Let me begin by wishing you and your families a very happy and joyful holiday.
We’ve just completed a very successful Benefits Open Season and are moving on with other scheduled events for you. Right now we’re working on completing your “Statement of Annuity Paid” forms. These are the 1099Rs that you receive every year that you use to file your tax returns. This year we’re trying to have your 1099Rs posted and available by the last week of January. The 1099Rs will be available on our Services OnLine (SOL) site. We encourage you to pull those directly from the website. In the future, we would like to move to a completely automated process so you can retrieve the forms without us having to mail them. But in the meantime, we will still be sending out these notifications to you by mail the last week in January.
In the next couple weeks you‘ll receive your “Notice of Annuity Adjustment” by mail. This year’s notice contains information about the cost of living adjustment (COLA) and any changes that will affect the amount of your monthly annuity. And remember, it’s very important for you to keep your mailing address current. Although you may have direct deposit, we still mail information to you. To be sure you receive this and other mailings, we need to have your correct mailing address.
As we continue to develop more services for you, I encourage all of you to log on to our retirement website at www.opm.gov/retire for current information about retirement issues. There’s a treasure chest of great information that may be of value to you. If there are particular business transactions you need to take care of, log on to our Services OnLine (SOL) site at www.servicesonline.opm.gov/ where you can quickly and easily change or update your mailing address, set up allotments, change your Federal tax withholding, sign up for direct deposit, change your password and view your annuity statement. You can now take advantage of our SOL site when you’re in interim payment status.
As we move into the New Year, we will be focusing on improving and expanding our services for you so you can continue to enjoy your retirement. Be sure to keep abreast of the latest retirement issues that may affect you by logging on to www.opm.gov/retire. Manage your own account on www.servicesonline.opm.gov/. Be sure to follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/fedretireinfo.
Again, best wishes for this holiday season and the New Year.