2moryrs
Member
It has been awhile since checking in on this thread. NARFE is working on Fedcon2020 in Phoenix area. Don't have much information available yet but will be forthcoming soon.
NARFE is now under 200,000 members. We don't seem to reach the current employees on the importance of protecting what they are earning in benefits. No other organization cares what happens to the federal "family." Apparently the retirees do not apparently care what happens to their benefits either. If NARFE was to "cease to exist"; poof the Legislative folks would no longer be on The Hill lobbying to keep Congress's fingers off of our EARNED benefits. The attacks are real and they happen every day.
Several people that used to work in the building I worked at are now in their 90's. If we were to lose any of our earned benefits, would we be able to buy our health insurance from the exchange? If the cost of living adjustments were to disappear would we be able to pay our basic living expenses? (And by BASIC I mean taxes - income, property - electricity, water/sewer, trash collection, phone.) Health insurance premiums going up on average 6% +/-, property taxes going up 3% +/-, cost of food going up, cost of fuel going up.
We invested in a solar aray system, 14 panels, and so our electricity is the ONLY cost that we have managed to control as there are just two of us. We also own our home and autos. But, I think of the elderly woman who attends our NARFE meeting; widowed several years now, husband was retired Postmaster so just gets CSRS annuity, no social security. He was pretty wise so I hope he planned well for her survival upon his demise. My point is there are folks living at the poverty level even though they work or worked for the federal government. We had a taste of what could happen to those folks during the government shutdown.
Okay, so I am down off my soapbox (where did that expression come from) just some ramblings that run through my mind oftener than I would like.
Cheers, weekend is coming! Oh, yeah, I am retired, every day is the weekend!
NARFE is now under 200,000 members. We don't seem to reach the current employees on the importance of protecting what they are earning in benefits. No other organization cares what happens to the federal "family." Apparently the retirees do not apparently care what happens to their benefits either. If NARFE was to "cease to exist"; poof the Legislative folks would no longer be on The Hill lobbying to keep Congress's fingers off of our EARNED benefits. The attacks are real and they happen every day.
Several people that used to work in the building I worked at are now in their 90's. If we were to lose any of our earned benefits, would we be able to buy our health insurance from the exchange? If the cost of living adjustments were to disappear would we be able to pay our basic living expenses? (And by BASIC I mean taxes - income, property - electricity, water/sewer, trash collection, phone.) Health insurance premiums going up on average 6% +/-, property taxes going up 3% +/-, cost of food going up, cost of fuel going up.
We invested in a solar aray system, 14 panels, and so our electricity is the ONLY cost that we have managed to control as there are just two of us. We also own our home and autos. But, I think of the elderly woman who attends our NARFE meeting; widowed several years now, husband was retired Postmaster so just gets CSRS annuity, no social security. He was pretty wise so I hope he planned well for her survival upon his demise. My point is there are folks living at the poverty level even though they work or worked for the federal government. We had a taste of what could happen to those folks during the government shutdown.
Okay, so I am down off my soapbox (where did that expression come from) just some ramblings that run through my mind oftener than I would like.
Cheers, weekend is coming! Oh, yeah, I am retired, every day is the weekend!
