Is government ethics an oxymoron? With an entire agency and numerous ethics advisers spread throughout federal agencies, one would hope that level of misconduct in federal agencies would be minimal. It isn’t minimal but a new report shows that the federal government is at least ahead of state and local governments in the ethics arena.
Most American companies have some type of pay for performance system. But pay for performance is unique in the federal government and has generated heated debate and intense opposition. With the average employee under the new system getting a raise that is twice as large as the rest of the federal workforce, it may not seem as threatening.
Some readers are checking their TSP portfolio balance and they get upset. That is understandable as all of us prefer to see our investments go up. Before taking immediate action, take a deep breath and see how your investments have done over the past several years.
Panic selling of stocks has gripped overseas markets. The TSP stock funds may take a big dip as the American stock markets open after the long weekend. Can your TSP stock funds fall further than they already have? Here is an historical point of reference.
Readers have been asking questions about the 2008 pay raise. Most of the questions boil down to “Why didn’t I get the 3.5% I am supposed to get in my check this year?” or “How come people in DC are getting more than I am getting when they already make more money?”
The value of your stock funds in the Thrift Savings Plan have gone down considerably so far in 2008. What financial decisions will you take as a result? Weigh the implications of your financial decisions whether you are still an active federal employee or if you are retired.
WHUD’s “Operation FedRent” program has resulted in indicting 34 federal employees (so far).
The TSP says that a few people who are engaging in frequent trading are costing all other TSP participants money and creating a “great risk of performance deviations” in the TSP fund benchmarks. The answer to the problem: Limit the frequent trading. A new interim regulation is effective as of today, January 7th.
It is hard to believe but the annual federal pay raise has been approved and OPM has issued various documents implementing the 2008 pay rates for federal employees. The median salary for federal employees in the DC area in 2008: $90,698.
Readers have asked several questions about the pay tables we have posted on our site for the 2008 pay raise. Here are answers to the most common questions.
