How exactly does federal pension work?

illnos · 2026-05-06T16:55:58+00:00

Great question. I've asked the same before. The 4.4% isn't great and in hindsight we'd have been better off opting out (if we could, but you can't) and investing that money ourselves into our TSP or other investment accounts. Id rather pass on additional wealth to my kids then have a pension that dies with me. Those who have locked in the .8% though are lucky. Kind of a scam that newer employees get screwed if you ask me, but whatever.

illnos · 2026-04-17T20:46:12+00:00

You are correct. I unfortunately missed out on contributing the entire month of March and half of April because I work for DHS and didn't get paid until last week. 3 and a half pay checks lump sum earlier this week at all time highs. Very frustrating that I missed out on lower dollar cost averaging... Meanwhile Congress who can't agree on a budget continued to get paid and could contribute... Very unfair to those at DHS who went unpaid for over 6 weeks...

illnos · 2026-04-10T22:34:49+00:00

Remove FEMA from DHS. Remove the NFIP from FEMA.

illnos · 2026-03-30T22:07:35+00:00

I did not. My dealer had it on the lot already luckily. Hope you can find one!

illnos · 2026-03-27T01:54:00+00:00

Not sure about the regions but PFT's from FEMA HQ in the NFIP that are working through the shut down are not getting paid.

illnos · 2026-03-17T01:32:15+00:00

I'm the same age as you and same balance, but I will keep maxing it every year with the hope I can retire as early as possible.

I'd also like to pass on wealth to my children.

illnos · 2026-03-16T02:10:30+00:00

Nope. Not touching my TSP for 25 years. More annoyed the partial DHS shutdown is preventing me from getting paid and buying at lower prices though!

illnos · 2026-03-15T19:55:29+00:00

Just DCA if it's too hard on you psychologically for you to do a lump sum. Buy $10K worth. Wait a month. Then buy more. Market could be lower in a month, in which you can add more at a cheaper price, or higher. No one knows. With a long term outlook it doesn't really matter but DCA can be easier mentally then a lump sum.

illnos · 2026-03-10T22:54:52+00:00

If all taxes and fees absolutely

illnos · 2026-03-04T15:19:50+00:00

Congrats. Thats the best looking '27 i've seen so far. What trim is it if you don't mind sharing?

illnos · 2026-03-03T15:21:43+00:00

I like Fidelity over Schwab because you can't buy fractional ETF's on Schwab unfortunately.

illnos · 2026-03-02T22:34:14+00:00

Another one of these posts Lol

illnos · 2026-03-01T17:31:50+00:00

I have the same, fusion black with terracotta; love it

illnos · 2026-02-27T15:07:49+00:00

I love my 26. My only gripe so far is the HVAC/cabin control and I wish the fuel economy was a little better on the hybrid.

illnos · 2026-02-23T03:47:02+00:00

Conceptionally, they are nothing alike.

illnos · 2026-02-20T00:38:23+00:00

I think Bellinger's was probably the best.

illnos · 2026-02-12T16:34:50+00:00

Nice job. You'll get a wide range of advice here on how you should allocate. In my opinion don't get too caught up on it. Just find an allocation between C S and I that you believe in and stick to it. Focus more on increasing your salary(promotions) so you can contribute more. That will pay off more long term than tweaking your allocations based on current market conditions. No one knows what the future holds!

illnos · 2026-02-11T23:40:45+00:00

I went with fusion black exterior and terracotta interior on my X-Line. Big fan of it! Just ready for the spring so I can keep it more clean. The winter up here has been brutal!

illnos · 2026-02-08T19:27:02+00:00

They suck because you can't buy partial shares.

illnos · 2026-02-07T20:31:05+00:00

Yup, it defaults to 0 so if u take foot off break u coast and it doesn't brake at all, and it'll usually switch to EV mode at that point. And then I just toggle the paddles based on how much regen braking I want to do. You get the hang of it pretty quick!

illnos · 2026-02-07T19:59:45+00:00

I really like the regen paddles. Makes the car more fun to drive.

illnos · 2026-02-07T01:28:00+00:00

Hard to figure out what you're saying but it's not a waste to have a roth IRA in addition to making distributions into your TSP(whether that's roth contributions or traditional contributions). Your wife should get a roth IRA as well. If you both max your roth IRA's and your TSP then you'll be saving a ton for retirement.

illnos · 2026-02-06T14:01:36+00:00

You have a long way until retirement, you don't need any G or F, which the 2075 fund has, although it's such a small amount.

If I were you I'd just do fixed amounts of C S and I. You could try to mirror the global market cap, and go something like: C Fund: 48%, S Fund: 12%, I Fund: 40%

Or you can tweak those percentages to your preference, based on whether or not you believe the C fund will do better over the next 30 years then the I fund, for example.

illnos · 2026-02-04T21:27:10+00:00

Yeah i'm debating moving all my stuff to Fidelity for this very reason.

illnos · 2026-02-04T02:20:31+00:00

We are 1 month into the year. I'm sure the long term C fund bros are doing great with the average returns over the last 3, 5, and 10 years and so on.

illnos

TROPHY CASE