After The Last Paycheck

The government paycheck was one number. Retirement is three.

After a federal career, income does not arrive the way it used to. The FERS annuity, the Thrift Savings Plan, and Social Security move on different calendars, are taxed in different ways, and fail in different ways. Treating them as separate errands is how the first years after the last deposit get expensive.

After the Last Paycheck is a short guide for FERS employees who are retirement-eligible or already in those first years. It maps the three pieces, the paperwork that is still in motion while OPM finishes a claim, and the household questions that belong in a first conversation - before anyone talks about moving an account.

Inside you will find:
How the FERS annuity is built, what a survivor election actually is, and why interim pay is not the finished check
What the TSP is after matching stops - and why stay-versus-move is a list of tradeoffs, not a slogan
Social Security as a household date, including what changed when WEP and GPO were repealed
An order of operations for the first twelve to thirty-six months
Healthcare, taxes, and the limits of any map

This book is general education. It will not calculate your pension, pick a TSP fund, name a claiming age, or promise a result. Official rules live at OPM, TSP.gov, and the Social Security Administration. Use those pages. Use this book to see the pieces on one page before you change them.