Retirement

How is your retirement income, specifically your FERS annuity, Social Security, and TSP withdrawals, taxed for federal income tax purposes?  The taxable portion of each of these sources of income are taxed as ordinary income; that is, they receive no special tax treatment are taxed based on the bracket in which they fall.

The vast majority of your FERS annuity will be federally taxable.  You will not be taxed on the portion of your FERS annuity that is due to your already taxed contributions but, because you recoup your contributions bit by bit over your life expectancy, most of your FERS annuity is taxed.  The form 1099-R you receive from OPM will tell you how much is taxable.

It is quite likely that 85% of your Social Security will be subject to federal income tax at your rate for ordinary income, though some retirees will find that a lesser portion is considered taxable; the higher your income the higher the percentage of your Social Security benefit that is subject to federal income tax.  You will determine how much of your Social Security is taxable when you are filling out your tax forms.

Distributions from your traditional TSP are fully taxable for federal income tax purposes.  Distributions from your Roth TSP will be tax free if the withdrawals are qualified.  For a Roth withdrawal to be considered qualified, you must have had the Roth account for at least 5 years and be at least 59 ½ years old.  If your Roth withdrawals are not qualified, you will pay taxes on the portion of your Roth distribution that is due to earnings; withdrawn contributions are never taxable, because your contributions were made out of already taxed dollars.  In the Roth TSP (unlike a Roth IRA) Roth withdrawals come proportionally from contributions and earnings.

The above paragraphs tell how your retirement income is taxed – not how taxes are withheld from said income.  We’ll look at withholding in the paragraphs below.

Regarding your FERS annuity, you likely filled out a W-4P with your retirement papers and now taxes are being withheld from your monthly payments.  You probably based this withholding on the last W-4 you filed while still an employee and it will most likely cover all taxes due from your annuity.

On the other hand, Social Security will not withhold one red cent from your benefits for taxes unless you ask them to!  In order to be sure enough is withheld for taxes, you can:

Ask Social Security to withhold from your monthly payments.  You can do this when you apply (if you’re applying online, you do it in the “remarks” section of the form) or you can file a form W-4V after you have applied.

Make quarterly estimated tax payments.  These payments which are due on April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15 (or a few days later depending on the day of the week the 15th falls on) require you to remember to set aside the money for the payment and remember to actually send it in.  I don’t trust my memory (or my ability to keep my hands off money that I have set aside) so, when I filed for Social Security, I requested that they withhold a percentage of my benefit for federal income taxes.  If I don’t see it, I won’t miss it.

The Thrift Savings Plan withholds taxes at different rates for different types of payments.  They have a booklet available on their website, tspbk26.pdf that contains a detailed table describing the withholding on each different type of withdrawal.  According to TSP statistics, the most common withdrawal is installment payments and with that type of withdrawal (if the payments are likely to continue for 10 years or more) taxes are withheld as if you were married, filing jointly, and claiming 3 exemptions.  This will almost certainly result in not enough taxes being withheld and might even cause a tax penalty.  Just because you’re not having taxes withheld doesn’t mean that you don’t owe taxes.

Most other types of payment from the TSP withhold at a 20% rate, which may (or may not) be sufficient to cover your federal income taxes.

Those of you who live in states that tax retirement income and/or Social Security should be aware that neither Social Security nor the TSP withhold state income taxes.  You will want to either make estimated payments to your state taxing authority or have more withheld from other sources of income.

If you’re just retired, or planning on retiring in 2023, plan on having enough money withheld this year to cover your taxes and avoid any penalties.  Remember, tax avoidance is OK – it’s tax evasion that’ll get you into trouble.

Finally, to get the best idea of where you stand going into retirement, we do suggest you get a Full Retirement Consultation with a Federal Retirement Consultant.  Please visit the contact us page to start the process to schedule your Free Retirement Review.

The annually introduced bill would provide a 4.7% across-the-board increase in basic pay and an average 4% increase to locality pay.

Democrats in both chambers of Congress on Thursday introduced legislation that would provide federal employees with an average 8.7% pay raise in 2024.

The Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act, introduced by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., in the House and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, in the Senate, would increase federal workers’ basic pay by 4.7% across the board next year, and provide an average 4% increase in locality pay.

The introduction of the FAIR Act has been an annual endeavor in recent years; last year, the bill proposed a 5.1% pay increase, split between a 4.1% across-the-board basic pay raise and a 1% average increase in locality pay. Although the bill is rarely acted upon, it could serve as an important marker as lawmakers and the Biden administration debate spending levels for fiscal 2024 as House Republicans demand cuts to government spending.

Connolly described the measure as a way to restore “years of lost wage increases” over the last decade due to government shutdowns, hiring and pay freezes and sequestration-related furloughs.

