8.8.25: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Speaker1:
Welcome back to the federal retirement Show. I'm your host Val Majewski with American Benefits Exchange. And as always, I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to join us to view our content. That being said, when it comes to our content, we have over 140 episodes for you, the federal employee that's looking for information about your benefits and retirement. If this episode did not speak to you, just like the way you thought it would go back and view our other content, we have so much there for you. And do me a favor. Like subscribe, get notified when we have a new episode out and refer us to a friend. Do do me a favor. Tell your colleagues if you like our content. You think it's helpful for you. Do not keep us a secret. Tell a colleague. Tell somebody you work with. Send an email message. Hey, check this out because we'd love to help as many federal employees as possible. So thank you for that in advance. Today's topic what we're going to be talking about. And it's something that came about recently. We just haven't put an episode out until now because we had other things and questions and stuff that we wanted to share. But it's about the new retirement process. And you may have seen some memos, you may have seen articles out there about the new OPM retirement process, the online application, the application that's out there for you.
Speaker1:
And this is the online retirement application at OPM, the aura. And hopefully you've seen this because the old school way of doing it, and you may have seen the the the Dodge articles that came out and Elon Musk talking about the process, there's the underground area, like the vault where all the retirement applications were stored. And this was, you know, a just a paper, uh, archive of everything, uh, for OPM and the retirement process. They've tried to simplify it. They've tried to make the retirement process easier and more effective, more efficient, less time consuming to process an application. So do you go to OPM? Gov. You can get to the retirement application. You can even do a Google search for the online retirement application the Ora. And if you're looking to retire, you can go in as an applicant and fill out the paperwork, create your account, fill out the paperwork, and it can streamline things and ensure that you're doing it properly. Um, that is a huge help in trying to make this process more effective, more efficient for everyone that's looking to retire, because we've got folks that are coming off of the deferred resignation that are going to be applying for retirement. If they have not done so already, you're going to have people at the end of the year.
Speaker1:
That's normally a very busy time when folks are applying for retirement. Opm has been backlogged for years. I've been working with federal employees since 2012 exclusively, and ever since then, OPM has had a backlog of retirement applications, and that that flow goes up and down and they try to make some headway on that backlog. But still, OPM is very backlogged when it comes to retirement applications and processing those applications. And this online retirement application, the aura, will make it more effective and more efficient. Or it should cut down that time because you might know about this process. So we're going to be talking about here in a second. But when you do retire you don't have everything figured out right away. Right. You're you're not going to get paid the full amount right away. You're not going to get paid right away. And then there's other things that need to fall in place to eventually get your full retirement paycheck. So this should help streamline the process. If you're not familiar with it, check it out. The feedback has been great. You can read articles out there about people's experience about being able to go through very simply. I'm sure there are still some, you know, glitches that could happen because it is a new online process.
Speaker1:
But bear with it because I think it will be much better for those that are retiring. Instead of filling out the paper application and having your HR department process it there, you fill it out online and then your HR folks, uh, can log in and help process those applications for your agency. So the start of it and we're talking about the new application or retirement application process, starting with the online app, the online retirement application. Then going through that, I still recommend that you get that in within two months. Right. So the old school thought was to get that application in on time or well, in advance, and I'd say about two months in advance of when you're planning on retiring. So OPM has a chance to go through their process when you do retire. We're still seeing that people are going into that interim pay status, where it's taking 3 to 6 months for OPM to finalize everything, get them the full pay status Quicker. And trust me, even though you're in interim pay, which is generally around 6,070% of what you should be making by the time you get to full pay. They will back pay you everything that they owed you. Right. But understand, you're going to be making a little less as you start your retirement. Then you've got to worry also about that gap in retirement.
Speaker1:
So when you do finalize your your last day and you're walking out the door, let's say it is at the end of this deferred resignation, September 30th, your first paycheck is not going to be October 1st. It's it's going to be November 1st. You have a month there that you're going to skip. So you have to be prepared for that. But even when that paycheck does start, as I just mentioned, you're going to be an interim pay status. And you can be that way for 3 to 6 months. The worst that I saw was 12 months that it took for somebody to get to their full pay. So just just understand that the process that's going to happen. Now, what choices are you going to have to make still, even if you're going to be doing this online retirement Application, you're still going to want to make sure you're choosing the right family. Uh, determination for retirement. Now, the big thing is, do you want to keep the options in retirement? Do you want to keep or what portion do you want to keep of your basic when you retire? Right. There's those different reduction options. There's this 75% reduction, the 50% reduction, the no reduction. Or you can get rid of everything. That's not what I typically see. Um, the most common answer I see is that 75% reduction.
Speaker1:
But which one's going to be right for you? You want to ensure still, even if you're using the online application, that you're making the right choices, some of the other choices. Survivor benefit election, right. What is it that you want to do with survivor benefits in retirement? Keeping the health insurance in retirement. What to do with your TSB in retirement? These are still things that you're going to have to choose, but this new process online should help speed up when you're getting your pension and how it's going to be your process along the way. So OPM again backlogged, but great to see that they started implementing this. The memos that came out that said all retirement applications need to start being electronic by July 15th were well past that today being August 5th of 2025. Just making sure that you are seeing that if you're going to retire or fill out that retirement paperwork, do it online, go to OPM gov. Look for the the new application, the on run online sorry retirement application, the aura and walk yourself through that. If you have any questions or or problems getting through there, or still don't know what direction to go in as far as the questions that are answered, you need more guidance as to what those options are and how they're going to positively or negatively affect you in the future.
Speaker1:
Reach out to us. You can go to our website, Federal Retirement Show. Fill out the form one of our experts across the country. If it's not me personally, we'll be reaching out to you to go over not only your retirement process, but all of your other benefits and retirement options that you have. Okay. So again it's federal retirement show.com. Fill out the form. We'd love to talk to you. Review your benefits. Answer all of your questions. So I know today was a little quicker a little shorter than normal. But I just wanted to highlight if you are looking to retire, utilize that online retirement application. It's there for you now to help it be a little more effective, a little more efficient, a little less time consuming. And if you need help answering those questions, knowing what selection is going to be the best for you and your family, reach out to us. We'd be happy to give you some guidance. Point you in the right direction. So thank you again for joining us on the Federal Retirement Show. Be sure to look at all of our previous content. I said over 140 episodes. It's there for you. Share it with your colleagues. Don't keep us a secret. And we look forward to seeing you on a future episode.
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