Sorry, your retirement date is extended 5 years!

Wednesday - 11/27/2013, 2:00am EST



Each year, a batch of wannabe retirees learn, too late, that while they were piggybacking on their spouses' private-sector health plan they were rendering themselves ineligible for the federal health program (FEHBP) in retirement.

Here's how it goes:


For whatever reason, the federal or postal worker decides to be covered by his or her spouse's private-sector plan. But as they get close to retirement, they realize that the spouse's plan either disappears, becomes much more expensive or covers less. Few companies are anxious to have large numbers of heavy-user retirees on their insurance roles.


That's because the FEHBP requires that in order to carry health insurance into retirement, the employee/retiree must have been covered (as in pay premiums) by one of the FEHBP plans for the five years' prior to retirement. It can be any plan, but you have got to be covered.


"The problem is that the spouse of the federal employee may have a private-sector health plan where they pay a bigger share of the premium," he said. "So the federal employee doesn't enroll in the FEHBP but rather stays in the spouse's health plan realizing, too late, they have to meet the five-year enrollment rule."


"Some folks have to leave government before they had planned," Snell said. "Perhaps to take care of a sick family member ... they were aware of the five-year rule but thought they would enroll in the FEHBP five years before retiring. Now they have to leave." Snell said such individuals can ask the Office of Personnel Management for a waiver of the five-year rule because of "circumstances beyond their control." But there is no guarantee they will get the waiver.


Spend a little now. Save a bundle in retirement.




Compiled by Jack Moore

If the model of Mr. Rogers' house (from the beloved children's television show) were an actual home (and located in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh — where Fred Rogers lived during the show's taping), it would probably be a one bedroom, one bathroom abode and would likely cost just $46,000.

(Source: 11 Points)


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