.

437
00:17:18,540 --> 00:17:19,800
It sounded like it counted to me.

438
00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:22,579
So she really, she wasn't three years and

439
00:17:22,579 --> 00:17:23,420
five months away.

440
00:17:23,540 --> 00:17:25,660
She was only one year and five months

441
00:17:25,660 --> 00:17:25,900
away.

442
00:17:25,980 --> 00:17:27,560
That's a big deal with what's going on

443
00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:28,000
right now.

444
00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:30,940
So we're, and other people where they're moving

445
00:17:30,940 --> 00:17:34,120
from like within the federal reserve to regular

446
00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:37,120
FERS or vice versa, there's military time where

447
00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:39,700
you can buy that credit for it.

448
00:17:39,700 --> 00:17:41,400
There's all sorts of nuance.

449
00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:44,080
So there's a whole team of people that

450
00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:47,040
really should be involved with each federal employee,

451
00:17:47,140 --> 00:17:49,280
which sounds like a lot, but you know,

452
00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:50,860
we try to coordinate that as much as

453
00:17:50,860 --> 00:17:51,160
possible.

454
00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:54,820
Is that the same for people who might

455
00:17:54,820 --> 00:18:02,300
be entertaining one of the opportunities for retirement?

456
00:18:02,300 --> 00:18:05,100
Is it to assemble that same group of

457
00:18:05,100 --> 00:18:07,180
people or, you know, what should someone who's

458
00:18:07,180 --> 00:18:11,520
maybe considering some kind of a, whether they

459
00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:12,740
should take an offer or something?

460
00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:13,540
Yeah.

461
00:18:13,700 --> 00:18:16,020
So if they're planning to retire, I suppose

462
00:18:16,020 --> 00:18:18,980
they wouldn't need, thankfully, the career counselor, right?

463
00:18:19,020 --> 00:18:21,540
They would just wind down their work, but

464
00:18:21,540 --> 00:18:24,800
the employee benefits specialist can definitely help with

465
00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:28,260
the retirement application and the other technicalities of

466
00:18:28,260 --> 00:18:29,300
their process.

467
00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:31,760
The retirement process takes months.

468
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,880
I mean, and it could take longer now

469
00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:37,560
because of the volume of people doing it.

470
00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:41,020
The form that you turn in just to

471
00:18:41,020 --> 00:18:43,780
say you want to retire is 14 pages

472
00:18:43,780 --> 00:18:45,120
long that I've seen.

473
00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:47,400
So this is not something where you just,

474
00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:48,920
you know, check a box or you send

475
00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:50,280
an email to your HR person.

476
00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:52,800
There's a whole process to it.

477
00:18:53,540 --> 00:18:56,740
The federal employment law attorneys, I mean, if

478
00:18:56,740 --> 00:18:59,600
you're signing up for something voluntarily, then, you

479
00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:01,760
know, it's difficult for the rights to be

480
00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:02,220
infringed.

481
00:19:02,300 --> 00:19:04,880
But if you're doing it through the DRP,

482
00:19:05,020 --> 00:19:06,720
then it's still worth it.

483
00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:08,600
I would say regardless, it's still worth it

484
00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:09,940
just to get an hour of their time

485
00:19:09,940 --> 00:19:11,840
and talk through things.

486
00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:13,840
But definitely a financial advisor, if I can

487
00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:15,040
put in a plug for what we do,

488
00:19:15,120 --> 00:19:15,260
right?

489
00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,080
I mean, like I said, with people, you

490
00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:20,560
know, accepting the offers and then doing planning,

491
00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:24,320
not everybody's doing that, you know, but I

492
00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:26,480
wouldn't recommend that because, you know, you want

493
00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:27,220
to know your numbers.

494
00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:29,480
We build cash flow models for a living.

495
00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:31,340
You know, you guys do that as well.

496
00:19:31,460 --> 00:19:32,440
That's where we live.

