Posts Tagged ‘About’
What is a thrift savings plan? A thrift savings plan or TSP is a retirement plan for civilians who are employed by the United States government and are members of the Uniformed Services of the United States.
The TSP falls under the category of what is known more broadly as a type of defined contribution plan, and is administrated and regulated by the Federal Thrift Investment Board.
TSP plans are similar to 401k plans, since the retirement funds in the account depends on how much has been contributed both by the employee and their employer during their working years, as well as the earnings of these contributions.
Which employees are eligible? If you are covered by FERS, CSRS, or CRS offset, you are eligible for a TSP plan.
All participants are eligible to receive tax deferral on contributions, in service withdrawals for financial hardship beginning on or after age 59, a choice of five investment funds, the ability to transfer monies from other eligible retirement savings account plans into a TSP account, a loan program and a choice of post separation withdrawal options.
For certain FERS civilian employees, with a TSP plan, the government also makes automatic matching contributions. Employees who are under the CSRS or civil service retirement system are eligible for a TSP plan, but are not eligible for matching contributions.
Typically, in this case, the matching contributions are one percent independent of employee contributions, and then .05 percent for each one percent contributed by an employee thereafter. Military members and those serving in the armed forces, generally, are not eligible for these matching contributions.
In the case of FERS employees, the TSP is one of three parts of total retirement coverage, and FERS employees have the option of receiving two different types of agency contributions to their TSP accounts, which together, can equal as much as fiver percent of basic pay.
These are known as agency automatic and agency matching contributions respectfully. With an agency automatic contribution, once an employee is eligible, their agency automatically makes deposits into their TSP account, regardless of employee contribution amount, as stated above, up to one percent of basic pay, up to the IRS allowed annual limit.
With an agency matching contribution, once an employee becomes eligble, the agency will match the first three percent of basic pay, with the next subsequent two percent of basic pay matched fifty cents on the dollar.
Summers almost over, that makes me want to cry! But there’s no need to worry about electric bills this winter. We have options and simple things we can do that will help us cut energy bills.
A few simple modifications around your home can help you save big this winter, and all year long. You don’t have to do major projects to save money, but if you want to save even more there are some big things you can do.
Here is a short list of some things you can do now to save on utility bills. I’ve included simple, cheap things as well as a little more elaborate and expensive things.
Do as many, or as few, as you want, either way you’ll save on your bills:
1. Add insulation to your attic all around your house. I didn’t know it, but they have insulations for around your water heater, to cover your pipes, for behind switch plates, and of course, around windows and doors.
2. Don’t make your furnace work any harder than necessary, make sure it’s in good condition. Change your filters monthly too.
3. Stop your nice warm air from going out the windows. Get some insulated curtains.
4. On a nice sunny winter day allow the sun to come in your home. It can really help heat things up. You can close your curtains at night to keep the cold air out.
5. Now that you’ve got some good ideas on how to save money on your electric bills, why not take it one step further and actually generate your own electricity?
It’s really easy to build and install your own wind turbine or solar panels and it can generate about 60% of the electricity your house will need.
Well, I hope that helps. The important thing to remember is that you do have options and there are products that can help you cut energy bills. Invest a little time and money now and when you utility comes in January, you won’t have to fear it.
Broadband, as broadband services are commonly called, is a short form for ‘broad bandwidth’. A broadband Internet connection provides reliable download speeds and high speed data transmission rates either over a phone line, digital cable or satellite connection. Internet over phone lines will become extinct in a few years and digital cable Internet connections will also dry out soon after. Thereafter satellite Internet connections will rule the digital world.
Broadband has changed the way in which people use the Internet for communication, shopping, gaming and general entertainment. To get broadband connection for your organization, it’s always better to go for an Internet service which has all the vital characteristics a good broadband service should have. Quality of service and reliability are the most essential characteristic properties of a good broadband connection.
The broadband industry is one of the fastest growing markets in the country today and there are quite a number of companies offering their broadband services to consumers. More and more people are accessing the Internet using broadband nowadays and businesses are able to increase their productivity considerably due to the innumerable benefits of business broadband.
Research has shown that the number of people and businesses shifting to broadband services are increasing every year. With advances in telephone technology as well, more and more customers are now able to make cheaper long-distance calls over the Internet. Therefore broadband services are offering new deals allowing cheaper calling rates combined with broadband Internet packages.
As this technological convergence continues, Internet service providers are extending their operations into other markets in order to cater to the needs of ever demanding businesses. The business broadband market is now very competitive with a multitude of providers offering Broadband access alongside a variety of extra services to delight the customer.
With new satellite Internet connections, you can do a variety of functions, all at enviable speeds. The number of extra services, a broadband service provider offers, at reasonable prices, is very satisfying. Whether you want extra mobile minutes with your Broadband connection, or the ability to transfer music files between your computer and mobile phone, technological convergence has made it all possible. You might want to take advantage of VoIP technology and make cheap calls over a broadband line or you just want fast, secure Internet access with no extra trimmings. Whatever the deal you can get broadband with different packages to suit your specific needs.
Broadband, in the past, was viewed as a luxury for the tech savvy or corporate employee but it is now becoming more of a necessity for the everyday citizen. Studies have shown that broadband adoption has increased six-fold in the last seven years. It’s the ample number of benefits connected with a broadband service that has brought about this enormous shift to high speed Internet.
If you can get broadband for your business, you can expand your domain to reach a global market place. It will give you more options to compare prices and shop for supplies or you can save time by purchasing supplies online. A broadband connection also has the advantage that it can push news, sales promotions and advertisements to a wider global audience. With all these benefits, more and more companies are adopting satellite Internet connections to take their businesses a level higher.