CFP Board Delivers Crucial Financial Guidance to Federal Workforce Amid Uncertainty
In response to the current climate of uncertainty facing the federal workforce, CFP Board mobilized experts in federal employee benefits to deliver targeted information to financial professionals and current and former federal workers through two webinars held in March. CFP Board’s government relations team organized the webinars, after meeting with members of Congress whose phones were ringing off the hook with questions from the federal workforce.
“We recognized the urgent need for competent and ethical financial planning advice and garnered our resources to aid those in need in the federal workforce,” said Erin Koeppel, CFP Board’s Managing Director, Government Relations and Public Policy Counsel, who organized the webinars and additional resources for federal workers (available at cfp.net/fedworkers). The initiative illustrates CFP Board’s commitment to providing the public with access to competent and ethical financial planning.
“Many [federal employees] have very weighty and serious decisions to make and they’re looking to financial planners for help,” said Jon Dauphiné, CEO of the Foundation for Financial Planning, to the financial professionals who attended the March 20, 2025, webinar titled “Advising Federal Employees During These Uncertain Times.” FFP partnered with CFP Board to host the March 20 webinar, which had more than 2,500 registrants.
The companion webinars focused on different audiences. The March 20 webinar offered free CE credit to CFP® professionals who attended and the opportunity for CFP® professionals to volunteer their services to the federal workforce on a pro bono or reduced-rate basis. The March 27 webinar, titled “Managing Your Finances in Uncertain Times: Resources for Federal Government Employees,” was offered to federal employees seeking quality financial information and attracted over 1,500 registrants with over 1,800 replays on the recorded webinar thus far.
During the March 20 webinar for financial professionals, Karen Schaeffer, CFP®, 2007 CFP Board Chair and founder of Schaeffer Financial, shared her expertise on federal government employment benefits.
“There's a lot of need out there,” Schaeffer said to the financial professionals in the audience. “The idea here isn't to make you a federal benefits expert but to ensure you can guide these employees through tough decisions with a very short turnaround.”
Following her presentation, attendees were asked if they were willing to help federal employees pro bono or at a reduced rate. More than 250 CFP® professionals volunteered.
Schaeffer also presented during the March 27 webinar for federal employees alongside Tammy Flanagan, federal benefits expert and Government Executive author and founder of RetireFederal.com, and Michelle Singletary, personal finance columnist for The Washington Post who also covered the webinars in her column.
“Your finances are connected to your emotions, and if you don’t get ahold of those first, you could make some mistakes in the decisions that you have to make going forward,” said Singletary, addressing the tough situation many attendees were facing. For the bulk of the two-hour no-cost webinar, Schaeffer and Flanagan offered crucial information to federal employees and emphasized the need to make informed financial decisions that fit their unique situations and needs.
“The best thing I’ve learned about financial planning [is that] we can always make a situation better,” said Schaeffer, highlighting the impact of accurate and expert advice on a stressed financial situation. Flanagan broke down federal retirement eligibility, a notoriously complex topic, to help federal employees understand their options and make informed decisions. She tackled topics including the differences between federal retirement accounts and private sector retirement accounts and the appropriate use of debt.
During the Q&A session following the presentation, Schaeffer and Flanagan provided valuable answers to federal employees on topics including how to manage the impacts of a reduction in force, management of government retirement savings plans, including the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) and Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS), Social Security benefits and health insurance options. Additional questions and answers were transcribed and posted on cfp.net/fedworkers, along with a link to the March 27 webinar recording and a list of CFP® professionals willing to assist federal employees either pro bono or on a reduced-rate basis. All these resources are free for the public to access.