Category: Life Insurance

The article outlines the top retirement mistakes to avoid as a federal employee.

1. Failing to check personnel records before retiring from the federal government thoroughly.

Employees should also evaluate their OPF and note the following items that may affect their federal retirement eligibility and the computation of their CSRS or FERS annuities:

1. The start and end dates of each service term.
2. Retirement coverage – CSRS, FICA, or no coverage at all.
3. Appointment type: temporary, intermittent, part-time, WAE (When Actually Employed), career, or career-conditional.

2. Failure to request estimates of outstanding deposits or re-deposits promptly.

Many employees are unaware that by depositing for military or temporary (“non-deduction”) time, they are resetting their SCD for retirement backward in time. As such, this increases their service time and the amount of their starting CSRS or FERS gross annuities. Another advantage of making a deposit is that they may be able to retire sooner than anticipated.

3. Failure to complete and, if necessary, revise beneficiary designations.

The following beneficiary forms should be filled out and updated as needed – for example, if the employee marries or divorces, etc.

1. Determination of Beneficiary for Unpaid Compensation and Unused Annual Leave of a Deceased Federal Employee, Form SF 1152.
2. Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Beneficiary Designation Form SF 2823
3. Beneficiary Designation Form TSP 3: Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)
4. Form SF 2808, Designation of Beneficiary of CSRS Contributions for CSRS and CSRS-Offset Employees, or Form SF 3102, Designation of Beneficiary of FERS Contributions for FERS Employees.

4. Failure to understand the procedures governing the continuation of federal employees’ health benefits (FEHB) after retirement.

Many federal employees are unaware of the rules for retaining their Federal Employees Health Benefits Program health insurance benefits for retirement. Employees and annuitants each pay around 25% to 28% of total FEHB premiums, with the federal government covering the remaining 72% to 75%. 

5. Failure to contribute as much as possible to a Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) early in a government employee’s career.

This is especially critical for FERS employees, whose retirement income relies heavily on TSP earnings. Employees should make every effort to contribute the maximum amount allowed, and those who will be 50 or older by December 31 should make an additional maximum contribution in “catch-up” contributions each year.

6. Failing to properly plan for retirement, including income, housing, and lifestyle changes, for themselves and their family members, particularly spouses.

Retirement should be viewed as a separate “life event” with substantial implications for the retiree’s income, housing demands, and lifestyle. It could be disastrous if you do not adequately plan for these developments.

7. Failure to plan for Social Security.

Individuals as young as age 62 can apply for monthly Social Security retirement benefits. However, due to delayed retirement credits, your payout will be bigger if you wait longer to file your claim.

Social Security increases an individual’s payments by 8% for each year they delay claiming benefits. 

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 2129517376

Bio:
M. Dutton and Associates is a full-service financial firm. We have been in business for over 30 years serving our community. Through comprehensive objective driven planning, we provide you with the research, analysis, and available options needed to guide you in implementiong a sound plan for your retirement. We are commited to helping you achieve your goals. Visit us at M. Dutton and Assoiciates.COM. Tel. 212-951-7376: email: [email protected]

Medicare is a health insurance program for those over the age of 65 and those under age 65 who have specific disabilities. You can sign up for Medicare at least three months before your 65th birthday. If you’re new to Medicare, you might be unsure where to begin. What you need to know is summarized below.

Medicare is Divided into Four Sections

These four components operate together to offer comprehensive coverage, although each part is responsible for different services.

• Medicare Part A: covers inpatient hospitalization, hospice care, skilled nursing facility care, and home health care. For the most part, this Medicare category is free.
• Part B Medicare: covers outpatient services like doctor visits, X-rays, and lab tests. Part B coverage is paid for monthly.
• Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage): this allows you to combine your Medicare coverage into a single plan. Hospital and doctor care and prescription drug coverage may be included in these plans. You normally pay a monthly premium for Part C coverage, plus a deductible or copayment if applicable.
• Part D: Prescription drug coverage is provided under Part D of Medicare. This coverage is available as a stand-alone plan or as part of a Part C plan that includes prescription coverage. For Part D coverage, you must pay a monthly premium and a deductible or copayment.

Parts A and B Are Available Without Charge

For the most part, Part A is free. Unless you or your spouse have never worked and paid Medicare taxes, you usually don’t have to pay a monthly payment for Part B. If you’re unsure if you’re eligible for premium-free Part A, contact your Human Resources department if you’re still employed or the Social Security Administration if you’re retired.

If you’re still working at age 65, Medicare is secondary to employment coverage. (If you get health insurance via your employer, you won’t have to do anything until you retire or your job-based coverage stops.) Parts A and B should be signed up for three months before your 65th birthday or eight weeks after you retire (whichever comes first).

Medicare Supplement Insurance Provides Additional Protection

You can get supplemental insurance, generally known as Medigap, in addition to the four categories of Medicare. Some costs not covered by Medicare, like deductibles and copayments, are covered by Medigap plans.

Medicare Advantage Plans Can Also Provide Coverage

You can acquire coverage through a Medicare Advantage plan if you don’t want to buy a Medigap policy. These plans are offered by private insurance companies that have a Medicare contract. All Original Medicare services must be covered by Medicare Advantage plans (Part A and Part B). They can, however, provide additional benefits such as prescription medication coverage, dental coverage, and vision coverage.

