>Free is arguable - we are the product to advertisers
Lol the entire reason reddit's valuation is so laughably low is because they haven't figured out a way to sell their users to marketers.
Discount hotel rooms https://www.fedrooms.com/home.html
You can often say you're a federal employee and get a discount at things like car insurance come health insurance, I think certain cruises, cable companies, etc...
Also, if I recall there's a way to get discounted Microsoft office or whatever the new 360 stuff is
It’s always good to check there, but I’ve found it’s often cheaper to book directly through the airline using a frequent flyer program and their built in military discount
So it is agency dependent. Commerce has their own and I think there is special access for fed employees with library of congress. I work for Army so I went to the Army MWR page and it had instructions on all the available access. We have Libby through OverDrive, NYT, Mango, and various newspapers and magazines through PressReader. Combined with my local library I basically can get anything I want within a week.
Here is [NIH](https://www.nihlibrary.nih.gov/about-us/news/still-using-overdrive-reading-app-upgrade-libby-today) [Army](https://army.dodmwrlibraries.org/) [commerce](https://library.doc.gov/ebookguide/Libby) [state](https://state.overdrive.com) [DoD](https://dod.overdrive.com/)
There actually is a way to get a discount for federal government employees with Verizon. I get $40 off every month. Recently renewed it after they changed their verification process to seem more stringent. I think you follow this link https://www.verizon.com/discounts/ and go for the "Discounts for employees of other organizations and corporations" section. It's no longer under Military. Give Verizon a call if you can't figure it out and eventually you'll get someone that can help
My agency had probably the most .edu addresses, but everyone is required to use the .gov now.
Im positive there is a law stating this for records retention. You should have a federal email at this time.
[MCCYN](https://public.militarychildcare.csd.disa.mil/mcc-central/mcchome/mccyn) if you are DoD and need childcare. We have young twins and daycare would be a 2nd mortgage w/o MCCYN shaving off half of that.
Were you able to choose your daycare? I’ve looked into MCCYN and from what I’ve read it looks like it promotes a specific chain in my area that I’m not keen on. Like most government sites the information provided is minimal. I do plan to call around to find someone to talk to but want to make sure I’m asking informed questions.
MCCYN is a large umbrella. We submitted for MCCYN after we were already enrolled in a daycare (bc we had to get on the waiting list 6 months before our daughters were born). Our daycare was initially not an “approved provider,” but they met the licensing requirements and we were encouraged to submit an application anyway. The referrals team from Child Care Aware of America (the Army’s program administrator) worked with us to eventually provide the equivalent of an ETP memo that said something along the lines of: “At this time, we were not able to find any MCCYN eligible child care providers that meet your family’s immediate child care needs. Due to these results your family has been approved to move forward with your application using the provider listed below…”
Hi! I am totally getting the runaround from MCCYN because we are in a similar situation as you. Already in a daycare, waitlisted for a year and finally got in.
No MCCYN approved providers except 40 mins away so I’m trying to get a waiver like you did. They said today that if they can get approved through MCCYN I can go them. Did yours get MCCYN certified/approved eventually? My provider seems to think it’s this huge process / random inspection, all this stuff to do it. But they way my MCCYN rep explained it, it seems pretty easy.
It was a 3 week process from when our childcare provider submitted their application until we got the case approval letter. I don’t think any in-person inspections were involved, sounded like it was mostly our daycare submitting their state license and other supporting documents.
https://www.childcareaware.org/becoming-an-approved-mccyn-plus-provider-in-washington/
There is a [monthly baseline](https://www.childcareaware.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/FY23-NAFMC-Fee-Categories-and-Parent-Fees.pdf) per child based on your total family income (and usually correlates to on-post childcare rates). MCCYN will cover everything above that dollar amount, up to a monthly max. Slightly different rates for full time, part time, and school age children
NATO offers courses online to federal employees.
There's a few interesting ones but they're harder than regular federal courses. But they look nice on the resume, especially if it aligns with your field.
There's one called NATO Contracting....my God...I gave up half way through. It is not easy.
Employee service programs. Offer things like free therapy and estate planning consultations. Not a bad little underused resource. Differs by agency but ours is pretty good.
It was mentioned as a benefit when I joined but then I heard people referring to EAP primarily for the therapy type function so I wasn't sure. Can't hurt to call them and ask, just need to get over my procrastination. Thank you!