“For years now, federal employees have risked their health and safety working on the frontlines of this pandemic,” Connolly said. “They were subjected to the Trump administration’s cruel personal attacks, unsafe work environments, pay freezes, government shutdowns, sequestration cuts, furloughs and mindless across-the-board hiring freezes. Still, our federal workforce serves with dedication and distinction every day. Federal employees are our government’s single greatest asset, and they deserve better.”

The bill’s introduction drew swift support from unions and other federal employee groups.

“The 8.7% increase listed in the FAIR Act is not a pay raise,” said Randy Erwin, national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees. “It is a minimum increase needed to offset the dwindling checking accounts of public servants, and it is critical to recruiting and retaining the best possible workforce.”

American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley said that a sizeable pay increase is particularly important as the government tries to recruit new workers during a tight labor market.

“The latest report of the Federal Salary Council shows that federal worker pay lags behind the private sector by over 23%—making it difficult for agencies to recruit, hire and retain top talent and hurting the quality of services Americans receive,” he said. “The 8.7% pay increase included in the FAIR Act will not only reward federal employees’ hard work and help them keep pace with inflation, but it will also help government agencies remain competitive and deliver high-quality services to the American public.”

And William Shackelford, president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, echoed that sentiment.

“The FAIR Act proposes a strong pay raise to counteract a tightening labor market and increasing private-sector pay, rising costs of living and an impending federal retirement wave,” he said. “A strong pay increase in 2023 is critical to the recruitment and retention of an effective federal workforce, and we’re thankful to have Congressman Connolly’s support for this effort.”

So how would this raise affect your High 3 average going into retirement?  Let us run a Full Benefits Analysis Retirement Review for you so you can help plan and maximize your retirement.  Contact Us today to get YOUR Review!

The deadline to apply for the program before a two-year suspension is Dec. 19, but officials want applicants to go in with “eyes wide open” that rates will likely increase substantially.

The Office of Personnel Management plans to suspend applications for the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program for two years beginning Dec. 19, in anticipation of a sizeable rate hike.

OPM announced the unusual measure last month in the Federal Register, and noted that federal workers who submit their applications by the deadline will still be considered for enrollment. FLTCIP was created in 2002 and assists with health care costs for participants who need help with daily personal functions, or who have a severe cognitive illness, and covers home care, nursing home or assisted living benefits.

“OPM is suspending applications for coverage in FLTCIP to allow OPM and the FLTCIP carrier to assess the benefit offerings and establish sustainable premium rates that reasonably and equitably reflect the cost of the benefits provided,” the agency wrote.

The program will continue to operate normally for current enrollees, although they will not be able to apply to increase their coverage. There are currently around 267,000 federal workers and retirees participating in the insurance plan, and OPM typically receives only a few thousand applications to enroll per year.

The decision to suspend applications for the program came after John Hancock Life and Health Insurance Co., the contractor that administers the program, informed OPM that it is likely that there will a premium increase sometime next year.

In recent years, the long term care insurance market has been plagued by large premium increases, in part because people have been living longer and in part because long term interest rates have been at historic lows since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. The Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program last saw premiums increase by an average of 83% in 2016.

John Hatton, staff vice president of policy and programs for the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, said it is likely that OPM will examine whether there is anything they can do administratively to improve the stability of the program or propose legislation to alter the program.

“Reading the tea leaves, instituting a suspension of applications shows that there’s a lack of faith or trust that it’s designed in a way that can be sustainable,” he said. “The first premium increase was around 25%, the second was as high as 125% [in some cases], and 83% on average. These premiums were quoted with the intention of staying stable for the lifetime of the coverage, which is someone’s life. And it’s not just federal workers’. They were just not priced correctly to begin with.”

After the previous round of premium hikes, OPM instituted “FLTCIP 3.0,” which allows current enrollees to adjust their coverage downward in order to reduce the impact of rising premiums. Even with that change, Hatton said OPM likely made the right decision by suspending applications.

“If you can’t accurately quote someone what the cost will be for a product, it shouldn’t be open ended,” he said. “That said, the reason these premiums are going up is costs are very high, and people have to figure out how to plan for long term care costs, and there’s no public option aside from Medicaid, which only provides catastrophic coverage if you’re completely impoverished yourself.”

Ultimately, Hatton said he thinks that OPM will wind up having to request legislation from Congress to make the changes needed to stabilize the program.

“OPM, for their part, has done—within the structure of the program, I think—what they can do,” he said. “They hired an independent actuary to look at the assumptions and make sure that they’re right, they hired a consultant to look at various options, and we’ll see where that goes and what flexibility they have in the statute or whether they’ll need Congress to provide some flexibilities. But at the end of the day, the options that would emerge are going to be ones that are maybe tied more to affordability and certainty, but also less coverage.”

We can also show you a better alternative to Long Term Care insurance using certain riders on our Income Annuity Products.  Why pay for something you may or may not ever use?  Contact us today to learn more.