497
00:19:32,860 --> 00:19:34,840
So we can run all sorts of scenarios

498
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:39,360
to show you how things look, you know,

499
00:19:39,380 --> 00:19:40,420
under different conditions.

500
00:19:40,420 --> 00:19:41,540
If you were to go to work in

501
00:19:41,540 --> 00:19:42,920
the private sector, if you were to stop

502
00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:45,700
tomorrow, if you got terminated, if they change

503
00:19:45,700 --> 00:19:48,640
the rules of your pension, not that I'm

504
00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:50,060
saying they're trying to do that.

505
00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:51,420
Let's hope they don't do that.

506
00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:55,540
And meaning the amount that you are scheduled

507
00:19:55,540 --> 00:19:58,080
to get any sort of scenario we can

508
00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:00,520
model before it becomes a reality.

509
00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:02,980
We hope it doesn't become reality, but that

510
00:20:02,980 --> 00:20:05,300
really gives you the confidence to make these

511
00:20:05,300 --> 00:20:05,700
decisions.

512
00:20:06,580 --> 00:20:08,460
So that's what I would strongly encourage.

513
00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:10,440
Yeah, it's so true, right?

514
00:20:10,540 --> 00:20:11,900
Knowledge is power, right?

515
00:20:12,140 --> 00:20:14,180
The more you can model this stuff out,

516
00:20:14,300 --> 00:20:17,080
the better prepared you are for what are

517
00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:17,740
the variations?

518
00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:18,600
What is this?

519
00:20:18,700 --> 00:20:19,780
What is that, right?

520
00:20:19,860 --> 00:20:20,060
Yeah.

521
00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:22,040
And most of the time I'll say the

522
00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:25,300
conclusion we're making after building the model is

523
00:20:25,300 --> 00:20:27,240
that they're in better shape than they thought

524
00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:27,740
they were.

525
00:20:28,660 --> 00:20:30,540
And that's always the case with planning.

526
00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,320
You know, if people have an assumption that,

527
00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:35,540
you know, they have less money than they

528
00:20:35,540 --> 00:20:37,840
realize or less resources than they realize, but

529
00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:40,100
certainly with feds, with the pension, I do

530
00:20:40,100 --> 00:20:42,440
an exercise for people a lot where we'll

531
00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:44,380
say, if you didn't have that pension, how

532
00:20:44,380 --> 00:20:46,480
much money would you need in an account

533
00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:48,420
to recreate that income, right?

534
00:20:48,540 --> 00:20:50,640
Guaranteed for life with cost of living adjustments,

535
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,800
with the survivorship for your spouse, if you

536
00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:54,320
have one.

537
00:20:54,620 --> 00:20:55,920
And it's a lot of money.

538
00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:58,260
It's a lot more than people think.

539
00:20:58,980 --> 00:20:59,080
Yeah.

540
00:20:59,140 --> 00:21:01,000
Even if you're FERS, you know, the old

541
00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,080
system, not too many people are the old

542
00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:08,420
system anymore, but their pensions were monsters, you

543
00:21:08,420 --> 00:21:10,700
know, 60, 70, 80, a hundred thousand dollar

544
00:21:10,700 --> 00:21:12,040
a year pensions.

545
00:21:12,140 --> 00:21:12,800
They did exist.

546
00:21:13,300 --> 00:21:15,720
But even FERS, you know, and you get

547
00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,060
what's called a supplement with FERS, or sometimes

548
00:21:19,060 --> 00:21:22,080
if you're eligible, there's qualifications, but that's an

549
00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,300
extra amount to get you to social security.

550
00:21:24,380 --> 00:21:27,380
And then you get social security and we

551
00:21:27,380 --> 00:21:29,660
could get into, there's a lot of news

552
00:21:29,660 --> 00:21:30,180
about that.

553
00:21:30,700 --> 00:21:32,760
And then there's the TSP, which offers a

554
00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:33,120
match.

555
00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:36,100
So the combination of benefits, you know, it

556
00:21:36,100 --> 00:21:36,760
can get you there.

