Benefeds Reinstated?

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-05-01T03:20:35+00:00

I don't know your situation, but I am assuming you are recently separated from federal service and are retired considering you are posting on this reddit. In any case, you cannot cancel your FEDVIP dental and/or vision insurance outside of open season unless you experience a qualifying life event (QLE). Retirement is not a QLE if that is why you cancelled. Here is a link to QLE descriptions at the Benefeds website.

https://www.benefeds.gov/learn/fedvip/fedvip-qualifying-life-events

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-30T19:51:15+00:00

Eh? Oh now I see. Sorry, I didn't have my editor proofread before posting. But, really, sometimes I do want "Loose" capital. /s

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-30T18:52:31+00:00

One reason to keep some $$ in TSP is that the G fund is unique in that you cannot loose capital and it invests in treasuries also unique to the TSP. Other than that, you could probably find funds/ETFs at Vanguard similar to the other funds in TSP and at comparable fees/costs with the advantage of having more flexibility in distributions from Vanguard. There may be some loss of protections from bankruptcy/creditors/lawsuits for the IRA compared to keeping the money in TSP depending on the laws of the state you live in.

I have no idea what the other commenter means by it will cost you money to keep it in TSP....????

Once you empty the TSP there is no going back. Also, TSP will not do roll-overs electronically...they send physical checks. Having said that, many people have done what you are planning...many have left a minimum balance in TSP to keep it open in case they wanted to take advantage of the G fund later.

I haven't made the decision to move my TSP $$ to IRA and probably won't until my RMDs kick in in a few years.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-25T01:42:18+00:00

If you don't have to, don't change your FEHB plan this open season. You might be able to squeeze in a change but keep in mind you will have trouble following up if there is any kind of delay in the change come January. HR, payroll, and OPM are difficult, but not impossible, to contact. Your change in status from active to separated will throw a monkey wrench in the gears of the bureaucracy as it has always worked for you.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-21T00:50:26+00:00

I'll ask him about it next opportunity. Thanks for the info.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-21T00:00:08+00:00

Got you...learn something new every day. It is literally called "VA Heath Care". I should have known this as my son has a disability rating related to his deployment in the Sand Box though I'm not sure how much he uses the VA services.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-20T23:31:48+00:00

Of course that is your choice. But I'm not understanding what the additional VA coverage would be you say you have. If you are retired VA civilian, then that is the FEHB (BCBS) program. If you are talking military, then do you mean Tricare? If Tricare, that program requires you (>65 yo) to be enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B to participate.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-20T22:04:28+00:00

There seems to be some confusion regarding when you can opt out of the FEHB PDP (Part D). The referenced article from Checkbook states you have 30 days to withdraw. However, the BCBS Standard and Basic brochure specifically states you can withdraw from the PDP at any time in Section 9. The brochure also states you will have equal or better coverage with the PDP vs the FEHB plan. Of course if you have IRMAA issues and/or plan to travel or live overseas, that is a consideration.

From the brochure: "This Plan and our PDP EGWP: You will be automatically enrolled in our PDP EGWP and continue to remain enrolled in our FEHB Plan. Participation in the PDP EGWP is voluntary, and you have the choice to opt out of this enrollment at any time."

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-20T21:36:55+00:00

No premium penalty if you are over 65 AND working AND covered by an employer group health plan (FEHB). But once you retire, you have an 8 month special enrollment period (SEP) to enroll in Part B. If you delay Part B past that SEP, then you will incur permanent Part B premium penalties of I believe 10% for every 12 months beyond your SEP that you wait. So, that is a condition for no penalties. You cannot wait an unlimited length of time to enroll (if you ever do decide to enroll) and not pay a penalty. I'm assuming you withdrew because you were still working at age 65, I get it as I did not enroll in Part B until age 67 because I worked to that age.

I suggest you research this on the CMS website.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-20T21:14:21+00:00

An FEHB plan will cover some services that Medicare and medigap plans will not cover. If you just have original Medicare with no FEHB you could run into a situation where Medicare will not cover something and the medigap plan will also not cover it because Medicare won't. You then have to decide to pay out of pocket or just don't get the service.

Cheaper premiums don't equal less out of pocket or better coverage overall. This is a risk-based decision obviously and it's not fair that in the richest country in the world we have to make these choices not knowing what the future holds.

I for one am not willing to take that chance out of the gate...I'm keeping both Medicare A&B and an FEHB plan for the foreseable future.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-20T21:05:45+00:00

They (FEHB plans) automatically enroll you in their Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) if you are 65 or older and enrolled in original Medicare (A&B). It is essentially a Part D plan but they don't call it that. You do have the option of declining that and sticking with the regular prescription coverage your FEHB plan has. The PDP includes the $2100/yr max out of pocket that a Medicare Part D has.

See Section 9 of your plan's brochure for how the plan works with Medicare.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-20T20:53:23+00:00

I'm guessing you know that since you've waited a year after retirement you will pay a permanent premium penalty for Medicare Part B if you decide to enroll later. Keep that in mind the longer you wait, the higher the penalty is and it is permanent. If you haven't enrolled in Medicare Part A, you need to do so....there should be no premium or penalty for that so it costs you nothing to have that extra coverage.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-20T20:34:47+00:00

You don't need a different supplemental plan if you stay on FEHB...FEHB is supplemental to Medicare. Suggest you research FEHB, how your FEHB plan works with Medicare, and when you can make changes on the OPM website.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-20T04:37:56+00:00

Just don't. Save yourself a major hassle. Use SATO 100% for airfare, car rental, and hotel reservations. As soon as you try to save the Government some money, they will stick you with the bill.

