Come Back, All Is Forgiven! (OPM Suggests Retirement Reforms)
Projections show that about 60 percent of federal workers will be elgible for retirement over the next 10 years. Often, NASA employees retire and immediately find jobs in the private sector. The question is being asked, "Why can't NASA hire back the retirees?" OPM is hoping to address this problem by proposing the following reforms to Congress.
- Authorize federal agencies to bring back retired federal workers on a limited basis and let them retain their pension and draw a full salary. Currently, retirees have their salaries reduced by the amount of their guaranteed pension payment.
- Revamp the pension formula involving part-time work by people near the end of their federal careers who are covered by the old Civil Service Retirement System. Some retirees have contended that the formula, which involves a computation of their average salary, unfairly leads to a pension reduction.
- Allow federal employees to invest their bonuses in the Thrift Savings Plan, the 401 (k) -type program that the vast majority of government workers use to save for retirement.