557
00:21:36,820 --> 00:21:38,100
We just need to number crunch.

558
00:21:39,460 --> 00:21:40,740
You know, I was thinking about this.

559
00:21:41,380 --> 00:21:44,380
Jeff has been telling me about all these

560
00:21:44,380 --> 00:21:49,500
different pensions offerings at different systems that Massachusetts

561
00:21:49,500 --> 00:21:51,380
public employees have.

562
00:21:51,980 --> 00:21:54,420
I got to imagine the different kinds of

563
00:21:54,420 --> 00:21:56,740
plans for the federal government has got to

564
00:21:56,740 --> 00:21:59,720
be all that much more complicated that there's

565
00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:03,280
so many variations and different iterations.

566
00:22:03,820 --> 00:22:04,440
Yeah.

567
00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:06,980
Tell us a little bit about just the

568
00:22:06,980 --> 00:22:08,600
range of some of these kinds of, you

569
00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:12,320
mentioned FERS is one example as maybe I

570
00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:14,820
gather that's not as common today, but what

571
00:22:14,820 --> 00:22:16,580
are some of the other possibilities?

572
00:22:17,500 --> 00:22:19,240
So, I mean, if you're a civilian employee,

573
00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:22,400
then everybody nowadays, if you were hired past

574
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:26,620
1984 or so, then you are FERS.

575
00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:29,400
So it's a universal system referred to as

576
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:33,180
FERS for civilian employees, but you're absolutely right.

577
00:22:33,300 --> 00:22:38,040
The nuance to each individual's experience with the

578
00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:40,560
federal government can make it complicated because of

579
00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,520
how they move around, let's say over time.

580
00:22:44,620 --> 00:22:46,860
So like if you had military service beforehand,

581
00:22:46,860 --> 00:22:49,580
or you had time away, right, you left

582
00:22:49,580 --> 00:22:51,400
the government and came back, or you worked

583
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:53,540
part time, or you're what's called a term,

584
00:22:53,860 --> 00:22:56,460
you have like a term appointment where it's

585
00:22:56,460 --> 00:22:59,740
a certain number of years, or I even

586
00:22:59,740 --> 00:23:01,780
had one that was an intern for a

587
00:23:01,780 --> 00:23:06,640
while and how that factors in and then

588
00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:07,460
your leave.

589
00:23:07,740 --> 00:23:10,400
So there's annual leave and sick leave, and

590
00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,260
both of those can factor into how many

591
00:23:13,260 --> 00:23:16,760
years, both of those have certain definitions of

592
00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:21,020
how they can factor into the size of

593
00:23:21,020 --> 00:23:24,360
your pension or eligibility for your pension.

594
00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:26,760
But then there's the decision that some people

595
00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:29,180
make to take their leave because they want

596
00:23:29,180 --> 00:23:30,560
the money because that's going to give them

597
00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:34,680
liquidity until other things start like social security

598
00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:36,840
or wrapping up a certain amount of debt

599
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:37,220
or something.

600
00:23:38,120 --> 00:23:41,500
So yeah, it's certainly a full time job.

601
00:23:42,460 --> 00:23:44,800
Do you have any involvement with the TSP's?

602
00:23:45,420 --> 00:23:48,260
Do you help your clients decide what's the

603
00:23:48,260 --> 00:23:49,240
right options for them?

604
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:52,500
Yeah, TSP is definitely a daily conversation I'm

605
00:23:52,500 --> 00:23:55,220
having with clients to talk through the plan.

606
00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:57,120
Maybe you should define it for our listeners

607
00:23:57,120 --> 00:23:58,140
who are familiar.

608
00:23:58,140 --> 00:23:58,240
Sure.

609
00:23:58,980 --> 00:23:59,080
Yeah.

610
00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:01,380
So for anybody not in the TSP or

611
00:24:01,380 --> 00:24:03,140
just wanting a refresher on your own retirement

612
00:24:03,140 --> 00:24:05,600
plan, so it's the retirement plan of the

613
00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:07,240
federal government if you work for them.