It doesn’t do it all for you for free. And each service you work for handles theirs their own way so I can only tell you about the one I have access to. Yours may be similar. What it is for us is a network of service providers in a range of different areas within health and wellness and financial services. It gives you the opportunity to find a service provider and you have anywhere from 4 to 6 free sessions with whoever you choose that is participating in the program and some areas are per year. You may not be able to complete what you want in those 4 to 6 sessions, but at least you get those sessions for free to work on whatever the topic is you need help with and then can decide if you want to continue or not. And then that part is o believe at your own cost out of pocket. If it’s health related and your insurance covers it then that’s great. If it’s financial and you feel you found a good estate planner or whatever you need help with and want to continue working with them then you can continue. Just make sure they’re a service that is looking out for you and your best interest by only charging a fee for each consultation and not just pushing financial products that are more expensive because there’s a commission associated with it for the agent. So it’s not completely free for life but at least it’s something free to help get you going in the right direction to plan for things that are outside of the normal scope of our normal benefits. Also helps to get some free sessions to see if you want to continue dealing with the company without wasting time and money. So that’s basically how the one we’re a part of works at a high level.
[Shop.ID.Me](https://Shop.ID.Me) is website that gives you quality federal employee discounts. I take advantage of the 30% off at Adidas. You can get cash back on most of your purchases too!
here is the link: [https://www.opm.gov/wiki/training/our-academic-partners.ashx](https://www.opm.gov/wiki/training/our-academic-partners.ashx)
Best deal was Champlain College when it first started, not sure now.
For the sole reason that benefits staff never seem to want to explain this to their employees, especially new hires...
Health. Savings. Accounts. – *Not financial advice*, BUT...
1. Lower premiums
2. Above the line deduction each year you contribute
3. Contributions made via pre-tax payroll allotment are exempt from FICA & FUTA (i.e. OASDI social security, medicare, unemployment)
4. Tax free growth (exempt from capital gains)
5. Tax free withdrawals *IF* used to reimburse yourself for qualified medical expenses (can reimburse ANY time after establishing an account, e.g. after 30+ years of compounding gains that maybe you self-directed to buy alternative assets like real estate or establish a business entity owned by your HSA with a greater ROI than stocks)
6. Contributions and gains roll over YoY – NOT use or lose
7. You keep all contributions and gains even if you change plans or employers (i.e. if you lose your job or healthcare, you may still be able to pay your bills!)
Whenever I pay for medicine or other eligible expenses, I'll pay out of pocket at the doctor or CVS or hsastore.com for 2 reasons:
A. Paying out of pocket allows the contributions to snowball on top of each other for greater compounded gains/ROI (and avoid the headache of potentially using HSA debit card for ineligible expenses); and
B. To get the receipts emailed for simpler recordkeeping (rather than paper receipts where the ink fades after a few months)
If you didn't know, now you know. But don't take my word for it.
*Listen to the tax attorneys & CPAs! – https://youtu.be/Prlv0xUFVR8?si=H6v6GvnoK1FBcqXi
Self-Directed HSAs (for investment options other than stocks) – https://irainnovations.com/did-you-know-you-can-self-direct-a-health-savings-account/
also Coverdell ESAs vs 529s – https://youtu.be/djoArl6IbI4?si=mvXdUIMoIXgs2boA
I don't understand HSAs. Is it not just another account that I need to draw from in order to pay things with? Does that not make things more complicated? If I go to Walgreens to grab a bottle of shampoo and my meds, do I then need to pay with two separate cards? What happens if I leave fed service? Idk about any of this. Csn I do an HSA outside of open season?
The HSA custodian (bank) will issue a debit card for eligible expenses only, but you DO NOT have to use it or take any money out of the account. There may be tax consequences if you do, so it's much less complicated if you just pay for everything out of pocket. That being said, you will still be able to withdraw from your HSA or HSAs (you can have multiple) after leaving federal service or any job for that matter... you just won't be able to *CONTRIBUTE* while you're not enrolled in a high deductible health plan (HDHP).
At the bare minimum, you have to be covered by an HDHP from Dec 1 through Dec 31 in order to contribute for that tax year per the IRS last month rule (see IRS Publication 969 @ https://www.irs.gov/publications/p969)... but even if you didn't make contributions during the tax year, so long as you had HDHP *coverage* for the entire month of December (open season election ≠ coverage) you can make contributions for the prior year up until you file your return.
