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I suppose this is as good a place to ask as any. I'm facing a bit of an unusual situation. You see, I've decided that I'm going to try to scrimp and save, and try to retire early, in about 9 years, at age 43. Every time I try to search for information on things like benefits for retiring early, I only find the usual stuff about "voluntary early retirement" which only kicks in if you are at least 50 with 20 years of creditable service and there's a RIF going around. I won't reach 20 years until ANOTHER 10 years, at age 53, so this does me poo poo all good. I was finally able to figure out basic things like what happens to my sick leave (I'm SOL on it unless I return to federal service later) and my annual leave (it's paid out in a lump sum) only by framing my google search as if I intended to simply leave the public sector for private sector employment. Clearly, I won't be counting on any sort of pension for supplemental retirement income. As I will have 10 years of creditable service when I separate, I will only secure 10% of my top-3, deferred until I am age 62. So my plan centers around having sufficient investments to live off of the 4% safe withdrawal rate. If possible, I'd like to make tiny strategic withdrawals from TSP a part of this strategy, as the TSP is an untaxed account with infinitessimally small adminstrative overhead. While investment options aren't SUPER robust compared to say investing in index funds, I believe the base funds provide enough flexibility to garner a 4% safe withdrawal rate in keeping with the terms of the Trinity Study, and the aforementioned non-taxed status of these funds and tiny overhead more than make up for the lack of revenue from "riskier" investments. What I'm not sure about are some of the precise dynamics of making these kinds of withdrawals from TSP. The language I've found only talks about the typical choices of A) withdrawing a lump sum, B) scheduling regular payments based on a life expectancy, or C) purchasing a single/joint life annuity. What I'm REALLY interested in would be something like withdrawing 0.33% of the account once a month, so I'm not sure either of those three options really cut it. C definitely doesn't (life annuities are a rip-off), and B probably doesn't (even if I could frame my life expectency is such a way to equal 4% a year, it wouldn't remain accurate with the fund's growth or inflation over the years). A...might work? The only language I've seen regarding lump sum withdrawals mentions withdrawing either a "full withdrawal" or a "partial withdrawal". So, what I'm interested in is a "partial withdrawal" that happens to equal 0.33% of the sum once every month...but the language makes it sound more like the spirit of a "partial withdrawal" is more like "You've got $200,000 in your account. You can take $100,000 out now, and leave the rest to compound until you're 71 1/2 at which point you withdraw the rest."...but I can't find anything explicitly forbidding what I'm talking about doing either. Anyone have a clue on this?
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Mar 13, 2014 17:50
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Network42 posted:I recently completed my polygraph for a CBP position, and I'm nervous about it. From what I read it's normal for the examiner to be super negative and badger you about your results during the exam? "I'm seeing a lot of responses to specific questions here", "you're taking very deep breaths after some questions", etc? My polygrapher made me cry, but then things were totally fine. They basically suck on purpose as far as I can tell.
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Mar 14, 2014 18:18
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Justus posted:What I'm not sure about are some of the precise dynamics of making these kinds of withdrawals from TSP. The language I've found only talks about the typical choices of A) withdrawing a lump sum, B) scheduling regular payments based on a life expectancy, or C) purchasing a single/joint life annuity. What I'm REALLY interested in would be something like withdrawing 0.33% of the account once a month, so I'm not sure either of those three options really cut it. C definitely doesn't (life annuities are a rip-off), and B probably doesn't (even if I could frame my life expectency is such a way to equal 4% a year, it wouldn't remain accurate with the fund's growth or inflation over the years). A...might work? The only language I've seen regarding lump sum withdrawals mentions withdrawing either a "full withdrawal" or a "partial withdrawal". So, what I'm interested in is a "partial withdrawal" that happens to equal 0.33% of the sum once every month...but the language makes it sound more like the spirit of a "partial withdrawal" is more like "You've got $200,000 in your account. You can take $100,000 out now, and leave the rest to compound until you're 71 1/2 at which point you withdraw the rest."...but I can't find anything explicitly forbidding what I'm talking about doing either. Anyone have a clue on this? A TSP partial withdrawal is a one-time only event. In addition to income tax, your withdrawal would be subject to a 10% early withdrawal penalty.