614
00:24:07,860 --> 00:24:11,340
And it's similar to a 401k but defined

615
00:24:11,340 --> 00:24:12,880
a little bit differently.

616
00:24:13,100 --> 00:24:15,400
It's basically an opportunity to save for retirement.

617
00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:17,340
And you can do pre-tax or Roth

618
00:24:17,340 --> 00:24:17,960
contributions.

619
00:24:18,340 --> 00:24:19,980
And if you're a FERS employee, then you

620
00:24:19,980 --> 00:24:21,300
get a match on that.

621
00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:27,040
There's $960 billion in the TSP plan across

622
00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:28,420
7 million accounts.

623
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:31,080
So these are current and former accounts.

624
00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:33,200
There's not 7 million active federal employees.

625
00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,320
So last time I checked, $960 billion is

626
00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:37,020
a lot of money.

627
00:24:37,500 --> 00:24:41,260
It's a factor of 50 times bigger than

628
00:24:41,260 --> 00:24:44,460
a company like Apple's 401k plan.

629
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,600
So there's a lot of money and a

630
00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:48,800
lot of people who have a lot of

631
00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:49,480
questions.

632
00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:51,900
So we could talk about the TSP pretty

633
00:24:51,900 --> 00:24:54,660
much endlessly, but there's basically five lettered funds

634
00:24:54,660 --> 00:24:56,780
or what are called target date funds or

635
00:24:56,780 --> 00:24:57,380
L funds.

636
00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:00,400
And people navigate that the best that they

637
00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:01,080
can.

638
00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:03,920
A thing that's coming up a lot to

639
00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:06,380
be objective and clear and help people is

640
00:25:06,380 --> 00:25:09,480
that another thing that's specific to their age

641
00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:11,480
when they leave is that if they reach

642
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:15,680
age 55 before they leave service, then the

643
00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:18,720
TSP plan acts basically like a 401k where

644
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:21,760
they can access money within the TSP from

645
00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:24,240
it to their pocket and avoid the 10

646
00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:24,920
% penalty.

647
00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:26,820
Whereas if they took that money and roll

648
00:25:26,820 --> 00:25:28,840
it to an IRA first and then took

649
00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:30,400
a withdrawal, there would be that 10%

650
00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:30,780
penalty.

651
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,120
So that window is valuable.

652
00:25:33,340 --> 00:25:35,020
It doesn't necessarily mean all the money needs

653
00:25:35,020 --> 00:25:37,340
to stay there, but however much we might

654
00:25:37,340 --> 00:25:38,600
need during that window.

655
00:25:38,940 --> 00:25:40,360
But we try to make people aware of

656
00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:42,780
things like that, even if it prevents them

657
00:25:42,780 --> 00:25:46,360
from being interested in rolling it because this

658
00:25:46,360 --> 00:25:48,380
is the business we're in is helping people

659
00:25:48,380 --> 00:25:49,420
manage money.

660
00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:53,020
But there's all sorts of investment opportunities in

661
00:25:53,020 --> 00:25:55,560
the private marketplace that sometimes are worth considering,

662
00:25:55,780 --> 00:25:59,660
income investing and broader diversification and some international

663
00:25:59,660 --> 00:26:03,280
options and all sorts of investment vehicles that

664
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,540
we're familiar with that we could get into.

665
00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:08,420
Very good.

666
00:26:09,940 --> 00:26:12,500
You sound like you kind of wanted to

667
00:26:12,500 --> 00:26:15,320
get into just in passing the idea of

668
00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:17,000
how things might change.

669
00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:17,860
Yeah.

670
00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:19,800
Do you want to talk about that?

671
00:26:20,460 --> 00:26:21,020
Yeah, sure.

672
00:26:21,140 --> 00:26:22,440
So that's another thing that a lot of

673
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:25,380
feds are worried about is things are changing

674
00:26:25,380 --> 00:26:28,800
in terms of job security and returning to

675
00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:29,220
office.