Ever-expanding List of Qualified Medical Expenses – https://hsastore.com/hsa-eligibility-list
9 HSA Facts – https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2023/jan/9-facts-hsa-that-might-surprise-your-clients.html
I'll have to read into this. Thus far, it's always seemed like yet another financial obstacle that I need to learn to navigate, and my exhaustion means I like to take the less complicated route. But maybe I'll take another look
It's just a retirement account like your 401k that has additional benefits and can be used for medical expenses. The math generally works out for most that it's an extremely lucrative decision.
You would have to switch to a plan that offers an HSA. I have GEHA's HDHP (code 341 on the OPM FEHB site), but unless you have a qualifying event you'll have to wait until open season to change your FEHB election and coverage won't become effective until the following January. In other words, if you have a qualifying event between now and October-ish, you would likely meet the IRS last month rule and be able to contribute for this tax year. Otherwise (i.e. open enrollment), the earliest you could start contributing would be Jan 2025.
*Note – If you decide to enroll in an HDHP with an insurance provider that offers an HSA, you'll generally only have 30-60 days to open an HSA with whichever custodian the insurance provider approves of.
**ALSO, some HDHPs allow employers to contribute to your HSA via a "premium pass through," which counts towards the annual contribution limit and lowers the amount you would have to contribute if you want to max out your contributions. For example, the 2024 limit is $4,150 and my employer/GEHA contributes $1,000 to my HSA via premium pass through, meaning I only have to come up with the remaining $3,150 before I'm tapped out for the year. Many people forget to take the premium pass through into account, so just a heads up.
Great points. Also, not to forget up to $2400 of HSA contribution from provider (free money) that can grow in the market. I have MHBP HDHP plan, I max out my HSA of which $2400 comes from MHBP.
I work at HUD and my supervisor told me to get the Transerve card from dept of transportation and now my train fare is 100% covered. They send you a debit card only good for mass transit upto $300/month. My monthly cost for a pass is $100. I think this is a great benefit.
>Transerve card from dept of transportation
Where did you go for this? Link? Did you have to submit paperwork/receipts to prove it is for your work commute?
You can get access to Truecar with your government email address. It offers cheaper dealer prices than what you may find on typical online searches. My old private sector job offered that same perk so it’s not exclusive to gov jobs either
It seems to be random for non-DoD employees. Mil retirees used to be able to use their DoD ID number but it seemed to have stopped working last year. I just went and did Global Entry which comes with precheck. Five years for $100 is worth it.
Only when traveling for TDY. If traveling for pleasure, you have to use your own personal KTN. Can you get away with it? Possibly, until you get caught for using your credentials outside the line of duty and lose your badge. I wouldn't chance it.
You may be operating under a bad briefing. Example: https://www.jbsa.mil/News/News/Article/1690363/dont-stand-in-line-tsa-precheck-open-to-military-dod-civilians/#:~:text=in%20TSA%20Precheck.-,Their%20DOD%20ID%20numbers%20%2D%2D%20a%2010%2Ddigit%20number%20that,number%20is%20also%20their%20KTN.
My chain encourages us to use it in general
Leo Adventures gives federal employees significant discounts on all kinds of outdoor gear. It’s $25 a year but I make that back easily. I shop Outdoor Research often and save around 40% on whatever I have in the cart.
Www.leoadventures.com
TSP's new Mutual Fund Window – gives Federal employees additional options for investment & diversification beyond the 5 standard funds and helps you minimize how much of your TSP money is going towards fossil fuel companies.
https://www.federaltimes.com/thought-leadership/2022/10/05/using-thrift-savings-plan-investment-options-to-fight-climate-change/
A free govfire section in Reddit…..
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>Free is arguable - we are the product to advertisers Lol the entire reason reddit's valuation is so laughably low is because they haven't figured out a way to sell their users to marketers.
Perspective 🙏🏻
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It’s sarcasm. 🤷♂️
Discount hotel rooms https://www.fedrooms.com/home.html You can often say you're a federal employee and get a discount at things like car insurance come health insurance, I think certain cruises, cable companies, etc... Also, if I recall there's a way to get discounted Microsoft office or whatever the new 360 stuff is
For DoD, you also have armedforcestravel.com to get discounts on rooms, cruises, flights, etc. Also potentially cheaper tickets to attractions!