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Mar 15, 2014 19:24
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JohnnyHildo posted:A TSP partial withdrawal is a one-time only event. In addition to income tax, your withdrawal would be subject to a 10% early withdrawal penalty. Right, only one partial withdrawal allowed. I finally saw that verbiage. The second one would need to clean the account out. However, all my investments have been Roth. I'm not penalized when I withdraw the principal, but I do take the 10% penalty on the nose on the growth if removed before 59 1/2. The agency matches are traditional, so they work as you say, though I may be able to dodge the 10% at least by rolling the non-penalized parts into a Roth IRA, paying the taxes that year on the agency matching part, and then vesting for five years. I'm still looking into that.
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Mar 16, 2014 00:23
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From a rejection letter: "Rating Code: Rating Message: IS You did not obtain a sufficiently high score on the written test." Is that just USAJobs-speak for "no you don't get the job"? There was no written test. Unless they mean the dumb assessment thing that wants to know if I'm an expert on a bunch of really specific tasks that don't really apply to any other job ever?
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Mar 19, 2014 20:05
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berzerker posted:From a rejection letter: It's probably that part, yeah.
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Mar 19, 2014 20:11
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Declan MacManus posted:It's probably that part, yeah. Ugh. Guess I could just lie and put 5 for everything and then try to sweet-talk them later on. Shame they don't have an option for "This is a super simple task I would only have to be shown how you want it done once at most, because I have plenty of experience on related stuff, but of course I haven't specifically [checked lie detector tests for information on South Asian immigrant relationships, or whatever other super-specific nonsense]."
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Mar 19, 2014 20:17
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berzerker posted:Ugh. Guess I could just lie and put 5 for everything and then try to sweet-talk them later on. Shame they don't have an option for "This is a super simple task I would only have to be shown how you want it done once at most, because I have plenty of experience on related stuff, but of course I haven't specifically [checked lie detector tests for information on South Asian immigrant relationships, or whatever other super-specific nonsense]." Yeah, I've thought about doing it before but I feel dumb lying to the government, and then you don't get interviews and everything is poo poo.
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Mar 20, 2014 01:04
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Got referred to a financial analyst position with the GSA. I know this isn't so much a sure thing, it's just nice to know there is hope in the federal hiring process. Back when I was applying for IT jobs, I got diddly. Here's hoping for a hire without an interview due to my 10 affirmative action points. 
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Mar 20, 2014 01:24
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So, I'm curious: how many of you have federal coworkers (miltechs and contractors don't count) under the age of 40? Reason I ask is that I recently read an article talking about how the average age of a federal employee was 56 and, excepting FSOs, at State I knew a grand total of 2 federal employees under the age of 40, both of whom were 24. Here in Afghanistan it seems to be even worse - I've yet to see a DoD/DA/USACE civilian who looks to be under 45. So that's effectively an entire generation of institutional knowledge that's going to be leaving in the next 10 years with no replacement.
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Mar 20, 2014 02:56
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psydude posted:So, I'm curious: how many of you have federal coworkers (miltechs and contractors don't count) under the age of 40? Reason I ask is that I recently read an article talking about how the average age of a federal employee was 56 and, excepting FSOs, at State I knew a grand total of 2 federal employees under the age of 40, both of whom were 24. Here in Afghanistan it seems to be even worse - I've yet to see a DoD/DA/USACE civilian who looks to be under 45. A lot at my place, and we're in a hiring cycle right now for more, mostly mid- to late-twenties or early thirties with graduate degrees. But we're somewhat unusual. Sir John Falstaff fucked around with this message at 04:01 on Mar 20, 2014 |
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Mar 20, 2014 03:55
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psydude posted:So, I'm curious: how many of you have federal coworkers (miltechs and contractors don't count) under the age of 40? Reason I ask is that I recently read an article talking about how the average age of a federal employee was 56 and, excepting FSOs, at State I knew a grand total of 2 federal employees under the age of 40, both of whom were 24. Here in Afghanistan it seems to be even worse - I've yet to see a DoD/DA/USACE civilian who looks to be under 45. Well I work for the DoD and I'm 34. But I'm definitely on the younger end of things. I've got a couple 27 year old coworkers, a couple of 30 year olds, and then like 150 people older than me, about 100 of which are either eligible for full retirement or will be within three years. It's a giant problem government wide, but especially at the DoD.
