Each time I think I have said enough about FEGLI, someone or something always reminds me that I have not, or at least I could be a bit clearer on certain aspects of FEGLI.
Over the weekend, a friend called for some advice on her pending retirement. We started to talk about FEGLI (watch the video) and her understanding of elections and goals for life insurance. Right off, she wasn’t sure about what she had and how it worked and if she elected reductions or named a beneficiary(s).
The point being she is about 4 months from deciding on an exact date to retire and one of the most important aspects of her planning process remains vague. There is no denying, there is no easy way of getting around understanding your benefits and what they mean in retirement. She is doing the right thing; she is talking NOW about what she does not understand about her benefits.
Many employees are missing out on a great opportunity to engage their human resources offices and gather as much information as possible about their benefits in retirement. Your agency human resources office has your folder and they can answer so many critical questions and help you via the wonderful online calculators and e-tools to estimate what your annuity from your years of service will look like in retirement.
Another important issue she unearthed was not having a full understanding of her TSP being separate from the pension (annuity) she would receive upon retirement. She also did not have a clear understanding of whether she had named a beneficiary on her TSP account.
Some of her issues were easy to resolve. First, if you are planning to retire, you should not bother yourself about whether you named a beneficiary or even who it was. So many changes take place in our lives over the course of our work careers that the easiest approach to the beneficiary question – is to do a completely new set of forms as part of your retirement check-up list.
Many of us enter into the federal service very young and we make our choices and designations, often not revisiting those forms for a very long time, if ever. This was certainly the case with my friend, even some of the designees she named had passed away.
Getting ready for retirement is a huge undertaking so wherever you can simplify the process, do it. Take the fuss out of what you did not do and what you thought you did and just complete a whole new set of forms for FEGLI. Also contact the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) and complete a new set of forms with the TSP as well.
We are going to discuss and clarify a couple of things about FEGLI to follow.
P.S.   Always Remember to Share What You Know.
RELATED TOPICS – More Federal and Postal Insurance Information
Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB)
Federal Flexible Spending Account (FSAFEDS)
Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP)
Federal Employees and Medicare
Federal Employee Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP)
