Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Any examples used are for illustrative purposes only and do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and may not be suitable for all investors. It is not intended to predict the performance of any specific investment and is not a solicitation or recommendation of any investment strategy.
Welcome to Reyna Retirement. Reyna Reyes has dedicated her career to helping people make smarter financial decisions. Reyna Retirement is all about breaking down complex financial concepts into language you can actually understand.
Now here's the co founder of American Federal Benefits Consultants, Reyna Reyes.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: Well, if video killed the radio Star, then the online retirement application has killed paper retirement applications with the United States Postal Service.
Welcome today and we're going to chat about how we're at the beginning of a new era, the dawn of a new time, the beginning of a new chapter in all of our lives. And, and if you know what video killed the radio Radio Star means, then you know that mtv, that was the first music video played on mtv. But MTV recently closed their doors and they also closed out with video Kill the Radio Star. And that's happening now.
The United States Postal Service used to only use paper that is physical dead trees paper to complete retirement documents for all of their employees. That is no longer as of January 1st. And we can roll the tape or show this one image where as of January 1, 2026, you, if you're a postal employee of any craft shape, form or fashion, you do not any longer use pieces of paper. You will be using the same platform aura that our federal employee cousins do in the Fed. And, and this is what I've been talking about since it started. I think it was June, they kicked it off. And now you are part of the mass electronic application people. So what does this mean? You. How do I do this, Raina? I'm ready to retire. This is crazy. I thought you could do all of my documents. Yes, I did. We used to. We used to do all of the documents for you. But now we can help you with the decisions and we can help you with some of the tech once you're in aura. We can absolutely help you. So as you're seeing on here, in fact, I've got another page that's a little more clear that tells you what to do.
You can call the same number you call to be out sick, that is 877-477-3273 and hit Numero Cinco to talk to a retirement specialist at shared services.
And they're going to maybe make you wait a minute so it's faster if you're able to log into Light Blue. Light Blue is an online website that you can pull your annuity estimates and things like that.
And that is where you can also request it online. They're going to give you a login.gov account and connect you with aura. So you get your invitation, your instructions as you can see, and then it'll link your account and all those things and you'll get all official. Once you're in, you can start filling it out. But the irritation, and I'm going to go ahead and give my opinion here, unwarranted however it may be, is that you still have to touch actual stinking paper. Because you see here at the bottom paragraph, you still have to get your other documents. The standard form 2818, that's your life insurance decision, your W4P, that is your tax choice and a marriage certificate, obviously you've got to scan that in. And if you're married and you want to leave any survivor benefit less than full, you going to have to submit the spouse's consent to survivor election.
That needs a notary. If you're in Florida or local to me in any way, I am a notary. That's half of the reason a lot of people come to me for some of their stuff. They're like, Raina, I've got to get my things done. And almost everybody in my office, we all are notaries for that reason.
So if you need it, that's great. We can, you know, handle everything at one time, but you still have to touch some paper. So haha jokes on them, but that's what's coming around the bend. Now let me talk in stereotypes. Most of my postal employees self admittedly do not love tech. Many of them are so many of y' all you money. Many of my post employees are so accustomed to paper because the postal system runs on delivering paper, right? It's, it's like ingrained in you and I get it. I understand if you need help, if you need assistance, my team and I are standing by to help you with this process. This is.
There's some very basic methods we can use to help you do this, get access to this or if you've already called them, sometimes the calling is a little bit, takes a lot, a little bit, a little bit of time. If you can log into Light Blue, set a meeting with us straight away, we can help you get this process going and then we'll go from there because in the same way we're helping everyone else who's already been using Aura. We can help you because this is not our first rodeo. We have seen it, we have stepped in it, we have walked through it. Right? What do they say? Let my hindsight be your foresight. If you're going to walk through a minefield, you want to be the first guy or the last guy. I'm taking the caboose, my friend, for sure. So don't be nervous. Just embrace the facts that this is the change. This is what we have to do now. And there's two methods to obtain it. Again, phone number, you call shared services or you can log in to Light Blue to get access to your to the page. And I've got this last third page which pretty much says the same thing. I'm just showing you proof is in the pudding. This is from the NALC that hey, opm, that is the Office of Personnel's management, not other people's money that the government agency that administers the retirement systems, both FIRs and SIRs, says, hey guys, it's been fun. Say goodbye to your paper. January 1st, all the new applications have to go through Aura. All the ones that have already been submitted though, you're good to go. But new ones are going to have to go through this new platform. So if you didn't know this and you mailed something up, January 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, then you might be getting a return to sender or you might be getting that, you know, come back to you. It's worth it to go ahead and call or log in to at least set up your AURA platform under the assumption that you're going to get, you know, kind of axed and say, no, no, no, no, no, you're past the cutoff date. You're going to have to go back and initiate this online.
So my postal employees, we are your people.
We have multiple, multiple entities that have been around a long time helping postal employees for decades upon decades upon decades. And you need to know we are here for you. We charge nothing to help you go through this process.
And your spouse needs to be involved if you're married. That's what that consent to survivor election is for. But remember, we'll go over these options with you. Things like life insurance choices. What do they do? What do they do now and later after separation and even further as we age in years, what is it going to do for this spouse? What's the value of a survivor benefit? What all comes with it? What do I do with health insurance costs? What if we're both federal or postal? What then? You'll know a special little lingo I have for you all soon to be repeated when you come and set an appointment. There's all kinds of things you have to go over, but we have helped clerks, mail handlers, carriers, supervisors, postmasters, all kinds of people that in the post office go through this.
Maintenance, truck drivers, all y'. All. Everybody has the same issue now that it's a brand new system so you're not alone, but you're also not going to walk through it alone.
Will be with you from A to B, from soup to nuts, from the beginning to the end. Reach out, get scheduled and My number here direct 850-450-6500. We'll connect you either with my calendar or that of my team, all of which are specialists and many of us do workshops in your area. Stay tuned for more. We'll tell you when we'll be there and where so you can get scheduled to come to the meeting. We'll see you then.
[00:08:37] Speaker A: Thanks for listening to Reyna Retirement With a strong commitment to ethical skills standards, Raina works hard to find the right solution for each individual or family who reaches out for advice. To contact rena directly, call 850-450-6500. That's 850450 6500. Or to reach the team at American Federal Benefits Consultants, call 1-800-872-8857. That's 1-800-872- 8857. You can also go online to American Federal not affiliated with the United States Government. Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. These opinions are not intended as investment advice, nor do they predict future performance of any product. All information provided is believed to be from reliable sources. However, we make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of any statement. The information is intended to be educational in nature and does not provide a guarantee or specific result. All copyrights and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. American Federal Benefits Consultants is an independent an organization, not a government agency or affiliated with the Federal Government or any state government. The terms CSRS, FERS, FEGLI and FEHB are all registered trademarks of the U.S. office of Personnel Management. American Federal Benefits Consultants, agents, consultants, or any independent contractors do not provide tax, legal or investment advice and do not engage in the solicitation or sale of securities. Consult with your tax advisor or attorney regarding specific situations.