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Mar 20, 2014 04:23
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I'm a DoD civilian employee, I'm currently 29, and I've been here nearly 8 years. I've had maybe three civilian (non-military, non-contractor) coworkers who aren't old enough to be my parents.
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Mar 20, 2014 04:41
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The silver lining is that institutional knowledge sometimes means "knows how to run terribly broken processes and won't change them." Hopefully some positive changes will come with staff turnover, right?
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Mar 20, 2014 04:55
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Not when those processes are basically mandated by Congress.
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Mar 20, 2014 05:17
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Justus posted:You are correct on both counts. 1 page résumés are a good doctrine for private sector (entry level) jobs. For public sector, you wanna fluff em up as much as possible. What kind of jobs would you expect those grade scales to have? What if its just a bachelors?
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Mar 20, 2014 16:57
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Nf3 posted:What kind of jobs would you expect those grade scales to have? What if its just a bachelors? Just a bachelor's means 5 or 7. 5 if you were a regular student, 7 if you were something of an overachiever (or took a year of graduate school). 5 and 7 are the entry level jobs and you can find any number of different things, but good luck getting in (giant candidate pool)
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Mar 20, 2014 17:39
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Declan MacManus posted:Just a bachelor's means 5 or 7. 5 if you were a regular student, 7 if you were something of an overachiever (or took a year of graduate school). 5 and 7 are the entry level jobs and you can find any number of different things, but good luck getting in (giant candidate pool) I thank my lucky star every day that I qualify for superior academic achievement because GS 5 jobs pay terrible and look boring. Then again, I haven't gotten a job yet so it hasn't really helped me at all.
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Mar 20, 2014 18:34
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Stolennosferatu posted:I thank my lucky star every day that I qualify for superior academic achievement because GS 5 jobs pay terrible and look boring. Then again, I haven't gotten a job yet so it hasn't really helped me at all. I had superior academic achievement and still had to take a GS-5 job to get in. I'm a 9 now after 2 years, at least, and should get my 11 next year. As for the under 40 chat, there are 4 people in my division. 3 of them started here as college interns while I transferred into here. I think we are all 24/25-ish. We do have several 70+ employees that plan to retire this year, but the vast majority is 50-60 in my division.
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Mar 20, 2014 18:48
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Would a masters in teaching qualify me for a gs9 if the position wasn't related to education? I have some inner city teaching experience and am currently in the peace corps. I plan to apply to a wide variety of jobs using my non competitive eligibility when my service ends.
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Mar 20, 2014 18:52
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Nf3 posted:What kind of jobs would you expect those grade scales to have? What if its just a bachelors? I "just have a bachelors", and I got my entry level government position starting April last year. It's a GS-12 position that is structured as a GS-7 internship with a career ladder. I think those are pretty much the best deal for "just a bachelors". I'm looking forward to my automatic promotion to GS-9 next month, and I'll be a GS-12 in a little over two more years! The best part is that I'm only expected to do a tiny part of the actual work as an "intern", and have a virtual free pass on gently caress-ups until I get the GS-12...not that there's really a lot to gently caress up. For as well as it pays, the job is one of the easiest I've ever had! e: laxbro posted:Would a masters in teaching qualify me for a gs9 if the position wasn't related to education? I have some inner city teaching experience and am currently in the peace corps. I plan to apply to a wide variety of jobs using my non competitive eligibility when my service ends. Yes, if you also meet the other requirements in the listing.
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Mar 20, 2014 19:13
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Hey have any of you gotten language tutoring through the gubmint? I've already used Diplomatic Language Services, but I'm looking at using Berlitz this time around. If anyone has experience with their one on one instruction, I would love to hear some feedback.