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 2129517376

Bio:
M. Dutton and Associates is a full-service financial firm. We have been in business for over 30 years serving our community. Through comprehensive objective driven planning, we provide you with the research, analysis, and available options needed to guide you in implementiong a sound plan for your retirement. We are commited to helping you achieve your goals. Visit us at M. Dutton and Assoiciates.COM. Tel. 212-951-7376: email: [email protected]

Following the publication of the 15th-anniversary issue in print, the editorial staff at PLANADVISER Magazine took some time to stop and consider the enormous changes that have transpired in the retirement plan services sector over the previous few decades. Following this time of introspection, many lessons were learned, including newfound respect for the efforts of prominent individual leaders and change-makers. They have played a significant role, if not the most influential, in defining the retirement plan industry of 2022.

The Vision Awards are planned to recognize and honor people in the industry who have pushed for good change and made significant contributions to improving retirement outcomes for United States workers. WIPN is an acronym for We Inspire, Promote, and Network. 

WIPN was founded in 2009 as the Women in Pensions Network and has since grown into a well-established 501(c)6 non-profit organization comprising a network of more than 5,500 retirement industry professionals organized in local chapters throughout the United States. WIPN’s members are united in their goal of increasing the presence of women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups in the financial industry in the United States, and their efforts are bearing fruit.

The members of WIPN have included women at all career levels, from entry-level positions to senior management, who represent the many segments of the retirement industry since its inception. These include recordkeepers, third-party administrators, delegated control investment officers, broker/dealers, RIAs, ERISA attorneys, asset managers, and financial advisers. In 2021, the group changed its name to WIPN – WE Inspire, Promote and Network, to better reflect its mission. This shift saw WIPN expand its membership to include men working in the retirement industry and reaffirm its commitment to the promotion of networking opportunities, the development of mentoring programs, and the pursuit of equal employment opportunities and promotion practices in the industry.

Those in charge of WIPN say the decision was based on a vision and understanding that true representation and equality in the retirement plan services industry will only be achieved through a collective effort that includes everyone working in the industry today, regardless of their ethnicity or sexual orientation, and that this change was necessary. WIPN is the first to admit that their work is far from over, but their past, present, and future work proves the enormous influence that visionary professionals can have on the retirement plan market.

Former Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits and current Director of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, Bradford Campbell, has been a partner at Faegre Drinker since 2007.

There is little doubt that the Pension Protection Act (PPA) of 2006 has significantly influenced defined contribution plans, elevating them from their previous status as an accessory retirement benefit to their current position as one of the primary pillars of the United States retirement system. As it is popularly known among industry professionals, the PPA was instrumental in ushering in the present age of automatic enrolment and asset-allocation funds.

Brad Campbell was a prominent figure in developing the PPA and other critical ERISA retirement and health reforms during his years in government. His regulatory and policy choices have substantially influenced the ERISA plans’ structure and administration.

The qualified default investment alternative and enrollment safe harbor framework, which was developed and issued during Campbell’s tenure as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits, continues to make automatic enrollment and the use of pre-diversified investments in defined contribution plans possible. He also played a crucial role in orchestrating the implementation of the Pension Protection Act’s (PPA) significant reforms to pension legislation, which resulted in the publication of approximately 30 regulations and important guidance papers. The retirement plan clients and other ERISA fiduciaries who rely on Campbell’s policy vision to administer compliant and successful retirement plans continue to benefit from his policy vision today.

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 2129517376

Bio:
M. Dutton and Associates is a full-service financial firm. We have been in business for over 30 years serving our community. Through comprehensive objective driven planning, we provide you with the research, analysis, and available options needed to guide you in implementiong a sound plan for your retirement. We are commited to helping you achieve your goals. Visit us at M. Dutton and Assoiciates.COM. Tel. 212-951-7376: email: [email protected]

The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB) can aid you and your family in meeting your healthcare needs. Federal employees, retirees, and their dependents have access to the most comprehensive health care options in the country.

Federal insurance claims can sometimes be denied. Denial occurs when your federal employment insurance program informs you that your medication or therapy will not be covered. It is quite irritating and frightening if you are obliged to pay for the entire cost of treatment. However, you can fight against the denial of a federal insurance claim. 

Initially, examine if the service is included, restricted, or exempted in your plan’s brochure. Further, go through the section of your brochure that deals with the disputed claims. Concisely, this section will instruct you to contact the plan and clarify the reasons why you believe the services should be covered (consider the appropriate brochure coverage provisions). You will also be instructed to request that the plan review your claim. 

If the plan denies the claim once more, read the plan’s conclusion letter carefully and double-check your plan’s brochure. If you continue to disagree with the plan’s judgment, the disputed claims portion of your brochure will explain how to contact the Office of Personnel Management and request a claim reassessment.  

