United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office General Government Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1999-03-29 monographic deposited born digital 36 p. GA 1.13:GGD-99-27 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-27 P0b002ee1803744f3 f:gg99027 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-27 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-27 GGD-99-27 Employee retirement plans Federal employees Federal employee retirement programs Retirement benefits Civil Service Retirement System Federal Employees Retirement System Federal Thrift Savings Plan Chapter Report GGD Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the retirement education that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and agencies provide to federal civilian employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS).<p/>GAO noted that: (1) OPM and the experts with whom GAO consulted held generally consistent views regarding the recommended content, presentation formats, and timing of retirement education programs; (2) they believed that these programs should provide employees with information on certain topics, or content such as plan features and financial planning, and that other agencies should consider using multiple formats so as to accommodate employees' varying needs; (3) they also believed that such information should be provided early and throughout employees' careers; (4) OPM provided guidance to agencies on the design and implementation of retirement education programs and supplemented the guidance with educational materials, training, and technical advice for agencies' benefits staff; (5) agencies had primary responsibility for designing and implementing their programs according to their agency-specific needs; (6) the retirement education programs of the agencies reviewed generally included those topics recommended by OPM and the experts; (7) in providing retirement education, agencies' officials said that they made information available on a variety of topics, including the specific features of CSRS and FERS, the requirements for maintaining federal health and life insurance benefits in retirement, and financial planning for retirement; (8) agencies' officials told GAO that they used a wide variety of presentation formats to communicate retirement education to their employees; (9) all of the agencies that GAO reviewed provided employees with written educational materials that were supplemented with interactive seminars and one-on-one counseling; (10) agencies provided retirement planning information, but not advice, regardless of the presentation format used; (11) agencies' officials also said that they generally provided retirement education to employees during their initial orientation and throughout their careers; (12) all of the agencies in GAO's review sponsored seminars designed for those employees who were nearing retirement eligibility; (13) some agencies also sponsored additional seminars that were specifically designed for employees who had approximately 15 years of federal service to encourage employees to begin planning for their retirement earlier in their careers; (14) agencies also provided one-on-one counseling at any time upon request; and (15) agencies believed that retirement education is a shared responsibility between agencies and employees, and that employees must ultimately decide for themselves whether or when to seek retirement information. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-27/html/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-27.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-27/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-27.pdf GAO/GGD-99-27 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GGD-99-27 Chapter Report GAO/GGD-99-27; Federal Retirement: Key Elements Are Included in Agencies' Education Programs; Employee retirement plans Federal employees Federal employee retirement programs Retirement benefits Civil Service Retirement System Federal Employees Retirement System Federal Thrift Savings Plan