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Mar 20, 2014 19:19
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Justus posted:I "just have a bachelors", and I got my entry level government position starting April last year. It's a GS-12 position that is structured as a GS-7 internship with a career ladder. I think those are pretty much the best deal for "just a bachelors". I'm looking forward to my automatic promotion to GS-9 next month, and I'll be a GS-12 in a little over two more years! The best part is that I'm only expected to do a tiny part of the actual work as an "intern", and have a virtual free pass on gently caress-ups until I get the GS-12...not that there's really a lot to gently caress up. For as well as it pays, the job is one of the easiest I've ever had! What are those positions called? Is there a standard name for them (like how Pathways means 'recent graduate')?
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Mar 20, 2014 21:43
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NintyFresh posted:I had superior academic achievement and still had to take a GS-5 job to get in. I'm a 9 now after 2 years, at least, and should get my 11 next year. To have a shot at any grade you should probably be qualified for two grades above that job if you don't have some sort of inside connection (and even with connections you might still be unable to get a job (thanks for nothing surrogate aunt  )). That, or serve as an intern. Unlike the private sector, the government is actually somewhat keen on hiring their college interns because it's yet another way to get around the screening process and hire young people.
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Mar 20, 2014 21:54
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Stolennosferatu posted:What are those positions called? Is there a standard name for them (like how Pathways means 'recent graduate')? I am in a program called the Naval Acquisition Development Program (NADP), formerly the Naval Acquisition Intern Program (NAIP). For an entry level position, you come in at a GS-7 or GS-9 and are in the program from 2-3 years. Entry level are usually recent graduates or those who have 1-2 years experience. I have a 2.5 year plan- I started at a GS-7, got my GS-9 after 6 months, will get my GS-11 1 year after my GS-9 promotion, and graduate with a GS-12. Associates, or Journeymen, enter the program at a GS-13 and generally have 5-10 years of experience. Search "NADP" in the keyword field on USAJOBS.
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Mar 20, 2014 22:32
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psydude posted:So, I'm curious: how many of you have federal coworkers (miltechs and contractors don't count) under the age of 40? Reason I ask is that I recently read an article talking about how the average age of a federal employee was 56 and, excepting FSOs, at State I knew a grand total of 2 federal employees under the age of 40, both of whom were 24. Here in Afghanistan it seems to be even worse - I've yet to see a DoD/DA/USACE civilian who looks to be under 45. Excluding the horde of contractors that work for USPTO, I'm the youngest employee in my entire office complex at 26. Everybody else in my section is between the 35 to 72 age range. My supervisor pretty much told me that 60% percent of the people in the section will be retiring within 3-5 years, with said supervisor leaving out in 10.
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Mar 21, 2014 01:00
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Stolennosferatu posted:What are those positions called? Is there a standard name for them (like how Pathways means 'recent graduate')? Sadly, there is no standard name. Different agencies offering these kind of career ladders have different names for it. You can generally tell when you've found one if the listing lists a "promotion potential" that is higher than the grade of the listing. For instance, the listing for my job is a GS5/7 with a promotion potential of 12. For what it's worth, I work for the DCMA (Defense Contract Management Agency) and our program is called the Keystone program. e: I know that the Air Force has a civilian internship program that's similar called Palace Acquire.
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Mar 21, 2014 01:29
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I was hired through Palace Acquire if you have any questions about it.
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Mar 21, 2014 03:57
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Justus posted:Sadly, there is no standard name. Different agencies offering these kind of career ladders have different names for it. You can generally tell when you've found one if the listing lists a "promotion potential" that is higher than the grade of the listing. For instance, the listing for my job is a GS5/7 with a promotion potential of 12. For what it's worth, I work for the DCMA (Defense Contract Management Agency) and our program is called the Keystone program. Thanks a lot. I'm applying for a couple jobs now that fit me way better than some of the other ones I have been applying to.
