Retirement Journal

I retired from federal civil service on December 31, 2004 at the age of 55½ with 35 years and 7 months service and I can attest first hand to how rewarding civil service employment can be – and was in my case. My service began in 1968 when I was drafted during Vietnam. Before I was called up I joined the Air Force and spent over three years on active duty. I researched government job opportunities while in the military, applied for, and was hired by the Department of Defense (DOD) when I was discharged from active duty. After three years with the DOD maintaining aircraft avionics systems, I bid on and was hired by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for a technician position in Central Pennsylvania. I spent the remainder of my government career in various positions with the FAA. The last 20 years of my career included numerous supervisory and management positions and my last position was Manager of Technical Operations at the Greater Pittsburgh International Airport's Air Traffic Control Tower. 

Parts of my journal may relate to your personal situation. If you would like to comment on a journal entry, use the submission form on the journal page or send an e-mail to ddamp@aol.com. You will find other articles of mine online at Monster.com.

PREPARATION is the key to a successful retirement and my Federal Employee Retirement Planning site is devoted to guiding you through the federal retirement maze and includes information on benefits, general retirement issues, and easy-to-use estate planning techniques. It was designed to help you think about the entire picture and not just your annuity and when you can leave. There is considerably more to retirement than meets the eye and this site will help you focus on the critical issues that we all must address at this time in our lives.

Dennis V. Damp

Go to Retirement Journal

Key Benefits

• Personal experiences from a federal government retiree
• Suggestions on how to prepare for your retirement
• Hundreds of helpful resources and tools for feds and retirees

Capabilities

• Better understanding of what it takes to successfully retire
• Learn from an insider who actually went through the process (first hand experience)
• Ability to ask the the author questions and obtain answers and guidance