Top 10 Mistakes Made by Federal Employees — Part 10: Failure to Receive a Personalized Benefits and Review

3.20.26: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

3.20.26: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Speaker 1:
Welcome back to the Federal Retirement Show. I am your host, Val Majewski, with varied benefits exchange. And as always, I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to view our content, to join us here on the Federal Retirement Show. It means a lot, but that's what it's here for. It's for you, the federal employee, that is looking for accurate information when it comes to your benefits and retirement situation. We are in the middle of a series called The Top ten Mistakes Made by Federal Employees. This is a pamphlet slash brochure that I created many years ago, and just giving you a fresh look at the top ten mistakes. Now, by no means are these all of the mistakes that are made by federal employees, but just a compilation of the top ten that I've seen. And it's, it's not going to end here. We're going to have a couple bonus ones that we're going to talk about, but we are in part ten. We're in mistake number ten. You've made it this far. You've made it to the end. But as I said, we're going to have a couple extra bonus ones that we're going to discuss, uh, over the next couple episodes. But this has been a great series. I've enjoyed it because it's re rehashing some of these mistakes and bringing them back to the surface. I highly recommend if you like this episode, talking about mistake number ten, go back and view mistakes one through nine. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Speaker 1:
And hopefully you will get to the point where you're saying, hey, I'm not making any of these things. You know, pat yourself on the back. Great. And you know that you're in a better situation than some that we've talked to. And the reason these mistakes have come up is because this is what we've seen. These are some of the situations that we've reviewed over the years doing tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of federal employee benefits, reviews and evaluations throughout the country with all the reps that we have with American benefits exchange. Uh, this is these are the mistakes that we've seen. So they're real. And hopefully again, you're not making if you are or if you want to review your situation, you got to go to our website. It's federal retirement show.com. Fill out the form. And one of our experts, if it's not me personally, will be reaching out to review your entire situation and answer your questions. So without further ado, let's dive into the content for today and talk about mistake number ten of the top ten mistakes made by federal employees. As I mentioned, this is a pamphlet brochure that I created years ago. You can get this in a digital copy. You can get a physical copy if you want, but we've been reviewing it and I highly recommend go back and view the previous nine episodes talking about mistakes one through nine. And we're culminating the top ten by talking about this mistake, a failure to receive a personalized benefits review.

Speaker 1:
Now, why is this a mistake? Because learning the general information is great. You've got to have a working knowledge of your benefits and retirement situation. And we do this because the government doesn't do a great job of educating you on this stuff. When you first get hired, it's not their fault. They want you to get hired, fill out the paperwork, answer a few questions, and now get to work. Do your job. And you have to now find all this stuff out for yourself and it's out there. They put it out there for you, but you just have to sort through it all yourself. And that's where we come in. We're experts in this area. We want to just not only give you the general information, like you're learning through this channel and through this podcast, through this radio show, but we need to dive into your personal situation. And I equate it to going to the doctor. You've heard me say this on this show numerous times. Why do you go to the doctor? Why do you not just read a medical journal or whatnot? Just get some basic information on, you know, medical situations and you know, what people's health looks like. Why do you go to the doctor to specifically review your situation? Why do you go get a checkup because you want to ensure that your personal situation, your personal health is good, is on the right track, and you hope that when you go to this doctor, you have this checkup, this physical on an annual basis.

Speaker 1:
And I hope that it's on an annual basis that they'll patch on the back, they'll give you a thumbs up, give you a positive check mark, and you can go out with your head held high knowing you're doing the right things. They'll say, come back next year, we'll reevaluate. But what if something's wrong? What if there's an issue? What if there's a red flag? What if the level is high or low? Or we're just there's something that is a problem. You're going to look at the doctor and go, okay, Doc, what do we do? What's the prescription? What? What's the solution? What's the remedy? And they're going to write you a prescription. They're going to put you on the right track and get you back to better health. That's what we're doing here. But with your benefits and retirement situation. I'm not wearing a stethoscope. Um, you know, we're not going to be in a lab coat and we're not going to ask you to put on a hospital, you know, smock basically. But we're going to take a deep dive into your situation. We're going to look at all the ins and outs. We're going to check your levels so to speak. We're going to make sure you're on the right track when it comes to your retirement, that you're saving as much money as you can, that you're maximizing or optimizing the benefits that the government gives you, that you're set up properly. Now, your hope, when you come to sit with us, whether that's virtual or in person, that we're going to patch on the back, give you a thumbs up, tell you keep doing what you're doing, you are on the right track.