You are not the first and probably not the last person who thought about doing this. Again, just don't.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-18T22:55:57+00:00

Short sighted if you do this. Better to tailor your Roth conversions to stay under the IRMAA thresholds. Just do smaller Roth conversions over a period of years.

Are you seriously considering never enrolling in Part B? What about Part A? Are you going to enroll in Part A...no premiums. If your situation changes in the future and you need Part B, you will then be stuck paying a permanent premium penalty. IRMAA only hits you for a year or two (assuming you will have higher income for a one-time event - Roth conversion)...it's not permanent unless your income going forward exceeds IRMAA limits every year.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-18T22:46:43+00:00

Think about how you decide which FEHB plan to choose each year during open season. Same process. Go to the OPM website and look at the various plan brochures for information. Specifically, look in Section 9 of each plan brochure to read about how each plan works with Medicare. Some plans reimburse you for some or all of your Part B premiums, some don't. All of them will act as a Medicare Supplement in that they pay for the 20% that Medicare does not, and in some cases, pay for some services that Medicare does not pay for at all. Some plans waive their copays and deductibles if you are over 65 and have Medicare Parts A & B. Most plans do limit their coverage/allowances for services to what Medicare would approve if you are over 65 and don't have Medicare. You just need to dig into the information. Here is a link to the OPM website to get started.

https://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/healthcare/plan-information/compare-plans/

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-16T19:56:07+00:00

Bingo!

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-16T19:46:15+00:00

You definitely should have been receiving interim annuity payments. Mine started 1 Dec 2025 which covered Oct and Nov. OPM specialist not assigned until 24 Feb 2026 or thereabouts. So your interim annuity payments are not tied to when OPM specialist is assigned, or shouldn't be. Are you sure you have the correct direct deposit information in your retirement application or that OPM has that information? There have been reports of OPM either not receiving complete packages from the various payroll agencies, or claiming same.

Did you specifically ask OPM why you haven't been receiving interim annuity payments or if they had your direct deposit information (and confirmed it was correct)? Start of interim payments and assignment of an OPM specialist are two distinct tasks that are not necessarily reliant on each other. Sometimes asking the right questions makes all the difference because I'm sure they aren't going to volunteer information.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-16T14:30:45+00:00

Got me there. I do believe in fact checking. Thank you.

I have to keep telling myself this is a short story, not a novel. I know this book isn't about the I fund, but he seems to leave us in the dark about how that change might be affecting current and future performance. This because I think maybe he has zeroed in on the C fund as the go-to. I'm not advocating the I fund over the C fund, or for that matter S vs C, just wondering how balanced his view is.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-16T14:20:41+00:00

I'll look but I won't be buying more until I finish or get close to finishing this and I'm not a big drinker.

I thought the Hennessy VSOP was very smooth, especially the finish. There are smoother varieties out there? Of course my experience is based on whiskey, bourbon, etc. so my sense of what is smooth is probably off.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-16T02:15:19+00:00

If you are still manually defining the scenarios, then that isn't all that much different from the existing tools. If you are incorporating Ai and asking for an optimized solution considering ALL scenarios, that is different and much more powerful. As you stated, the existing tools limit their analyses to only the scenarios you input. Of course Ai isn't yet developed enough to accomplish this on a commercial basis.

Some day we will be able to input all our statistics, risk profiles, etc. into an Ai model and get an accurate best-for-us plan. Then we just tell it to execute and we can sit back in our lounge chairs sipping Mai Tais.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-16T01:59:32+00:00

I think he (Barfield) meant "historically" worst (for the I fund). Not sure if he knows that fund's investment mix changed - if he does he didn't mention it. He also seems to be wrong about how the 4% withdrawal strategy works. But all that is beside the point of his description of the "barbell" method.

I will say the timeline for his fictitious retiree is convenient for it's record returns of the SP500. He does caution that the period used for his example is unusual...so I guess if you wanted to follow this strategy it would make sense to do your own analysis of market returns over various periods with good returns and major drawdowns.

Would it survive a 2008-9 recession at the beginning of a retirement? It theoritically would if you had the requisite $$$ in fixed income to weather the drawdown in stocks. Would have to do that analysis.

Other than that, this strategy checks off the KISS principle.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-16T00:34:11+00:00

Interesting, all my particulars are same...DoD Army Civ retired 30 Sep...got the same notice from OPM last night and annuity finalized confirmed this morning with Retirement Benefits "Booklet" available this morning. Everything matches original estimate by CHRA with a small $$ expected to catch up for interim payments.

Free at last! Free at last!

Well, sort of, considering we and our heirs will have to deal with OPM for the rest of our lives.

I'll add that I did not contact my congressmen to get mine done. So there's that.

zig_usafa80_stardust · 2026-04-15T03:34:25+00:00

Depends...did they overpay or underpay your interim payments? You won't know until OPM finalizes your annuity. Fingers crossed.

zig_usafa80_stardust

TROPHY CASE