I may be considering a VA position. I am not impressed with the pension they offer for psychologists. It's basically the same as social security, only slightly higher. Does anyone at the VA know whether you have to forgo social security if you are getting the VA pension? Are you eligible for social security at age 66 while also getting the VA pension? Nobody has been able to answer this question for me. It's seems key to know because the pension is basically worthless since social security gets up to 2200 per month (for people who earn more than 100K).
VA pension and social security for psychologists
- Thread starter PHD12
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2012
- Messages
- 919
- Reaction score
- 145
You draw the FERS pension and the social security simultaneously. Wouldn't be a good deal otherwise.
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2009
- Messages
- 18,033
- Reaction score
- 23,786
At least from where I've looked around, once you add in the benefits (good health insurance, FERS, plenty of paid sick and vacation days, every federal holiday paid off, etc) the VA works out to be a better deal than a lot of places. Also, portability within the system is fairly easy (i.e., as long as you don't royally **** up, if you want to move to another open position in the VA, you likely get the job over someone not in the system).
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2012
- Messages
- 919
- Reaction score
- 145
My advice to anyone trying to land a VA position is try and get one where you're working in integrated healthcare, geriatrics, primary care, etc. - e.g., *not* embedded directly in the mental health care line. In other words, don't be working directly for your Psychology or Psychiatry Service. See if you can get a job where you're working on extended "loan" to another service like Extended Care or Acute Medicine, etc.
Chances are pretty good if you do that you also end up with a lot of extra flexibility in how you can make your hours. And if you can have your job set up so that you don't have to clear consults and have a CPRS "clinic" (like me), you really can basically punch your own ticket and work entirely at your own pace, which I've found over the years is inordinately helpful.
The pay isn't a kings ransom at the VA, absolutely, if you like money you should go into business and do that - we hear occasionally about psychologists who clean up as entrepreneurs, and great, if you have a head for business, do that instead. Otherwise, I think it's still true that the VA is the best game in town, still, for psychologists. There are a lot of nice-looking positions outside of the VA for psychologists, but they pay less, and they don't seem nearly as forgiving and flexible.
To OP, VA retirement compensation consists of:
(Previously mentioned)
*annuity/FERS--1% of salary x #of years of service (about 20-30K/year)
*social security benefits (if you're in a position that pays into it)
(Others forgot to mention)
*thrift savings plan (tsp)--a federal 401k type of plan... You contribute % from each paycheck, VA matches some %, etc
So the annuity/social security is basically security from dire poverty. The majority of your retirement savings would come from your own investment into your TSP and the markets.
(Previously mentioned)
*annuity/FERS--1% of salary x #of years of service (about 20-30K/year)
*social security benefits (if you're in a position that pays into it)
(Others forgot to mention)
*thrift savings plan (tsp)--a federal 401k type of plan... You contribute % from each paycheck, VA matches some %, etc
So the annuity/social security is basically security from dire poverty. The majority of your retirement savings would come from your own investment into your TSP and the markets.
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2010
- Messages
- 9,321
- Reaction score
- 5,591
Pensions seem to be few and far-between these days, so yep, it's not a bad deal.
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2012
- Messages
- 919
- Reaction score
- 145
Yeah, another note about the Thrift Savings Plan, the VA's 401K (technically a 403B... whatever that means). They not only match, but they match 100% of your contribution, up to 5% of your paycheck. Which, these days, just doesn't happen anywhere else. Whoever heard of an investment that guaranteees a 100% return?
My wife works at a fairly nice place and has a matching program for her 401K, the difference there is she gets a 5% match, meaning, 5% of whatever she contributes is matched by her employer. A relative pittance.
My wife works at a fairly nice place and has a matching program for her 401K, the difference there is she gets a 5% match, meaning, 5% of whatever she contributes is matched by her employer. A relative pittance.
Although the combination of a pension and 401(k) is a very nice VA benefit, good 401k matches are extremely common at most universities (at state-supported schools, these are technically 401(a) and/or 403(b) accounts). Most provide at least a 100% match; many exceed that--for example, at the University of Michigan, you contribute 5% of your gross pay, and they match 10% of your gross (i.e., a 200% match)--see http://benefits.umich.edu/plans/retire/basic.html
