While it's common for federal employees to call their raises COLAs, retirees are ones who get cost-of-living adjustments.
The goal is to “improve outcomes for existing L Fund participants while not unreasonably increasing risk levels,” the TSP staff says.
The "high-three" average salary is used in setting a federal employee's retirement benefit, but not all forms of compensation count toward it.
If there's no general raise for federal employees in 2019, some employees might still receive “within-grade” raises — or they might not. That would have to be decided.
The Washington region understandably has a high concentration of federal employees, but other major city areas also have many thousands — and by state, California has the most.
Congress has not yet rendered its ultimate verdict on the subject.
Surviving spouses of retired federal employees are entitled to continued, but reduced, annuity benefits, although the retiree's own benefit is reduced to pay for them.
A recent change in law allows federal agencies to use a shortcut procedure for hiring college students and recent graduates.
No, federal employees cannot retire on full salary after working 20 years.
The government's main auditing agency starts panning out one nugget of fact a day from the hundreds of — often lengthy — reports it produces annually.