676
00:26:29,540 --> 00:26:32,640
But in terms of actual laws being passed

677
00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:35,980
that might change federal employee benefits is another

678
00:26:35,980 --> 00:26:40,000
thing that people are following or concerned about.

679
00:26:40,180 --> 00:26:42,780
That generally would come from Congress.

680
00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:45,100
So there's lots of rumors about what could

681
00:26:45,100 --> 00:26:47,340
happen and people who are already receiving their

682
00:26:47,340 --> 00:26:51,000
pension, they're thinking, well, I really hope they

683
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:52,240
don't do anything with that.

684
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:54,780
And there's nothing active that I'm aware of

685
00:26:54,780 --> 00:26:56,760
that would change a pension that's already being

686
00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,840
received or the size of a pension that

687
00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:01,900
has yet to be started.

688
00:27:02,360 --> 00:27:05,600
But one example of something that is in

689
00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:08,520
a house bill would be changing how much

690
00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:13,620
current federal employees pay for their pension, but

691
00:27:13,620 --> 00:27:17,800
only for those who started, who are not

692
00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,420
that FERS-FRAE employee.

693
00:27:20,580 --> 00:27:23,380
So FERS-FRAE pay 4.4% of

694
00:27:23,380 --> 00:27:24,920
their salary for their pension.

695
00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:27,980
So if anybody's not a fed and listening,

696
00:27:28,100 --> 00:27:29,260
they pay for their pension.

697
00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:32,400
It's not free just for working there.

698
00:27:32,500 --> 00:27:33,700
They pay a part of their salary.

699
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,440
It's 4.4%. But those prior to that

700
00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:40,980
start date pay less, in many instances, noticeably

701
00:27:40,980 --> 00:27:41,460
less.

702
00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:45,200
So there is a bill that would, if

703
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,480
passed, it hasn't passed yet, hasn't become law

704
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:50,780
yet, it would make everybody pay that 4

705
00:27:50,780 --> 00:27:54,440
.4%. So if you have tenure in the

706
00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:56,800
federal government, if you've been there since before

707
00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:00,900
2014, and you had intended to stay a

708
00:28:00,900 --> 00:28:03,440
while longer, then there's a chance you could

709
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,720
be paying more for your pension, which is

710
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:07,320
unfortunate.

711
00:28:07,740 --> 00:28:10,760
But change happens.

712
00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:13,120
If I was working with a federal employee,

713
00:28:13,180 --> 00:28:17,560
I would probably lean towards them not leaving

714
00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:20,140
government just exclusively due to that.

715
00:28:20,380 --> 00:28:22,380
If I had a job offer and they

716
00:28:22,380 --> 00:28:24,140
told me that I would get a pension

717
00:28:24,140 --> 00:28:25,880
one day, but I had to pay 4

718
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:28,080
.4% of my salary for that pension,

719
00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:29,460
I would sign up.

720
00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:30,800
That's a pretty good deal overall.

721
00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:34,240
But either way, that's factoring into people's decisions.

722
00:28:34,380 --> 00:28:39,200
There's another one where hypothetically the retirement supplement

723
00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:40,820
might go away.

724
00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:44,960
This is all just reading the news.

725
00:28:45,100 --> 00:28:47,160
I'm not personally aware of any bill that's

726
00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:49,420
about to pass or anything, but the supplement

727
00:28:49,420 --> 00:28:51,200
is an extra source of income that would

728
00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:53,560
come from MRA to age 62.

729
00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:55,840
So it's a short window, but it's more

730
00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:57,040
money, it's more income.

731
00:28:58,020 --> 00:28:59,880
They talked about changing around the health insurance

732
00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:02,320
plan to a form of a voucher system.

733
00:29:04,700 --> 00:29:07,540
So those are some of the examples of

734
00:29:07,540 --> 00:29:09,620
change that are active.

735
00:29:10,100 --> 00:29:12,520
Everything else, my knowledge at least, is more

736
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:12,980
of a rumor.

