Step 1 – Hire Paperwork
The first step in retirement, of course, is when you get hired on. Realistically, I’m not going to meet with you right when you get hired, but here are some things I want you to consider. The first thing you have to do is select all of your benefits, and when doing so, you have to consider what stage of life you are in. How old are you? Do you need a life insurance package? What are your deductions? How much should you be putting into the TSP? How much can you afford to put into the TSP? So, once you set it up correctly, you are basically on autopilot for a while. Retirement will come with time, playing the market, and having the right allocations.
Step 2 – Review
What comes next? Well, everything! Your entire life is about to happen to you. You might fall in love and get married. You might have children. You might fall out of love and get divorced. You could go through multiple stages, and with every event that happens, your life will change. You might need more life insurance for children. Your kids might leave the house, and now you have a little bit more money than you can start putting into your investments so you can have that retirement of your dreams. Any kind of life-changing event that you may have is an opportunity to look at your benefits and make adjustments.
Let’s just say 15 years ago you got hired, and you don’t know what you have anymore. Well, of course, call me to have a review; you get your numbers, know your information and get yourself on that right track back to retirement. Anytime you think that you need a review is a good time to have one. At the end of the day, it’s your life; nobody is going to come down from the government and say to you, this is what you need to do. They need you to work; you just need to take care of yourself and your family.
Step 3 – Retirement
The last step is the retirement phase. You’re finally reaching the end, and there’s no right or wrong answer to how soon you should start prepping. Maybe two years out, you can begin to inquire, but definitely, six months before you retire is the best time to sit down and go over all your numbers. That way, I can tell you how much sick leave you have to burn out because only the entire 30 day lots count towards federal retirement, so you don’t leave anything on the table for sure. But that’s the final stage. You know, we’re prepping. We’re figuring out where to go with everything. People always stress out about the blue book, but don’t! It takes me about 10 minutes to fill out a blue book. Definitely don’t stress out about it. If you need help, just call us and make an appointment, and we can figure it all out together.
– Galen Bargerstock, President of Government & Civil Employee Services, LLC
Government & Civil Employee Services, LLC is not affiliated with or sponsored by any federal or state governmental agency.
