Kaufmanrider's Retirement Story

[Mista_Magee]

I received a letter from the National Finance Center, my pay center, that my Individual Retirement Record was forwarded to OPM Feb 4, 2014. My first interim should be March 1, so it looks like things are on schedule.

On a side note, I started diversifying my roll-over last week into the markets. 30% will be in 20-30 dividend paying stocks, 50% in a Lazy Portfolio (80-20 Stock/Bond split) and the final 20% will be my market timing portfolio. Of course, the percentages may change over time.

Congrats, keep us posted on what dividend paying stocks you'll be buying and your strategy for the market timing portfolio. Thanks.

 

[Stoplight]

Kauf,

That's good news ! I'll be curious to hear how long it takes OPM to "finalize" your payment...hopefully not as long as it took them a while ago !

As I understand it, your AL lump sum comes from your Agency, so it's not surprising y'all saw that first....your interim, however, comes from OPM, so that takes longer. When you DO get your claim number, be sure to log into the OPM on-line web site...good info there on the status of your case, plus your monthly statements, etc

RE: the discussion about the amount of your interim pay...I see people saying "60%" or "80%"...but my "interim" was only 39% of my final number :nuts: Granted, my "situation" was a little unusual, with multiple agencies, the supplemental, a gap in service, etc etc. as I noted in my retirement thread...I DID get a "catch-up" check for > $10K when all was said and done.

I look forward to seeing what you're doing with that TSP rollover in your account thread, too !


Stoplight...

I received a letter from the National Finance Center, my pay center, that my Individual Retirement Record was forwarded to OPM Feb 4, 2014. My first interim should be March 1, so it looks like things are on schedule.

On a side note, I started diversifying my roll-over last week into the markets. 30% will be in 20-30 dividend paying stocks, 50% in a Lazy Portfolio (80-20 Stock/Bond split) and the final 20% will be my market timing portfolio.

Of course, the percentages may change over time.

 

[GUCHI]

congrats to all the retirees... i plan to be in that boat in May and was wondering how you all handled your annuity? i will have 34.5 yrs of service and i'm CSRS. my first thought was to take as much money now so the wife and i can live comfortably with hopefully a litte extra to do things (travel). the wife will have S.S. when she becomes of age, we are both 54 now. she intends to work part time. if anything should happen to me she can sell some of the rentals and have cash. we also have 2 sons that i know will look out for their mom. not that i'm depending on them but i know she will be looked out for. just curious how you all did your annuity and why you did it and whether you would change your decision knowing what you know now? not trying to pry just getting some feedback.
thanks and enjoy your days
john

 

[Kaufmanrider]

congrats to all the retirees... i plan to be in that boat in May and was wondering how you all handled your annuity? i will have 34.5 yrs of service and i'm CSRS. my first thought was to take as much money now so the wife and i can live comfortably with hopefully a litte extra to do things (travel). the wife will have S.S. when she becomes of age, we are both 54 now. she intends to work part time. if anything should happen to me she can sell some of the rentals and have cash. we also have 2 sons that i know will look out for their mom. not that i'm depending on them but i know she will be looked out for. just curious how you all did your annuity and why you did it and whether you would change your decision knowing what you know now? not trying to pry just getting some feedback.
thanks and enjoy your days
john

I assume you mean the survivor benefit reduction? I opted for the benefit and will take a 10% reduction to my FERS retirement. Mainly because of the health insurance. Like you, we are young and affordable health insurance is an important consideration when you are not eligible for Medicare. We considered a large life insurance policy and Obama Care for her if something happened to me but the quality/out of pocket/deductable/premium, etc., does not compare with what she could get from FEHB.

So I took the hit in my annuity for healthcare.

 

[Stoplight]

I assume you mean the survivor benefit reduction? I opted for the benefit and will take a 10% reduction to my FERS retirement. Mainly because of the health insurance. Like you, we are young and affordable health insurance is an important consideration when you are not eligible for Medicare. We considered a large life insurance policy and Obama Care for her if something happened to me but the quality/out of pocket/deductable/premium, etc., does not compare with what she could get from FEHB.

So I took the hit in my annuity for healthcare.

Ditto everything Kauf said ! Wife currently has good health insurance through the County she retired from, so we each carry "self only"...cheaper than FEHB's "Family" option, although I think I read somewhere that OPM said FEHB can now offer a "self + 1" option, if they choose to do so...

OTOH, the County could decide at any time to eliminate health care for retirees, so we wanted the option of picking her up on my plan, if it becomes necessary.

Being cynical...of course the Feds could ALSO dump retiree health care at any time, but they'd have a much bigger fight on their hands than the County would


Stoplight...

 

[Scout333]

Ditto what Kauf and Stop said. Health insurance is the biggest part of the decision.

 

[nnuut]

If things keep going like they are the FEHBP and military TRICARE will be absorbed into Obamacare. Let the screwing of Federal Employees and retirees and Military retires begin! I hope all that voted for Obama enjoy their new deductibles and higher premiums, cat food isn't that bad. Don't count on anything now folks, you will be serving the greater good so you should feel better, broke but peace of mind that you are helping others will more than compensate for your loss.