737
00:29:13,860 --> 00:29:17,000
Well, I think the point you made is

738
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:17,500
a good one.

739
00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:21,880
We've certainly heard from clients who are all

740
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:26,220
anxious about just social security being altered in

741
00:29:26,220 --> 00:29:27,760
some fashion and a lot of rumor.

742
00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:31,400
But you've made the point that that would

743
00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,380
require an act of Congress and it would

744
00:29:34,380 --> 00:29:36,100
have to be passed into law.

745
00:29:36,100 --> 00:29:43,560
And I think there's a lot of representatives

746
00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:45,780
in Congress who like working in Congress.

747
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,380
So that's probably not something that most people

748
00:29:51,380 --> 00:29:54,460
who are actively receiving benefits have to worry

749
00:29:54,460 --> 00:29:55,200
too much about.

750
00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:59,320
That being said, there's definitely some need for

751
00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:01,480
change before too long.

752
00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:04,640
We've got, was it 2033 that we've got

753
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:06,740
this issue still looming?

754
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,860
So something will need to be done, but

755
00:30:10,860 --> 00:30:14,060
as we talked about it, Jeff, often it's

756
00:30:14,060 --> 00:30:17,340
probably going to be around 2033 that that

757
00:30:17,340 --> 00:30:18,280
actually gets done.

758
00:30:18,660 --> 00:30:18,760
Yeah.

759
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:21,820
Congress doesn't have a history of being proactive

760
00:30:21,820 --> 00:30:22,740
in such matters.

761
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:23,640
Right.

762
00:30:23,980 --> 00:30:24,260
Yeah.

763
00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:26,080
The last time they made a major change,

764
00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:27,960
other than the file and suspend back in

765
00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:30,040
2015, the major change was all the way

766
00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:31,940
in the early eighties and they phased it

767
00:30:31,940 --> 00:30:33,380
in over 40 years.

768
00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:36,240
So whatever happens will probably be phased in

769
00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:38,380
over time one would think or hope.

770
00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:41,380
And it's all over the news in terms

771
00:30:41,380 --> 00:30:46,240
of Doge terminating people or restructuring where they

772
00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:50,840
work and federal employees taking opportunities to leave.

773
00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:51,920
But that's headcount.

774
00:30:52,020 --> 00:30:54,240
That's not the benefit that any one individual

775
00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:54,980
is receiving.

776
00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:57,880
So there's nothing that I'm aware of that

777
00:30:57,880 --> 00:30:59,320
is about to be passed.

778
00:30:59,420 --> 00:31:01,020
It's going to change the dollar amount that

779
00:31:01,020 --> 00:31:02,140
people receive.

780
00:31:02,540 --> 00:31:04,260
So it certainly is something that you can

781
00:31:04,260 --> 00:31:06,780
look up your benefits online, incorporate it into

782
00:31:06,780 --> 00:31:09,140
a model, decide when to take it, learn

783
00:31:09,140 --> 00:31:12,140
about things like spousal benefits and survivor benefits.

784
00:31:12,660 --> 00:31:14,460
They actually, the last thing they passed actually

785
00:31:14,460 --> 00:31:16,560
made it better, not worse with the social

786
00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:17,760
security fairness act.

787
00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:21,320
So that affects people who had what's called

788
00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:25,860
WEP or GPO where they're getting an increased

789
00:31:25,860 --> 00:31:29,760
benefit basically that they weren't getting before.

790
00:31:29,940 --> 00:31:30,360
So that's good.

791
00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:32,320
But yeah, long-term, I definitely agree with

792
00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:32,440
you.

793
00:31:32,620 --> 00:31:35,880
Something needs to happen, but whatever, what change

794
00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:38,200
it's going to be is just guessing at

795
00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:38,560
this point.

796
00:31:39,700 --> 00:31:42,260
Well, Brian, you've been a great resource and

797
00:31:42,260 --> 00:31:45,520
I know you're often a wealth of information

798
00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:47,240
because you've even written a book about some

799
00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:48,440
of these issues over time.