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is adopting provisional measures to amend the Federal Employees Health Benefits Acquisition Regulation to include a new contract provision (FEHBAR). The clause clarifies for both FEHB carriers and covered people the conditions in which OPM may decide about a covered person who requests OPM to reconsider a health benefits plan’s denial of a claim if the plan has either confirmed its denial once the covered individual requested reconsideration or has failed to answer to the covered individual’s request for reconsideration as provided by OPM’s regulations.  

Claimants may seek court review of benefit denials under the FEHB program in certain instances, according to the provision. The objective of these interim regulations is to make it clear that covered persons who want to file a legal claim over rejection of an FEHB benefit must do so through OPM. The interim regulations also define the administrative review procedure that must take place before legal action may be taken in court. 

In most cases, OPM will respond to your inquiry within five days. OPM will offer you a final response within 60 days once the evaluation is completed. If it requires more time or you need to do more–for example, email more information–they will contact you within 14 business days of receiving your request and tell you what you need to do next, if anything. The Office of Personnel Management will not decide over the phone until the review is finished and a written copy of the final decision is delivered. 

If you are unhappy with the outcome of the OPM review, you may be entitled to file a lawsuit in federal or state court, depending on your state’s rules. If required, seek legal advice. 

If your claim is refused, you have 60 days to request reconsideration, and the carrier will answer within another 60 days. Suppose the reconsideration judgment denies the benefit again. In that case, you have 60 days to submit an appeal with a committee comprised of persons appointed by the John Hancock life insurance business, as well as others, if mutually agreed upon with the OPM. Within 60 days, the appeals body will make a ruling. 

If the committee sustains the denial, you have the option of requesting an appeal to an independent third party chosen by OPM and the carrier. The request would have to be submitted within 60 days, and a decision would have to be made within another 60 days. 

You may seek judicial review of a final rejection of eligibility for benefits or a claim in federal district court after exhausting this appeals procedure. The amount of compensation would, however, be restricted to the benefits that would have been receivable. Actions against the Office of Personnel Management or the third-party adjudicator are also prohibited, as are suits based on state or municipal law or regulations. 

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 2129517376

Bio:
M. Dutton and Associates is a full-service financial firm. We have been in business for over 30 years serving our community. Through comprehensive objective driven planning, we provide you with the research, analysis, and available options needed to guide you in implementiong a sound plan for your retirement. We are commited to helping you achieve your goals. Visit us at M. Dutton and Assoiciates.COM. Tel. 212-951-7376: email: [email protected]

In a video interview, the founder and President of Sensible Money, Dana Anspach, outlined the parts of Medicare and the costs connected with Part B and Part D.

Medicare Part A, sometimes known as hospital insurance, is free if you have worked in the United States for several years. “If you’re qualified for Social Security benefits, you’re usually also eligible for free Medicare Part A,” Anspach explained.

Other services and supplies are covered by Medicare Part B, which has a monthly cost that fluctuates depending on your income.

There’s also Part D, which covers medicines and is free if your income is low enough but has a cost after surpassing certain thresholds.

Amount of Income-Related Monthly Adjustment

In 2022, the regular Part B premium will be $170.10. According to Medicare.gov, most consumers pay the basic Part B payment.

Suppose your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), as reported on your IRS tax return two years ago, exceeds a specific threshold. In that case, you’ll have to pay the usual premium plus an income-related monthly adjustment (IRMAA). IRMAA is a fee added to your insurance premium.

“Like so many other aspects of retirement, it’s more complicated than you might assume,” Anspach explained. “First, the Social Security office uses data from two years ago to establish your premium amount, so if you enroll in Medicare for the first time in 2022, they will use data from your 2020 tax return.”

Let’s say you’re 65 in 2022, and your MAGI from 2020 is less than $182,000 if married filing jointly or $91,000 if single; in this scenario, your Part B premiums will be $170 per month, and Part D will be free, according to Anspach. (To determine your MAGI, subtract any tax-exempt interest income from your adjusted gross income (AGI).)

 Your premiums will now be greater if your MAGI surpasses additional threshold values. “This is known as means-testing, and the IRMAA is the technical name. According to Anspach, your premium amounts are communicated to you via a letter from the Social Security Administration called an Initial Determination Letter.

Singles with a MAGI of more than $142,000 or married with a MAGI of more than $284,000, for example, will pay $442 per month for Part B and $52 per month for Part D.

A MAGI of more than $500,000 for singles and $750,000 for marrieds attracts the highest premiums of $578 for Part B and $78 for Part D.

According to Anspach, you will receive a quarterly invoice for these premiums if you are not yet enrolled in Social Security. If you participate in the Social Security program, your premiums are withheld from your monthly payment. 

Premiums for Part B

Requesting a Re-Determination of the Initial Decision

Anspach also described how recipients might ask the Social Security Administration for a revised first determination, as MAGI is affected by a list of life-changing events; however, your situation must be on the list to make this request. 

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 2129517376

Bio:
M. Dutton and Associates is a full-service financial firm. We have been in business for over 30 years serving our community. Through comprehensive objective driven planning, we provide you with the research, analysis, and available options needed to guide you in implementiong a sound plan for your retirement. We are commited to helping you achieve your goals. Visit us at M. Dutton and Assoiciates.COM. Tel. 212-951-7376: email: [email protected]