Speaker 1:
Everything looks great when it comes to your situation and your future retirement, and we'll check it out again next year. We're going to do a revisit, and I think that's important as well. I'll talk about that in a second. But you want to leave with your head held high, knowing that you're maximizing and set up in the best way possible. When it comes to your benefits and retirement situation. But that's not always the case, is it? And the interesting thing is here, the why of this is that our employees do not know what they do not know. And that's not a knock on you. That's not a knock. It's not your fault. You just weren't properly trained and educated about this information when you first got hired. And I told you this before. Sure. I wish the government did a better job of educating and training you on this, but I'm thankful they don't because it gives me a job to do, and I'm loving the way that we can help out better employees just like you and put you in better situations, put you in a better position going forward because that is our goal. We want to make sure you're in the best position going forward and going through your career so that you can retire how you want, when you want, and with the lifestyle that you want.

Speaker 1:
You know, just you leave with your head held high. There's no guesswork. Man, I hope the numbers come out great. I'm. I'm, uh, you know, biting my fingers here. I don't know if everything's going to look the way I want it. You will absolutely, 100% know that you're on the right track once you meet with us and we review your situation. It's very important. It's like, again, getting your blood work done, you know, know, getting a urinalysis. You want to make sure your levels are within range. And if something is wrong, we're going to prescribe something. We're going to give you a remedy. We're going to make sure that you have all the information, you know, all the choices, you know all the solutions to put you and your family in the best position possible. That's key. If you've never gotten this done. This is a big mistake. I highly recommend you do so. Go to our website, fill out the form. It's Federal Retirement Show.com. We'll do a review. We'll send you a couple different reports. You'll have some tangible evidence. You'll read the numbers. You can review the information in the future so that you have this working knowledge and you know how to apply it. Now it is also important. I mentioned this earlier that you get a checkup every so often. You don't go to the doctor one time, get your blood work done one time and they're like, hey, you're on the right track. Great. And your health is good forever.

Speaker 1:
You have to continually check this out, get checkups because your health can change over time. Things can change. Stuff can come up. Same thing here. Your family dynamic, your situation, your finances, all of this could change over the course and probably will over the course of your working career. As you're getting closer to retirement and your needs, your priorities, your desires, your wishes could also change. So it is important to get a checkup, ideally every year, but at least every couple of years to ensure you're still on the right track. So number one, you get a review to see where you currently stand. Our goal is, if you're not in a good position, is to put you on track into a better situation than you were before you met us. Number two, get checkups to ensure and make sure you are still on the right track. And if you're off track a little bit, you're off the path. We're going to right the ship and get you back on so that you know that you're heading in the right direction. This gives you peace of mind. I don't want you to have that false sense of security where you think, hey, I work for the government, everything's good. I put in my time and I'm going to be taken care of. I don't have to do anything. That's that's a misconception that I've seen. And we've talked about it on this show. I want you to 100% know with confidence that you're heading in the right direction.

