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808nemesis
Sandgap, KY
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My turn.....I am a current FERS employee of the federal government.
So many people ringing in on this issue have a warped sense of reality. For the record I will admit that after attending the recent meetings held here on Oahu that were put on by the FEB and OPM I am STILL not sold on the current proposal that is on the table.
There are those that will sell their souls and relocate to the mainland for their high three pension, and there are those like me that have no such intention.
I am neither pro COLA or anti Locality, I am merely a person who wants what is fair and equitable to what is being paid to federal employees that live on the mainland. BOTH in pay and pension. Is this so wrong??
And I don't want to hear "eventually" or "as time goes by" Hawaii will catch up to the other Locality areas. Hawaii is ALREADY expensive right now and this needs to be addressed.
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fedupfed
Honolulu, HI
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808nemesis... Mahalo for your comments. What is fair and equitable to all... is what we are asking for. Why should someone in Podunk, Iowa get 20% higher retirement since they worked in Podunk and got the "all other continental area locality pay (which was about 20%)". And if Podunk resident moves to Hawaii they get to keep their higher mainland pension, where if a Hawaii retiree moves to Podunk they will have to keep their lower Hawaii retirement. This doesn't seem 'fair and equitable' to me. Does it to you?
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ainokea4u
Honolulu, HI
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LOL... Well, as a Fed employee, I have attended a meeting concerning the doing away with COLA and replacing it with Locality Pay and I was surprised by the amount of negative reactions by some. Most of them didn't understand why they had to give up COLA.... And they were angry that they had to pay more taxes because of the higher rate they would be getting.
What they didn't understand is that COLA or Cost Of Living Allowance is non-taxable and cannot be used for computing retirement. Thus if your base pay is lower, your retirement pension that is based on base pay, will also be lower.
What Locality Pay does is raise the base pay by replacing COLA eventually, thus the end result is a higher pension. The transition would take approximately 10 years to convert over... so it is not all at once, but a gradual change.
FERS employees may think about this way too much. But if you look the employees that are under CSRS plan... I would dread to be under that. They don't pay Federal Taxes on their income; Thus, don't get Social Security retirement and if not mistaken, Medicare (since it falls under the same). Imagine working for 30-40 years for the Government then having to work another 10 more years on the outside just to get social security benefits. Most people when they reach 60-70 years old, do not have the same earning power as they did when they were in their 20's or 30's. Talk about having to put away the difference and settling for a lower pension anyway.
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shouldhavesaved
Tempe, AZ
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Hmmmm wrote: How long have they been working for the federal gov’t?! 20, 25 maybe 30 years! Did the federal gov’t hide the fact that their retirement pay will not include Hawaii COLA?
A federal worker has 20 plus years to plan their retirement using the estimated base salary without COLA. The COLA rules did not change, so how can one cry ‘foul” that the retirement system is now unfair. The rules for retirement pay were clearly stated in writing on the first workday, including COLA benefits.
For years and years, these people have happily taken the untaxed COLA. I can’t recall any news coverage on people refusing to take the COLA unless it is taxed by the Feds. Now that they are ready for retirement, they are pushing to convert COLA to locality pay so they can inflate their salaries for the last three years of service. They don’t care about the remaining fed workers who will have to pay taxes for the next 30 years before retirement.
If they feel they must go to the mainland the get the high 3s (then retire in Hawaii)... Go! But, don’t give anyone a sad story on how tough it is living up there (away from family and friends) while rigging the retirement system in your favor. You’re up there only to serve yourself and not the people (taxpayers) who are paying your salary.
So much for the work ethics of honesty, integrity and humility...
It there is a conversion from Hawaii COLA to locality pay, there should be clause to prevent windfall profits to soon-to-be retired workers. The other comment is correct that the retirement system changed. However, the high 3 salary calculation did not change. The FedGovt CSRS retirement system changed to FERS around 1986. In the old CSRS system Fed employees did not pay (SS) social security tax, therefore could not collect SS retirement benefits. In the new FERS system Fed employees pay SS taxes and can collect SS at retirement. The CSRS employees had an option to convert to FERS or stay in the old CSRS system. Under the CSRS system the employees took home bigger pay check. Given tax free COLA and no SS tax, they could have put some of that money in a personal retirement fund. Instead, they spent all the money and want to change the retirement benefits (COLA to Locality) so they have a bigger retirement check. I would like the option of not paying SS tax and investing that 15% in my personal ROTH. Do people realize that the worker pays 7.5% SS tax and the employer also pays 7.5% SS tax for each employee?
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chuck young
Anchorage, AK
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Perhaps members of Congress should be paid at a lower rate of pay. Maybe they should lose all perks and get a basic Federal salary with a shrinking cola, as we are, and have their retirement benefits on a parity with Federal employees.
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Hammertime
Pomona, CA
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ainokea4u wrote: <quoted text>Actually, though COLA has been around since 1948; it was until 1990 when the FEPCA did not allow locality pay outside of CONUS did it make it unfair to Alaska and Hawaii. Since then, there have been moves to have the law changed but until congress actually favors a move, Hawaii and Alaska is SOL. It is not because nobody is doing nothing... it is up to Congress to pass it into law. Wake UP! Deal with your own anger fool! We work TEN harder than anyone in the private sector. As a matter of fact, when you people are filling out those 3849s for accountable mail we are dying of boredom waiting out those one minute intervals cause Stupid can't spell his or her name. A letter carrier exists in a world that is infinitely quicker than yours little man. So before you go and banter about how we are spoiled and weak, try doing my job for one week. My job would kill you. Besides, why aren't you here? What's the matter, can't pass the postal test? YOU ARE A JOKE.
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Jerry
AOL
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I retired from a Federal Complex in North Carolina that was approved for locality pay in 2005 and went into effect in January of 2006. I retired in 2005. I never received any locality pay and No locality pay has been added to my retirement. So I understand what you are saying. In my area we were so far behind the pay area, but know one would listen. We were denied locality pay increase due to the war in Iraq. 808nemesis wrote: My turn.....I am a current FERS employee of the federal government.
So many people ringing in on this issue have a warped sense of reality. For the record I will admit that after attending the recent meetings held here on Oahu that were put on by the FEB and OPM I am STILL not sold on the current proposal that is on the table.
There are those that will sell their souls and relocate to the mainland for their high three pension, and there are those like me that have no such intention.
I am neither pro COLA or anti Locality, I am merely a person who wants what is fair and equitable to what is being paid to federal employees that live on the mainland. BOTH in pay and pension. Is this so wrong??
And I don't want to hear "eventually" or "as time goes by" Hawaii will catch up to the other Locality areas. Hawaii is ALREADY expensive right now and this needs to be addressed.
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surfrider
San Diego, CA
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Go feds! battchf1 wrote: I retired from the Federal Fire Department after 35 yrs. of service. My last 10 yrs. as a BC. The IAFF local chapter here has been fighting this COLA vs Locality Pay for years. I been told that the National Office for the IAFF is been working hard to correct this problem. Because of the Major cut in my retirement pay, I am now employed with the State of Hawaii, just to make ends meet, but hard to stay above water,
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Judge it!
Leo
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