Federal Employee Benefits

What are my retirement options? Is it true I can get a higher pension if I stay to age 62 with 20 years of service?  

The "401k" for Federal Employees, the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is a contribution plan managed by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board and the Employee Thrift Advisory Council (Employee Organizations, Unions, and Uniformed Services).

Features:

• Voluntary Payroll Deductions
• "Pre-Tax" Contributions
• Tax-deferred investment earnings
• Immediate income tax savings
• Investment Funds (G,F,C,S,I and L-Cycle)
• Catch-up Provision for individuals 50+ years of age*
• All participants enjoy a maximum annual contribution of $18,000, and benefit from immediate employee contributions.
  
  *up to an additional $6,000 annually

TSP Investment Funds:

• G Fund (Government Securities): Conservative investment fund tied to US Treasury Bills
• F Fund (Fixed Income Index): Balanced investment fund tied to Bonds
• C Fund (Common Stock Index): Moderate investment fund tied to S&P 500
• S Fund (Small Cap Index): Growth fund tied to small and midsize companies and real estate funds

I Fund (International Fund): Aggressive funds tied to Foreign Currency.

• L Fund: NEW, Lifecycle fund in which automatic allocations of your contributions into the original five funds based on your desired retirement date & growth