Speaker 1:
And that starts with getting a benefits review. Do not put this off if you've never done it or it's been so many years since you've last done it, I highly recommend that you do it again or you do it for the first time. Sign up for your review. You will not regret it. It will give you that peace of mind knowing that you're heading in the right direction as you go through, and you're going to retire with confidence when that day comes, knowing exactly what's going on, that you put in all this work and effort to be in this position. And it's not by chance. It's not by luck. You did it on purpose. Did it on purpose. So let's avoid this mistake the most. There are other mistakes in here. Again, I told you, go back and view the other nine episodes that we did mistakes one through nine. But this one, number ten, it all culminates here. It's getting that benefits every time it review done. So you know exactly where you stand. Do not leave your future to chance. So I hope you enjoyed this series. I mentioned we're going to, we're going to add a couple bonus ones to look out in the future when we talk about a few extra episodes. Uh, talk about a few bonus mistakes, but this is the, these are the top ten. These are the things that we've seen over the years. We want you to avoid all of these things. And if you need help doing that, I'll say it one last time.

Speaker 1:
Go to our website. It's federal retirement Show.com fill out that form. Lastly, I have a favor to ask and I've done it. I think on every episode during this series is if you like our content, if you've liked the series, if you like all the other episodes that we have, share it with a colleague. Nobody is going to be hating you for saying, hey, you gotta learn more about this and you know, I'm going to make a recommendation. You're not selling them something, you're just giving them a A guide to bettering their situation, so share it with a colleague. We want to help as many federal employees as possible, and you're helping. Passing the word about the federal retirement show goes a long way. We thank you in advance. As I mentioned, we've got a lot of other content now at 170 episodes. Can you believe it? There's a lot of other content, a lot of other questions that we can answer through our previous episodes. So do me a favor. You can go back and view all of those as well, whether you're, you're watching on YouTube, SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, it's all there or our website, federal retirement Show.com there. All this content is there for you so you can make the best decisions. Thank you for being a, a watcher or listener of the Federal Retirement Show. My name is Val Majewski with American Benefits Exchange. We'll see you on a future session. Thanks.

Speaker 2:
Spring has arrived, and with it, the urge to fling open windows, sweep away dust and finally tackle that drawer of forgotten receipts and tangled cords. But while your home gets an annual refresh, your finances might be collecting their own quiet clutter. I'm Jim Tarabella, here for the Retirement Radio network powered by Marielefe. Now that spring is upon us, maybe you filled your closet with those winter coats. I'm sure it feels quite liberating. But what about the financial dust bunnies hiding in your accounts? Break Your budget founder Michaela Allocca recently spoke with Yahoo Finance about the importance of gaining a full view of your money situation.

Speaker 3:
My best recommendation for getting started with auditing and spring cleaning your finances is to take a financial snapshot, and what this is going to do is show you how much money you are spending on essential things and non-essential things.

Speaker 2:
A recent guide from Morgan Stanley offers three straightforward steps to tidy up your finances and clear the path ahead. First, clean up your accounts. If your money is scattered across multiple banks and brokerage firms, it can feel chaotic and as his financial advisor, Matt McClure of the Retirement Radio Network tells us consolidating where it makes sense can give you that full, honest picture of your finances.

Speaker 4:
Take inventory of all of your accounts. Look for ways to simplify where your money is held, because you don't want it scattered all around in a bunch of different places. You want to be diversified, of course, but you can do that within a couple of different kinds of accounts.

Speaker 2:
Next, declutter your debt. Multiple credit cards, loans with varying interest rates and different due dates can create unnecessary pressure. And finally, organize your income and expenses. Take a hard look at where your money actually goes each month. A clear budget lets you direct more towards your near term or even long term goals, like a comfortable retirement. So just as a thorough spring cleaning refreshes your home, the small, deliberate actions can declutter your financial life and make room for what matters most. The spring offers a moment to pause and tidy up, and that includes your finances for the retirement radio network powered by Omairalive. I'm Jim Tabaka.

Sonix is the world’s most advanced automated transcription, translation, and subtitling platform. Fast, accurate, and affordable.

Automatically convert your mp3 files to text (txt file), Microsoft Word (docx file), and SubRip Subtitle (srt file) in minutes.

Sonix has many features that you'd love including powerful integrations and APIs, collaboration tools, transcribe multiple languages, upload many different filetypes, and easily transcribe your Zoom meetings. Try Sonix for free today.