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Mar 21, 2014 05:18
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psydude posted:So, I'm curious: how many of you have federal coworkers (miltechs and contractors don't count) under the age of 40? Reason I ask is that I recently read an article talking about how the average age of a federal employee was 56 and, excepting FSOs, at State I knew a grand total of 2 federal employees under the age of 40, both of whom were 24. Here in Afghanistan it seems to be even worse - I've yet to see a DoD/DA/USACE civilian who looks to be under 45. It's a government everywhere thing, the average age where I work is 54 with 30+ in service which means they can retire now.
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Mar 21, 2014 15:15
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Uh goddamn what is the point of having a "Recent Graduates" section if most of those jobs require experience someone who just left school obviously wouldn't have.
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Mar 21, 2014 20:34
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themrguy posted:Uh goddamn what is the point of having a "Recent Graduates" section if most of those jobs require experience someone who just left school obviously wouldn't have. Also the "be two+ levels overqualified for a job to have a shot" advice from Declan MacManus seems pretty apt given that the only job I have actually gotten so far is one that I am indeed 2 grades overqualified for.
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Mar 21, 2014 23:18
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Has anyone here taken the TSA Airport Assessment test? Was the X-ray part really difficult or do I need to get my eyes checked out?
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Mar 23, 2014 02:01
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the culminator posted:Has anyone here taken the TSA Airport Assessment test? Was the X-ray part really difficult or do I need to get my eyes checked out? I thought I bombed it but I ended up passing so don't sweat it.
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Mar 23, 2014 21:56
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the culminator posted:Has anyone here taken the TSA Airport Assessment test? Was the X-ray part really difficult or do I need to get my eyes checked out? It's somewhat easy. The best advice I can give you is don't go looking for poo poo that isn't there. That is how so many people fail the X-ray part of it. I repeat, if it isn't there, move on to the next image in the slide.
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Mar 24, 2014 00:40
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Grumple Munster posted:I am in a program called the Naval Acquisition Development Program (NADP), formerly the Naval Acquisition Intern Program (NAIP). For an entry level position, you come in at a GS-7 or GS-9 and are in the program from 2-3 years. Entry level are usually recent graduates or those who have 1-2 years experience. I have a 2.5 year plan- I started at a GS-7, got my GS-9 after 6 months, will get my GS-11 1 year after my GS-9 promotion, and graduate with a GS-12. Associates, or Journeymen, enter the program at a GS-13 and generally have 5-10 years of experience. I'm in the same program but on the Wounded Warrior side of the house. They picked me up as I was medically retired out of the Marine Corps. The only difference for us is that it's a non-degree program that still turns us out at the 11/12 level after four years, rather than 2-3, with the 11/12 job being entirely dependent on who hires you out of the program. It's not a bad program to be honest but from all of the intern's I've had the chance to speak with it really depends on which commands you work for and the people associated with them.
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Mar 25, 2014 18:21
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Delorence Fickle posted:My supervisor pretty much told me that 60% percent of the people in the section will be retiring within 3-5 years, with said supervisor leaving out in 10. Ha ha, I remember all my professors telling me that in 2008 when I graduated with my Bachelor's degree. "There will be tons of government jobs opening up in your field because so many people are set to retire in the next 5-10 years!"
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Mar 26, 2014 05:48
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razz posted:Ha ha, I remember all my professors telling me that in 2008 when I graduated with my Bachelor's degree. No one is retiring, ever. They will die at their desks.
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Mar 26, 2014 06:06
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And they will not look for people to replace them because everyone is still technically on-duty. (If it helps, academia has been hearing the same crap about "all the Baby Boomer professors retiring very soon" for more than a decade, too, and if anything things are just getting worse as the years go on there) HELLO POSTING FROM FUTURE FEDERAL IMMIGRATION JOB HOME I would have started this week if they had not responded to my request to start a week later by starting me five weeks later!
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Mar 26, 2014 19:08
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One problem with all the retirement-eligible people is brain drain from the commands. With all the hardship Feds have suffered the last few years (hiring freeze, pay freeze, two furloughs) people just said screw it and retired or left for the private sector. That's a significant amount of knowledge walking out the door that isn't being replaced in most cases.
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Mar 27, 2014 03:53
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