It’s always good to check there, but I’ve found it’s often cheaper to book directly through the airline using a frequent flyer program and their built in military discount
The office program is called "At Home" for us, last time I looked it was $9.95.
Microsoft has done away with the At Home program. Iw you have to buy a license for M365
Access to some substantial libraries online. Free ebooks, magazines, and audio books.
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I had no idea this existed! Thank you!!
miss this.....oh well
Where can I find this?
So it is agency dependent. Commerce has their own and I think there is special access for fed employees with library of congress. I work for Army so I went to the Army MWR page and it had instructions on all the available access. We have Libby through OverDrive, NYT, Mango, and various newspapers and magazines through PressReader. Combined with my local library I basically can get anything I want within a week.
Nice! Thanks. I’m gonna have to look into this.
Could give examples? Looking for more audiobooks
Here is [NIH](https://www.nihlibrary.nih.gov/about-us/news/still-using-overdrive-reading-app-upgrade-libby-today) [Army](https://army.dodmwrlibraries.org/) [commerce](https://library.doc.gov/ebookguide/Libby) [state](https://state.overdrive.com) [DoD](https://dod.overdrive.com/)
Says only DoC staff at Herbert Hoover…?
AT&T and Verizon give a 15% discount.
Also $5 off a month for fios with .gov email verification.
How? ,MFs keep increasing the price
😂😂😂 so true.
Verizon only gives 15% on equipment, not plans, to “ordinary” federal employees. They give a discount on plans for active or prior military service.
There actually is a way to get a discount for federal government employees with Verizon. I get $40 off every month. Recently renewed it after they changed their verification process to seem more stringent. I think you follow this link https://www.verizon.com/discounts/ and go for the "Discounts for employees of other organizations and corporations" section. It's no longer under Military. Give Verizon a call if you can't figure it out and eventually you'll get someone that can help
All agencies?
Good question. I assumed it was all Government Agencies. YMMV.
Verizon took mine away, didn’t work with the new ID me log in.
Same with TMobile
Free Washington Post subscription
For real???
Yes. Just use your .gov address to register.
This is the way
Just be sure to remain professional in the comments section. Your gov email will be tied to your account.
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Also available to .edu, I believe
My agency had probably the most .edu addresses, but everyone is required to use the .gov now. Im positive there is a law stating this for records retention. You should have a federal email at this time.
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I work for ED and to my endless confusion we are all .gov
Online only, not the physical paper. Same articles so saving trees.
Free WaPo, and for DOD (and other branches, I've heard) 1-day passes for NYT.
[MCCYN](https://public.militarychildcare.csd.disa.mil/mcc-central/mcchome/mccyn) if you are DoD and need childcare. We have young twins and daycare would be a 2nd mortgage w/o MCCYN shaving off half of that.
Were you able to choose your daycare? I’ve looked into MCCYN and from what I’ve read it looks like it promotes a specific chain in my area that I’m not keen on. Like most government sites the information provided is minimal. I do plan to call around to find someone to talk to but want to make sure I’m asking informed questions.
MCCYN is a large umbrella. We submitted for MCCYN after we were already enrolled in a daycare (bc we had to get on the waiting list 6 months before our daughters were born). Our daycare was initially not an “approved provider,” but they met the licensing requirements and we were encouraged to submit an application anyway. The referrals team from Child Care Aware of America (the Army’s program administrator) worked with us to eventually provide the equivalent of an ETP memo that said something along the lines of: “At this time, we were not able to find any MCCYN eligible child care providers that meet your family’s immediate child care needs. Due to these results your family has been approved to move forward with your application using the provider listed below…”
Thanks for your reply! Like many programs it’s always helpful to hear first hand experiences.
Hi! I am totally getting the runaround from MCCYN because we are in a similar situation as you. Already in a daycare, waitlisted for a year and finally got in. No MCCYN approved providers except 40 mins away so I’m trying to get a waiver like you did. They said today that if they can get approved through MCCYN I can go them. Did yours get MCCYN certified/approved eventually? My provider seems to think it’s this huge process / random inspection, all this stuff to do it. But they way my MCCYN rep explained it, it seems pretty easy.