800
00:31:50,260 --> 00:31:52,660
Tell our listeners, if they want to learn

801
00:31:52,660 --> 00:31:55,460
more, how can they glean from insights from

802
00:31:55,460 --> 00:31:55,660
you?

803
00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:59,140
Do you have a newsletter or anything that

804
00:31:59,140 --> 00:32:00,660
they might want to follow that kind of

805
00:32:00,660 --> 00:32:00,860
thing?

806
00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:01,540
Yeah.

807
00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:03,500
So you can connect with me on LinkedIn.

808
00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:06,160
I'm there posting content about federal employee benefits,

809
00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:09,040
as well as sharing content of other colleagues

810
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:10,380
that I work with.

811
00:32:10,900 --> 00:32:12,340
And then just reaching out if you'd like

812
00:32:12,340 --> 00:32:18,100
301-543-6035 or BKuhn, K-U-H

813
00:32:18,100 --> 00:32:20,340
-N at wealthenhancement.com.

814
00:32:20,380 --> 00:32:22,340
And what I'm telling people is let's just

815
00:32:22,340 --> 00:32:22,980
build the model.

816
00:32:23,140 --> 00:32:24,820
Give me 30 minutes of your time and

817
00:32:24,820 --> 00:32:28,180
a couple data points, and I'll show you

818
00:32:28,180 --> 00:32:30,300
visually what your future looks like.

819
00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:32,120
It's a free meeting.

820
00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:33,820
I would not want to be making any

821
00:32:33,820 --> 00:32:36,520
major career decisions before at least building that

822
00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:39,500
and we'll get it done and you can

823
00:32:39,500 --> 00:32:40,280
go from there.

824
00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:44,000
But normally the turnaround time is we get

825
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:44,620
to know each other.

826
00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:46,360
We talk about broader planning topics.

827
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:48,440
We gather even more data, but for right

828
00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:51,000
now with beds, with what they're going through,

829
00:32:51,220 --> 00:32:53,720
just the act of driving into the office,

830
00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:56,180
they're less available than they were.

831
00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,260
So we're accommodating that as best we can.

832
00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:02,780
And I would encourage, just build the cashflow

833
00:33:02,780 --> 00:33:04,640
model and we'll tell you what it says.

834
00:33:05,060 --> 00:33:05,180
Yeah.

835
00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:07,400
Information is definitely power in this case.

836
00:33:08,540 --> 00:33:13,460
We'll include your LinkedIn link in the show

837
00:33:13,460 --> 00:33:13,760
notes.

838
00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:17,940
And with that, Brian, great content, great insights.

839
00:33:17,940 --> 00:33:20,180
Thanks for sharing it with our audience and

840
00:33:20,180 --> 00:33:20,720
with us.

841
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,200
And if anyone needs help, don't hesitate to

842
00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:24,660
reach out.

843
00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:27,480
Until next time, everybody keeps driving for something

844
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:27,820
more.

845
00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:31,160
Thank you for listening to Something More with

846
00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:31,860
Chris Boyd.

847
00:33:32,180 --> 00:33:34,360
Call us for help, whether it's for financial

848
00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:38,240
planning or portfolio management, insurance concerns, or those

849
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:40,300
quality of life issues that make the money

850
00:33:40,300 --> 00:33:41,400
matters matter.

851
00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:45,020
Whatever's on your mind, visit us at somethingmorewithchrisboyd

852
00:33:45,020 --> 00:33:48,220
.com or call us toll free at 866

853
00:33:48,220 --> 00:33:51,880
-771-8901.

854
00:33:52,100 --> 00:33:55,760
Or send us your questions to amr-info

855
00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:57,700
at wealthenhancement.com.

856
00:33:57,820 --> 00:33:59,820
You're listening to Something More with Chris Boyd,

857
00:33:59,820 --> 00:34:01,440
and

858
00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:18,440
I'll

859
00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:24,080
see you next time.