Haws Federal Advisors Podcast

Check out the full article here: https://planyourfederalbenefits.com/blog/ Check out my courses here: https://planyourfederalbenefits.com/courses-main-page/ Check out my articles on FedSmith here: https://www.fedsmith.com/author/dallen-haws/ Dallen Haws at Haws Financial Planning Sierra Vista, AZ Want to work with me? Click here: https://hawsfinancialplanning.com/contact-us-make-an-appointment/ (h...

Check out my courses here: https://planyourfederalbenefits.com/courses-main-page/ Check out my articles on FedSmith here: https://www.fedsmith.com/author/dallen-haws/ Retirement can be an incredibly exciting and anxious time for many federal employees. Exciting because you may never have to work again, anxious because it can be quite the task to make sure you aren’t missing anything. Federal benef...

Check out the full article here: https://planyourfederalbenefits.com/blog/ Check out my courses here: https://planyourfederalbenefits.com/courses-main-page/ Check out my articles on FedSmith here: https://www.fedsmith.com/author/dallen-haws/ Dallen Haws at Haws Financial Planning Sierra Vista, AZ Want to work with me? Click here: https://hawsfinancialplanning.com/contact-us-make-an-appointment/ (h...

Check out my courses here: https://planyourfederalbenefits.com/courses-main-page/ Check out my articles on FedSmith here: https://www.fedsmith.com/author/dallen-haws/ Since the TSP Modernization Act went into force in September of last year, there are a number of new withdrawal options from your TSP. Before this, the TSP was miles behind comparable retirement accounts on the private side in terms...

Check out the full article here: https://planyourfederalbenefits.com/blog/ Check out my courses here: https://planyourfederalbenefits.com/courses-main-page/ Check out my articles on FedSmith here: https://www.fedsmith.com/author/dallen-haws/ Dallen Haws at Haws Financial Planning Sierra Vista, AZ Want to work with me? Click here: https://hawsfinancialplanning.com/contact-us-make-an-appointment/ (h...

Check out my courses here: https://planyourfederalbenefits.com/courses-main-page/ Check out my articles on FedSmith here: https://www.fedsmith.com/author/dallen-haws/ It is very easy to be greedy when the market has record highs. When everything is going up, it is so easy to listen to the water cooler talk and double down on the C, S, and I funds.  When the market is going down however, it is...

Check out the full article here: https://planyourfederalbenefits.com/blog/ Check out my courses here: https://planyourfederalbenefits.com/courses-main-page/ Check out my articles on FedSmith here: https://www.fedsmith.com/author/dallen-haws/ Dallen Haws at Haws Financial Planning Sierra Vista, AZ Want to work with me? Click here: https://hawsfinancialplanning.com/contact-us-make-an-appointment/ (h...

Only a few months ago in January, federal employees saw a pay raise of 3.1%. At the same time, federal retirees only saw an increase of 1.6% to their pensions. The difference comes from how those increases come about.  The increase the retirees see every year is called COLA, or Cost of Living Adjustment. The increase comes from a price index that is supposed to mirror inflation. Some would ar...

It is one thing to understand the inner workings of your individual benefits, but what is more important is to understand how they interact together. FEHB, FEDVIP, and FSA’s can all be great tools in your financial life, but they become the most effective when you coordinate them in a way that best suits your needs.  Here are some general things to think about when it comes to deciding how to...

Just like all your other Federal Benefits, FEGLI can be quite complex with all the rules and special situations. I will try to break down the most important aspects here to make it a bit more digestible. FEGLI can be broken into 4 different parts. I will walk you through them one by one. Basic Life Insurance When you are hired by the government, you will be automatically enrolled in this coverage....

Before we start talking about the federal Long Term Care Program we have to address what  long-term care insurance is and why someone might want it. In the past, when someone got older and was unable to take care of themselves, their children often stepped in and cared for their parents. In modern times, this solution might still be applicable but there are many situations where it is not. So...

What To Do At Least 5 Years Before Retirement Retirement may seem like a distant dream, but it generally comes faster than you think. Some people only start thinking about retirement when they are within a year of leaving the government. While some people get away with this, it is much harder to be proactive with that  short amount of time. By starting the planning process years in advance yo...

Death is something no one likes to think about or plan for. But regardless of how much we think about it, it is a natural part of life. For some of us it comes later and for some of us it comes sooner. There is really no way to know, but there are some things that we can do to make sure those that we leave behind are taken care of.  For the purposes of this article I will focus on those that...

Life is constantly moving and it can be hard sometimes to keep up with a rapidly changing world. But your federal benefits are something you should always keep up on.  Retirement can be a more difficult time to keep up with it all because you are no longer surrounded by co-workers going through the same things.  Here's a list of some common life events that might happen during retirement...

It makes sense for many people to stay with the federal government for their entire career. But for others, it simply does not. For these individuals it is important to know what happens to your federal benefits if you decide to leave before you are eligible to retire. Pension You have two different options when it comes to your pension. You can apply for a refund for all of your contributions tha...

I've seen many people retire, travel for a year, get bored, and then go back to work. Whether it's out of boredom, financial need, or for any other reason, many federal employees find themselves in a position where they want to go back to work after they've already retired. The question is, how will going back to work affect your benefits and your retirement? To those who are employers that go bac...

Beneficiary designations  are one of those things that most employees fill out when they're first employed and never think about much after that. But most people don't know that these designations are extremely powerful. They will overrule a will or other estate documents every time. This means that regardless of what you put in your will, once you die your benefits will go to exactly who is...

A federal employee has a lot of options when retirement comes. With just about every benefit that employees enjoy, a decision will have to be made on how to use that benefit in retirement. One of these decisions that will make a huge impact over the course of a retirement is what to do with your TSP. Following the TSP Modernization Act that was implemented last September, there are now more option...

This is a crazy time for the world. A time that no one has predicted or lived through before. The global spread of the coronavirus as well as the economic consequences that are following are unprecedented. In response to these events, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was just passed into law on March 27th. This has now become the largest stimulus package of all time w...

Starting a family can be an exciting time but it is important to adjust your health benefits so that everyone is always covered. But just like everything else with the government, this is not quite as simple as you might hope. The first question we have to answer is who qualifies as a child that can be covered under your plan? Qualifying children include children under age 26, adopted children, na...

Whether we realize it or not, we all have a relationship with money. Just like food, your possessions, and the people in your life, there are certain feelings and attitudes that you associate with money. These feelings can be vastly different from person to person. Most people never stop to think about what their relationship with money looks like. Or at least never in those terms.  Some peop...

You have worked hard your whole career looking forward to a comfortable retirement. You have patiently invested and planned diligently. You are excited to start drawing social security to reap the benefits of years of hard work. But, did you know that a huge portion of your social security benefits will most likely be counted as taxable income? This is a common mistake that we see people make all...