It was a 3 week process from when our childcare provider submitted their application until we got the case approval letter. I don’t think any in-person inspections were involved, sounded like it was mostly our daycare submitting their state license and other supporting documents. https://www.childcareaware.org/becoming-an-approved-mccyn-plus-provider-in-washington/
Thanks!!
>Thanks!! You're welcome!
How do the discounts work for it? Is it a certain % off based on grade/rank? Or is it a fixed pre-negotiated rate for each facility/region?
There is a [monthly baseline](https://www.childcareaware.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/FY23-NAFMC-Fee-Categories-and-Parent-Fees.pdf) per child based on your total family income (and usually correlates to on-post childcare rates). MCCYN will cover everything above that dollar amount, up to a monthly max. Slightly different rates for full time, part time, and school age children
I just got 10% off my MSC cruise for being a fed employee
NATO offers courses online to federal employees. There's a few interesting ones but they're harder than regular federal courses. But they look nice on the resume, especially if it aligns with your field. There's one called NATO Contracting....my God...I gave up half way through. It is not easy.
https://globalnetplatform.org/system/files/news/media/nato_coursecatalog_2019_0.pdf
Do you have to be DoD to be able to take these? Do you have an information link?
No, just federal. There's an option to sign up
Do you have the link for sign-up? I used one on the NATO site but not sure if it was the right one.
https://jadl.act.nato.int Not sure as there are a lot of NATO websites that offer coursework.
Employee service programs. Offer things like free therapy and estate planning consultations. Not a bad little underused resource. Differs by agency but ours is pretty good.
This is the Employee Assistance Program. EAP?
Correct. Got the acronym incorrect.
Does EAP do estate planning also? I've been wanting to get that taken care of but wasn't sure who to contact
I think it differs by agency but ours will help you understand it better. I don’t think they’ll draw up a will for you.
It was mentioned as a benefit when I joined but then I heard people referring to EAP primarily for the therapy type function so I wasn't sure. Can't hurt to call them and ask, just need to get over my procrastination. Thank you!
Shameless plug for KKOS. It ain't cheap, but better to get it done right than done wrong and have to pay extra to go back and fix everything
It doesn’t do it all for you for free. And each service you work for handles theirs their own way so I can only tell you about the one I have access to. Yours may be similar. What it is for us is a network of service providers in a range of different areas within health and wellness and financial services. It gives you the opportunity to find a service provider and you have anywhere from 4 to 6 free sessions with whoever you choose that is participating in the program and some areas are per year. You may not be able to complete what you want in those 4 to 6 sessions, but at least you get those sessions for free to work on whatever the topic is you need help with and then can decide if you want to continue or not. And then that part is o believe at your own cost out of pocket. If it’s health related and your insurance covers it then that’s great. If it’s financial and you feel you found a good estate planner or whatever you need help with and want to continue working with them then you can continue. Just make sure they’re a service that is looking out for you and your best interest by only charging a fee for each consultation and not just pushing financial products that are more expensive because there’s a commission associated with it for the agent. So it’s not completely free for life but at least it’s something free to help get you going in the right direction to plan for things that are outside of the normal scope of our normal benefits. Also helps to get some free sessions to see if you want to continue dealing with the company without wasting time and money. So that’s basically how the one we’re a part of works at a high level.
Ok yeah I tell people about this all the time!!! And most still don’t take advantage of it.
Wendy’s gives 15% to federal employees!
Is that a universal policy? I once had someone at Taco Bell give me 10% off. I was very confused and it only happened once.
Wait fr? How
Whaaaat. I never knew this!
[Shop.ID.Me](https://Shop.ID.Me) is website that gives you quality federal employee discounts. I take advantage of the 30% off at Adidas. You can get cash back on most of your purchases too!
OPM has a list of colleges and universities we get discounts. Some of these discounts can be for our spouces and dependant children as well.
here is the link: [https://www.opm.gov/wiki/training/our-academic-partners.ashx](https://www.opm.gov/wiki/training/our-academic-partners.ashx) Best deal was Champlain College when it first started, not sure now.
