So, Sequester the Molester is staring me in the face - behind shades in a clapped out blue full size van from the 1970s...
Not a nice image. Not a nice reality...
Too bad the Money Managers we call Congress and our Agency's Political Leadership are so dumb moneywise. My Agency's fine leadership thought they could play the 'cut to the bone' game. They finally lost that one during the last BRAC, they appear to be losing this one in the first inning. Oh well, it would have been much easier to deal with a 4% pay cut spread out over the year than a 20% pay cut taken over a period of five or six pay periods. I guess they thought Joe Sixpack would never want any part of the gubmint to cut its bloated budget.
So, since this is an 'on-line' tool thread, may I recommend DinkyTown.Net's
'Payroll Deduction Calculator'.
We've all seen the simplistic Sequester Calculators of Doom. The ones that don't take the fact that your Social Security, Medicare, State, Federal, and 401(k) (TSP) deductions are reduced proportionally from your gross salary. Those reductions will somewhat buffer the kill shot. This one does. Additionally, you can figure out the rather smallish change resulting from your pension deduction.
Now, for me, that means that I can pre-pay the two months left on my car loan to free up some cash flow and dump my Federal and State taxes via additional withholdings while simultaneously increasing my TSP contributions to keep those where I want them. And, not lose a dime in take home pay. All I have to do is be careful to increase my withholdings to cover the difference upon the conclusion of the sequester. I can use the money that was going into my car payment (and during the sequester was going to my take home pay) to cover my tax bite. I can overpay in October, November, and December what I underpay in July, August, and September. It can be a dangerous game, but - as the gubmint is learning - math is king. Too bad the goobers running the show are lawyers.
It's nice to have the tools to kick the grabber in the teeth. And who knows, I might keep my TSP contributions high just to keep on kicking...