Authoritative guidance for federal employees navigating pay, benefits, the workplace, and the long arc of a federal career. Written for the 2.2 million people who actually run the government.
How federal employees get paid and move up. The mechanics of the GS scale and the leverage hidden inside them.
The federal benefits package explained for people still working. What you have, how to use it, and what the fine print actually says.
The day-to-day reality of working in the federal government. What to do when things get complicated or adversarial.
Growing beyond your current role. Training, credentials, and leadership pathways, including executive education.
Run the numbers on your own situation. Interactive planners built specifically for the federal compensation system.
On September 2 the order that decides who stays was inverted. Performance is now scored first, veterans’ preference became points instead of a category, tenure survives only as a tie-breaker, and bump and retreat are gone. The date on your notice — not your separation date — decides which rulebook governs you.
The same rule that inverted the RIF order made your last four ratings the opening score — seven points for a Level 5, zero for anything below Fully Successful, twenty-one at the ceiling. Twenty-five years of service is now a tie-breaker reached after that.
Executive pay carries no locality adjustment at all — the same salary in San Jose and rural Alabama. A GS-15 at the top of the San Francisco table can lose $37,200 by accepting an appointment, and most people run that number after they have said yes.
Every calculator is built specifically for the federal compensation system. GS tables, locality factors, TSP matching, and buyback math — modeled honestly. No email required.
GS grade and step with full locality adjustment for 2026 rates.
Open Tool →Model contribution rates, employer match, and long-horizon growth.
Open Tool →Military service credit deposit and pension-payoff modeling.
Open Tool →Project your FERS high-3 average based on your career trajectory.
Open Tool →Eight plain-language stages, then a verdict that traces every dollar back to what you told us. One-time purchase, one year of access, no account.
Federal Warrior is one of three sister properties covering the full arc of working life — from your first paycheck to your final annuity.
For working federal employees, military, state/local, and private sector workers building toward retirement.
Current SiteFor federal employees and military members approaching or in retirement. FERS, FDR, VDS, Social Security, SSDI, TSP distributions.
Visit Site ↗For disabled veterans and military members navigating IDES, MEB, PEB, and other medical evaluation board processes.
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