Federal govt retirees, I need your advice (pension, relocate, spouse)

[aphorista]

Hello,

I am a federal employee with almost 9 years in. I can retire in 11 years but not sure if I can make it in this setting. I work in a highly specialized field with limited opportunity and cannot locate out of my area as my husband is a state employee working in the capital city. Anyway, I really do not like my work setting due to politics and the mentality of our administration. What I would like to know, for all of you that retired from similar circumstances, how did you make it to retirement? Please share your words of advice.........

[sweetana3]

I worked for the Federal government for 31 years before retiring. At various times I did not like what I was doing but the benefits more than made up for it. Look for new skills you can learn, do your job as well as you possibly can and be supportive to others. Unless you are in the management ranks, you can avoid a lot of politics by not listening to the office gossip and by interacting in only a professional way with the managers. Some of our best employees were the quietest.

I even left since hubby had a corporate transfer and chose to return to the same group when we were sent back home. I could have stayed home but the benefits of lifetime health insurance and a pension were too good to pass up.

[janetvj]

Originally Posted by aphorista

Hello,

I am a federal employee with almost 9 years in. I can retire in 11 years but not sure if I can make it in this setting. I work in a highly specialized field with limited opportunity and cannot locate out of my area as my husband is a state employee working in the capital city. Anyway, I really do not like my work setting due to politics and the mentality of our administration. What I would like to know, for all of you that retired from similar circumstances, how did you make it to retirement? Please share your words of advice.........

Feel lucky that you can retire with only 20 years. Many of us had to put up with the things you describe for a lot longer than that.

Meanwhile, any chance of transferring to another section? As a longtime state employee, I know some offices are better than others. I also worked in a very specialized field (tax compliance) but within that field there were a number of different offices that utilized that skill (auditing, tax policy, appeals, collections, compliance programs, etc.)

Good luck. I retire in a few weeks after 32 years, and there were times when I thought I'd never make it. Strangely enough, the last 2 years - after I had enough time in to retire - were the worst. But I was promoted in my 29th year of service and wanted to get a full 3 years in at that level, to bump up my pension.

[Retired Law 08]

hang in there..set a goal and a plan...and don't rush your life by...try to
keep a good attitude..attitude is key...try to figure out the best way to deal
with things everyday...I am retired a year this month from law enforcement
and it wasn't easy...the time will pass..it's how you handle it...I made it
work for me...I didn't work for it....

[NewToCA]

This is really an employment question, not a retirement question.

I worked in the Dept of Defense for 34 years, and frequently didn't care for my job. What I would do is just keep in mind that the politics and managers change, and just wait out the process. I'd still do the job, but if I was assigned to a project I knew had little chance of getting properly implemented, I'd just focus on my part and not get too upset about the overall process. Just be conscientous about your taskings, but try to shut out the overview if you have no control over the process.

[Tesaje]

I've got 30 years in and frequently didn't like the administration. But as a civil servant, my oath of service was to the constitution and the people of this nation. Like everyone else, the ones voted in were not necessarily who I voted for. That didn't change my dedication to my job and work I did to perform the best service I could for the people of this nation.

Unless you work directly for the administration, it seems you have the wrong attitude for civil service. Most of our jobs need to be done the same way regardless of who holds the office. Fortunately the Hatch Act protects us from undue political interference and corruption.

If it is the local office politics and the way you have to interact with the people you work with and for, that is harder to stand. If the office politics are that bad, then finding another job should be seriously considered. If you can't figure out a way to avoid those who are so irritating, it is a long time to be unhappy.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by aphorista

Hello,

I am a federal employee with almost 9 years in. I can retire in 11 years but not sure if I can make it in this setting. I work in a highly specialized field with limited opportunity and cannot locate out of my area as my husband is a state employee working in the capital city. Anyway, I really do not like my work setting due to politics and the mentality of our administration. What I would like to know, for all of you that retired from similar circumstances, how did you make it to retirement? Please share your words of advice.........

I'm also an ex-fed (34 years) who retired from the DC area but did not hate my job. Six weeks after I retired, I left the area. I was just eager to do something different after retiring. The thing is, if you are in a headquarters setting and probably at the top or close to the top of your grade opportunities, plus your spouse can't move, I suppose there's no escape. Develop some interest outside of work and just make the job what you have to do to have the money to enjoy those those other things. In other words, don't make the job the center of your life.

With 11 years to go, it's a little early to start researching a retirement destination because that destination may look a lot different in 11 years but it's not too early to develop hobbies/interests that will carry over into retirement and that also might dictate where you want to live in retirement so you can pursue them at that time.

[mm34b]

I retired from the Washington DC area almost 6 years ago. I couldn't afford to live in such a high cost of living area on half of my prior income, so I left the area. I have more disposal income now than I had while working in DC with just a simple relocation.

[GreenGene]

I'm another retired fed from DC (35 years - retired one year ago tomorrow). My wife retired the same day (with 30 years), and we're both CSRS. We continue to live in Northern Virginia ... not really by choice - we intended to relocate shortly after we retired, but with the local housing market being what is was/is, we didn't even try to sell. That's OK, tho - we can afford the area, and it's SOOOOO much nicer living here when we don't have to commute up and down I-95 every day! We'll test the waters in another year or two, and may relocate at that point.

Originally Posted by aphorista

I am a federal employee with almost 9 years in. I can retire in 11 years but not sure if I can make it in this setting. I work in a highly specialized field with limited opportunity and cannot locate out of my area as my husband is a state employee working in the capital city. Anyway, I really do not like my work setting due to politics and the mentality of our administration. What I would like to know, for all of you that retired from similar circumstances, how did you make it to retirement? Please share your words of advice.........

It's a tough situation, and unfortunately, not an uncommon situation, either. I also worked in a highly specialized area, there was a lot of politics going on around me, and it seemed like all the good managers had left, and the inmates had taken over.

I found that if I thought too much about the "big picture", I'd get really angry, and a little depressed as well. So I focused on my role ... on those things that I had some measure of control over, and did the very best I could in those areas.

Also, frankly, I kept my eyes open for other jobs within the agency ... anything [1] that appealed to me, [2] that I thought I would qualify for, and [3] that offered the opportunity to get away from some of the politics and poor management. And it worked - the last five years of my federal employment were the best for me: the most challenging job I ever had, the most responsibility, the best pay, and for 4 of those 5 years, a good boss who did his best to keep the politics out of the office. The last year, after he retired, was a little rough, but by that time I was close enough to retirement that I could just let things roll off my back.

[aphorista]

Thanks to all for your suggestions. Although I take exception that I am a poor civil servent. My ultimate quandry is working in a system that does not work as it should or promises more than it can deliver. More specifically, I am a medical provider in a governmnet hospital system being asked to see more people yet make life or death situatuions etc. Our administration reports to their supervisors that we can handle the workload although we are constantly short-staffed. My direct supervisor is usually out of the office furthering her career. Evaluations are not being done in a timely manner for some folks which makes it near impossible to apply for other positions. My impression from others is to not rock the boat or risk reprisal should I report my supervisor for not completing them. I do enjoy my professional work but the atmosphere and politics makes it hard to just focus on that aspect. Anyway, to all that have shared your advice, I really appreciate it. I will keep it in mind as a means to continue my career with the federal govt.