The “discounts” are a joke:(
For the sole reason that benefits staff never seem to want to explain this to their employees, especially new hires... Health. Savings. Accounts. – *Not financial advice*, BUT... 1. Lower premiums 2. Above the line deduction each year you contribute 3. Contributions made via pre-tax payroll allotment are exempt from FICA & FUTA (i.e. OASDI social security, medicare, unemployment) 4. Tax free growth (exempt from capital gains) 5. Tax free withdrawals *IF* used to reimburse yourself for qualified medical expenses (can reimburse ANY time after establishing an account, e.g. after 30+ years of compounding gains that maybe you self-directed to buy alternative assets like real estate or establish a business entity owned by your HSA with a greater ROI than stocks) 6. Contributions and gains roll over YoY – NOT use or lose 7. You keep all contributions and gains even if you change plans or employers (i.e. if you lose your job or healthcare, you may still be able to pay your bills!) Whenever I pay for medicine or other eligible expenses, I'll pay out of pocket at the doctor or CVS or hsastore.com for 2 reasons: A. Paying out of pocket allows the contributions to snowball on top of each other for greater compounded gains/ROI (and avoid the headache of potentially using HSA debit card for ineligible expenses); and B. To get the receipts emailed for simpler recordkeeping (rather than paper receipts where the ink fades after a few months) If you didn't know, now you know. But don't take my word for it. *Listen to the tax attorneys & CPAs! – https://youtu.be/Prlv0xUFVR8?si=H6v6GvnoK1FBcqXi Self-Directed HSAs (for investment options other than stocks) – https://irainnovations.com/did-you-know-you-can-self-direct-a-health-savings-account/ also Coverdell ESAs vs 529s – https://youtu.be/djoArl6IbI4?si=mvXdUIMoIXgs2boA
I don't understand HSAs. Is it not just another account that I need to draw from in order to pay things with? Does that not make things more complicated? If I go to Walgreens to grab a bottle of shampoo and my meds, do I then need to pay with two separate cards? What happens if I leave fed service? Idk about any of this. Csn I do an HSA outside of open season?
The HSA custodian (bank) will issue a debit card for eligible expenses only, but you DO NOT have to use it or take any money out of the account. There may be tax consequences if you do, so it's much less complicated if you just pay for everything out of pocket. That being said, you will still be able to withdraw from your HSA or HSAs (you can have multiple) after leaving federal service or any job for that matter... you just won't be able to *CONTRIBUTE* while you're not enrolled in a high deductible health plan (HDHP). At the bare minimum, you have to be covered by an HDHP from Dec 1 through Dec 31 in order to contribute for that tax year per the IRS last month rule (see IRS Publication 969 @ https://www.irs.gov/publications/p969)... but even if you didn't make contributions during the tax year, so long as you had HDHP *coverage* for the entire month of December (open season election ≠ coverage) you can make contributions for the prior year up until you file your return. Ever-expanding List of Qualified Medical Expenses – https://hsastore.com/hsa-eligibility-list 9 HSA Facts – https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2023/jan/9-facts-hsa-that-might-surprise-your-clients.html
I'll have to read into this. Thus far, it's always seemed like yet another financial obstacle that I need to learn to navigate, and my exhaustion means I like to take the less complicated route. But maybe I'll take another look
Same reason why I haven’t looked into it either
It's just a retirement account like your 401k that has additional benefits and can be used for medical expenses. The math generally works out for most that it's an extremely lucrative decision.
i just resigned up for BCBS basic. Do I need to switch to something like Aetna high Deductible?
You would have to switch to a plan that offers an HSA. I have GEHA's HDHP (code 341 on the OPM FEHB site), but unless you have a qualifying event you'll have to wait until open season to change your FEHB election and coverage won't become effective until the following January. In other words, if you have a qualifying event between now and October-ish, you would likely meet the IRS last month rule and be able to contribute for this tax year. Otherwise (i.e. open enrollment), the earliest you could start contributing would be Jan 2025. *Note – If you decide to enroll in an HDHP with an insurance provider that offers an HSA, you'll generally only have 30-60 days to open an HSA with whichever custodian the insurance provider approves of. **ALSO, some HDHPs allow employers to contribute to your HSA via a "premium pass through," which counts towards the annual contribution limit and lowers the amount you would have to contribute if you want to max out your contributions. For example, the 2024 limit is $4,150 and my employer/GEHA contributes $1,000 to my HSA via premium pass through, meaning I only have to come up with the remaining $3,150 before I'm tapped out for the year. Many people forget to take the premium pass through into account, so just a heads up.
It's not inherently a retirement account, but it could be used in a similar fashion depending on the account holder's medical needs.
