The Washington Post recently reported that about 14,000 federal employees made hardship withdrawals from their Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) in the month of October, 2013, the month the government shut down. This marked the highest amount of withdrawals since the program began; the average withdrawal amount was over $9,000.

Many Federal employees believe that FEGLI Option C is a great way to get life insurance coverage for their children. However, FEGLI provides a maximum of $12,500 coverage that does not last the child's entire life, and the rates increase over time. FEGLI Option C in most cases also won't allow you to cover your grandchildren.

About 14 percent of federal employees are currently eligible to retire; are you? Most federal employees have to work for a specific number of years or reach a designated retirement age in order to access their Thrift Savings Plan and/or other retirement benefits. But what if you didn’t have to?

The government offers a few different retirement plans for federal and government employees, but most of those plans come with too many restrictions, and most people don’t qualify for the tax-deferred status. There are other retirement plans that offer more flexibility and can guarantee a lifetime tax deferred income.

There has been discussion over a congressional budget plan that would affect the retirement plans of all federal workers. According to The Washington Post, the plan would require federal employees to pay more for their retirement and new employees would no longer receive the Federal Employee Retirement System Annuity Supplement. In total, the bill would take $20 billion from federal workers.