United States

Office of 

Personnel Management 

The Federal Government’s Human Resources Agency

Benefits Administration Letter

Number: 19 - 104 Date: 06/03/2019

Subject: Analysis of Agency Financial Education and Literacy plans 2019 

Background 

The Thrift Savings Plan Open Elections Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-469) required the Office 

of Personnel Management (OPM) to develop and implement a retirement financial literacy and 

education strategy for Federal employees as part of the retirement training offered by OPM under 

5 U.S.C. 8350. Benefit Administration Letter (BAL) 07-102 provides guidance to agencies to 

develop a comprehensive Financial Education Plan, while BAL 11-104 updates this guidance, 

provides additional information to agencies, and formalizes the evaluation process. Due to the 

diversity among Federal agencies, guidance remained general to allow maximum flexibility in 

this process where all agencies may adequately respond to the requirements.

The implementation of the strategy required agencies to educate Federal employees on: 

• The need for retirement savings and investment,

• Provide information on how to plan for retirement, and

• How to calculate the retirement investment needed to meet their retirement goals

The OPM Benefits Officers Development and Outreach (BODO) group received 35 Financial 

Education plans from Federal agencies for 2019. Each plan was reviewed and the data analyzed 

to identify trends. The purpose of this BAL is to provide the results of this analysis and to 

include a summary of the Financial Education Plan Data Elements. 

Kenneth J. Zawodny, Jr. 

Associate Director 

Retirement Services 
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Benefits Officers Development and Outreach 

(BODO) group received 35 Financial Education plans from Federal agencies for 2019. Each plan 

was reviewed, evaluated, and the data analyzed to identify trends. This BAL includes the findings 

based on commonalities of the plans received, discusses the challenges identified in this analysis, 

and makes recommendations using this analysis. 

There were several commonalities in the plans provided by the agencies despite their differences. 

It was evident that many agencies outlined their plan in accordance with the instructions 

provided in BAL 07-102 by the inclusion of the key elements identified, emphasizing the tools 

which were implemented in support of the Retirement Readiness NOW model, highlighting 

efforts in educating employees throughout their federal career, and complying with the reporting 

requirements. 

The commonalities as it relates to the key elements are highlighted below: 

Content:

• 94% of Federal agencies who submitted plans included educational opportunities 

for the CSRS and FERS retirement systems

• 94% included various communication efforts and resources for the Thrift Savings 

Plan (TSP) 

• 83% of submitting agencies specifically mentioned Social Security and Medicare 

• 75% mentioned the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan (FEHBP) and Federal 

Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) 

Within the key element of content, the majority of submitting agencies also mentioned informing 

employees of: 

• availability of self-initiated retirement estimate tools available for employees

• Estate planning

• Federal Long Term Care Insurance

Delivery:

• 97% of agencies utilized web based communication efforts 

• 94% conducted pre-retirement counseling and seminars 

• 91% offered one-on-one counseling for employees 

The vast majority of agencies also delivered information through: 

• Agency wide email blasts

• Targeted emails (new hire, mid-career, retirement eligible)

• Benefits fairs

• Lunch and learn programs 

• Online tools, such as calculators
Evaluation:

• 86% of submitting agencies specifically mentioned using surveys to evaluate their 

services

Sustainability: 

• 91% planned to implement enhanced services based on feedback

• 88% analyzed survey results 

• 64% of agencies reported a plan to increase awareness of available services

Challenges:

While the majority of Federal agencies that submitted Financial Education plans were consistent 

with outlining their results in the same format as listed in BAL 07-102 by organizing the 

information within the specific key element, some education plans were written in a narrative 

format. Although this approach is acceptable, it requires the analyst to extract data elements 

from throughout the narrative and categorize them with a certain degree of subjectivity. Other 

submissions were prepared in general terms resulting in a broad overview without the specific 

details needed to adequately assess the inclusion of all of the key elements and evaluate if the 

content provided is comprehensive. This made it difficult to determine if the Federal agency 

included the basic Federal benefits, (CSRS and FERS benefits, FEHB, FEGLI, TSP, 

supplemental insurances, etc.) in the plan. Many agencies mentioned the use of outside entities, 

their programs, and content. However, they did not detail the specific topics covered, making it 

difficult to determine if these outside entities provided information on other topics that may be of 

interest for other agencies to include in their future plans. 

The areas identified as needing improvement include: 

• specific training for HR Specialists (Only 26 percent of agencies mention specific

training)

• monitoring of TSP contributions. Because the majority of Federal employees are 

now covered under FERS, this is a critical piece in their retirement and financial 

planning (60 percent of agencies report they monitor the TSP)_ 

• working with labor organizations and unions, which could increase their 

communication of educational opportunities and resources available to all 

employees (11 percent of agencies mentioned these efforts)

OPM recognizes the diversity among Federal agencies. Thus, to provide a resolution to the 

analytical challenges, we provided additional information for agencies to utilize that could help 

to better define both the topics and subtopic information. This will help agencies format their 

plans to achieve maximum results, as detailed in Public Law 108-469. It also enhances their 

plans to adequately prepare employees to set and meet their retirement goals. 

Utilizing this information would not only guarantee coverage of the basic elements in a plan, but 

also highlight specific innovative ideas or subjects in a particular agency plan:
Content:

• CSRS/FERS

• FEHB

• FEGLI

• TSP

• Federal Employees Dental & Vision Program (FEDVIP), Flexible Spending Account 

• Federal Long Term Care Insurance (FLTC)

• Social Security & Medicare

• Estate Planning

• Tax Planning Strategies 

• Child Education Planning 

• Eldercare Planning 

• Self-Initiated Estimates Calculators (GRB, EBIS, Employee Express, etc.)

Delivery:

• Pre-Retirement Counseling 

• Pre-Retirement Seminars

• One-on-One Counseling 

• Benefit Fairs

• Lunch & Learn 

• Targeted Communication (new hire, mid-career, retirement eligible)

• Email Blasts

• Web Based Communication

• Posters/Flyers

• Pamphlets/ Newsletters

• Online Calculators

• Engaged with Labor Organizations & Unions 

• Training for Benefits Personnel 

Evaluation: 

• Surveys 

• Analysis of Utilization of Services

• TSP Participation/ Contribution Rates

• Evaluation of Benefits Personnel 

Sustainability:

• Analysis of Survey Results 

• Strategies Developed for Increased Utilization of Services

• Increasing Awareness of Services

• Refresher Training for Benefits Personnel

• Develop Training Materials Based on Regulations