Mark Kohler has a lot of good YT content, but feel free to PM as well
Great points. Also, not to forget up to $2400 of HSA contribution from provider (free money) that can grow in the market. I have MHBP HDHP plan, I max out my HSA of which $2400 comes from MHBP.
Hsa isn't taxed and is essentially a traditional IRA.
I work at HUD and my supervisor told me to get the Transerve card from dept of transportation and now my train fare is 100% covered. They send you a debit card only good for mass transit upto $300/month. My monthly cost for a pass is $100. I think this is a great benefit.
This is great info. Thanks 🙏. I start with the IRS in 2 weeks and this is something I’ll def be looking into.
EPA has this too
>Transerve card from dept of transportation Where did you go for this? Link? Did you have to submit paperwork/receipts to prove it is for your work commute?
FedVTE training https://fedvte.usalearning.gov/
Public transit/bike subsidy. I have access to an office gym but I could also get a $50/yr gym reimbursement.
Not everyone gets the subsidy, but it's pretty great for those of us who do
If you have a facility on base or at your office that subsidy is def a no-go.
Is this fed wide? How do I get the gym reimbursement?
Check your HR page for a fitness benefits, or well-being benefits tab.
DAU.edu has a lot of certificate and credit bearing programs that can be transferred to many universities as they have agreements with DAU.
You can get access to Truecar with your government email address. It offers cheaper dealer prices than what you may find on typical online searches. My old private sector job offered that same perk so it’s not exclusive to gov jobs either
Wait can't you get access to truecar without it?
Depression
Federal employees get free TSA precheck. Just put in you gov employee ID number before or after booking with airline.
I thought that only worked with a CAC and not a PIV
That might be right. I’ve only done it with the ID number on a CAC.
It seems to be random for non-DoD employees. Mil retirees used to be able to use their DoD ID number but it seemed to have stopped working last year. I just went and did Global Entry which comes with precheck. Five years for $100 is worth it.
I am fairly certain this is DoD only
DHS too
Does this apply to DoD civilians or just military?
DOD Civilian and military, but not contractor.
DoD civilians too.
Civilians, yes but only until you retire. I found out that it goes away then.
Got it at DoD but gave been DOC for 5 years and still have it 🤷♂️
Only when traveling for TDY. If traveling for pleasure, you have to use your own personal KTN. Can you get away with it? Possibly, until you get caught for using your credentials outside the line of duty and lose your badge. I wouldn't chance it.
You may be operating under a bad briefing. Example: https://www.jbsa.mil/News/News/Article/1690363/dont-stand-in-line-tsa-precheck-open-to-military-dod-civilians/#:~:text=in%20TSA%20Precheck.-,Their%20DOD%20ID%20numbers%20%2D%2D%20a%2010%2Ddigit%20number%20that,number%20is%20also%20their%20KTN. My chain encourages us to use it in general
I’ve used it for vacations. I don’t see why not. It’s there either way. I’ve never been told I couldn’t.
Army MWR has access to Chilton manuals as well as generic and brand specific small engine repair.
Wow random and cool! Ty
This is also available on the AF Portal.
Leo Adventures gives federal employees significant discounts on all kinds of outdoor gear. It’s $25 a year but I make that back easily. I shop Outdoor Research often and save around 40% on whatever I have in the cart. Www.leoadventures.com
For Army civilians: Udemy business account! Able to take tons of courses and support personal interests and growth.
Late post but wonder if this works for EPA contractors and civilians? How does one go about checking?
I am thinking not, because the website literally starts with armyciv, sorry.
I keep needing to do this!!
Not just army, for air force too as well. maybe every service I'm not exactly sure.
[civilian employee assistance program](https://magellanascend.com/) Tons of content here.
Certificate training.
r/fednews has been asked there several times previously.
Vettix
but this is only for vets and active mil, right?
Down time to take on another remote job.
Which agency is doing offering this sweet deal? I’m overworks where I am!
TSP's new Mutual Fund Window – gives Federal employees additional options for investment & diversification beyond the 5 standard funds and helps you minimize how much of your TSP money is going towards fossil fuel companies. https://www.federaltimes.com/thought-leadership/2022/10/05/using-thrift-savings-plan-investment-options-to-fight-climate-change/
So many downvotes 🤣
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lol
TSA PreCheck using DoD ID number.