For Your Benefit

This week on "For Your Benefit", host Bob Leins welcomes Dwayne Jackson, CPA, CFP and principal at Rembert, Pendleton, Jackson into the studio. Tune in as we discuss: •Current strengths and weaknesses in the U.S. stock market and commentary regarding these areas of strength and weakness •An overview of the international stock market •Interest rates and the Federal Reserve including two burning questions in the minds of investors: ◦“What will happen to my portfolio if interest rates rise?” ◦“Should I change my fixed-income allocation because of the potential change in interest rates?”

This week on "For Your Benefit," hosts Bob Leins and Tammy Flanagan chat with Joan Melanson, director of program promotion at LTC Partners, about the important role long-term care has on retirement planning and why it should be addressed well in advance of retiring.

Hosts Bob Leins and Tammy Flanagan discuss the new law allowing law enforcement officers, air traffic controllers, fire fighters and other special retirement groups to access their TSP contributions without penalty as early as age 50 without incurring a 10% early withdrawal penalty. They also discuss other issues related to these special retirement groups that are subject to mandatory retirement and more liberal eligibility rules.

July 13, 2015 - This week on For Your Benefit, host Bob Leins welcomes federal benefits specialist and NITP seminar presenter Bob Braunstein to chat about maximizing your Social Security benefit.

June 29, 2015 - This week on For Your Benefit, join our host Bob Leins as he welcomes Mike Townshend back to the studio. As a social psychologist and professional philosopher, Mike is the founder of Carpe Diem Coaching, Inc. and can be found online at www.mybestdayistoday.com. He also is the author of “Living Well During Times of Change”. Today he addresses the awkward feeling that comes along with stepping out of a career, and share examples.

June 22, 2016 -- This week on For Your Benefit, hosts Bob Leins and Tammy Flanagan welcome Ray Kirk, Ph.D., federal benefits specialist with NITP, to the studio to focus on Social Security and strategies for the best time to apply. Kirk is also the former manager of benefit officers' training and development in retirement services for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

This week on For Your Benefit, host Bob Leins welcomes David De Jong and Steve Widdes, tax and estate attorneys with Stein Sperling Bennett De Jong Driscoll PC for a discussion on possible changes in tax laws in the coming years. Which changes may have bipartisan support? Which changes likely depend on one party controlling the White House and both houses of Congress?

Will the cost of your health care coverage change in retirement? What's the latest on the self-plus-one coverage? How do you ensure your coverage in retirement? Host Bob Leins discusses these issues with Bob Braunstein, NITP seminar presenter and federal benefits specialist.

If you become incapacitated, who will make life or death decisions for you? Attorney Marc Levine with Handler & Levine joins host Bob Leins with a focus on how to pick the people who will back decisions for you when you can't make them for yourself.

TSP Board Executive Director Greg Long and Kim Weaver, the director of external affairs, join hosts Bob Leins and Tammy Flanagan to answer listeners questions about the Thrift Savings Plan.

What are tax brackets and how can yours be identified? What do your TSP distributions have to do with your tax bracket? Is there a benefit to the Roth TSP? Hosts Bob Leins and John Elliott discuss these topics and more on this week's show.

This week on For Your Benefit, hosts Bob Leins and Tammy Flanagan welcome executive recruiter Kathy Lavinder to the studio. Lavinder provides advice on how to leverage federal experience in the commercial sector. She has been recruiting for security and investigative roles on behalf of private sector clients around the country and around the world for the past 15 years.

Many federal retirees are confused about how to use the funds in their Thrift Savings Plan accounts after they retire. This week on For Your Benefit, guest Dave Redden, a well-known and long-time federal benefit and financial planning expert, joins host Bob Leins to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the TSP.