 

[nasa1974]

Sounds like everyone is moving right along.
I opted for full survivor benefits for my wife. She has a small IRA and SS so I felt it was import to take care of her just in case.
I have the extra dental/vision as well and I ended up paying either two or three months out of pocket before OPM caught up and had it taken out of my monthly check.
Stoplight is correct about your OPM Claim Number. Get onto the website and check your information.
Good luck everyone.

 

[Kaufmanrider]

I received the first letter from OPM today telling me they received my application and assigning my CSA number. The second letter with the password should arrive early next week.

 

[Kaufmanrider]

I received the first letter from OPM today telling me they received my application and assigning my CSA number. The second letter with the password should arrive early next week.

Still no password? Maybe this week? I'd like to see if I am getting my first interim payment on March 1.

 

[Kaufmanrider]

Password arrived. Went on-line and found my interim payments were approved on Feb 20, 2014 to begin March 1, 2014 and will be $0.00. I hope this is an error?

I may have to try calling later this week if that number doesn't change. I didn't expect to get the full amount, but zero?

 

[nnuut]

Password arrived. Went on-line and found my interim payments were approved on Feb 20, 2014 to begin March 1, 2014 and will be $0.00. I hope this is an error?

I may have to try calling later this week if that number doesn't change. I didn't expect to get the full amount, but zero?

$0! What the heck?

 

[Templefan]

Hi Kaufmanrider, I just read your other post about 72t. I did not do anything yet but when I do I am leaning towards the minimum distribution, but that could change.

On another note, don't panic about the OPM website. I got my password yesterday and went in and got the same message. Today I received a letter from OPM stating the particulars about my interim payment. It looks like it will be about 78% of my FERS annuity not counting the special supplement. It says I should receive it on March 1st. The did tax the crap out of it. It looks like you and I are on the same time frame. Hopefully you will be getting the same notification.

 

[Kaufmanrider]

Hi Kaufmanrider, I just read your other post about 72t. I did not do anything yet but when I do I am leaning towards the minimum distribution, but that could change.

On another note, don't panic about the OPM website. I got my password yesterday and went in and got the same message. Today I received a letter from OPM stating the particulars about my interim payment. It looks like it will be about 78% of my FERS annuity not counting the special supplement. It says I should receive it on March 1st. The did tax the crap out of it. It looks like you and I are on the same time frame. Hopefully you will be getting the same notification.

Thanks Templefan. I'll be checking the mail.

I sat down today and reviewed the investments in my Roll-Over. I calculated all of the dividend distributions I should get annually based on what they paid last year and the distributions will equal about 65-70% of what a min. dist. would be and just under half of an Annuity.



.

 

[Scout333]

Ouch!

 

[burrocrat]

Thanks Templefan. I'll be checking the mail.

I sat down today and reviewed the investments in my Roll-Over. I calculated all of the dividend distributions I should get annually based on what they paid last year and the distributions will equal about 65-70% of what a min. dist. would be and just under half of an Annuity.



.

less income but you keep all the equities so not destroying principal and have the possibility for share price appreciation, right? maybe not such a bad deal.

 

[Kaufmanrider]

less income but you keep all the equities so not destroying principal and have the possibility for share price appreciation, right? maybe not such a bad deal.

Yes, that is what I came up with. I have about 15% of my money I am using to swing trade/market time. If I can make some good trades with it throughout the year I should be able to make up the difference without touching the bulk of my investments.

 

[Kaufmanrider]

No OPM mail today so I called the OPM number. Third try I got the automated answering system. I entered my menu number and was on hold for 20 minutes until I spoke to a real person. She was testy, I was being extremely nice. I guess all day dealing with angry retirees?

I explained my on-line services account showed my interim payments were going to be $0.00 and I was concerned there might be an error. She told me she didn't know what I was talking about, I had been keyed in for interim payments and will receive them. I replied yes, the services on line account says I was approved interim payments on Feb 20, 2014 with a total amount of 0.00 and gross of 0.00. She couldn't explain why it said that but told me how much I will get Gross and Net. Based upon my agency pre-retirement calculations it is about 67% of what I will eventually receive.

 

[Templefan]

Hang in there. You should be getting a letter soon that explains your interim. I'm surprised you actually spoke to someone.

 

[nnuut]

No OPM mail today so I called the OPM number. Third try I got the automated answering system. I entered my menu number and was on hold for 20 minutes until I spoke to a real person. She was testy, I was being extremely nice. I guess all day dealing with angry retirees?

I explained my on-line services account showed my interim payments were going to be $0.00 and I was concerned there might be an error. She told me she didn't know what I was talking about, I had been keyed in for interim payments and will receive them. I replied yes, the services on line account says I was approved interim payments on Feb 20, 2014 with a total amount of 0.00 and gross of 0.00. She couldn't explain why it said that but told me how much I will get Gross and Net. Based upon my agency pre-retirement calculations it is about 67% of what I will eventually receive.

Damn Government Workers, they don't give a damn! :laugh: