Coffee with Mike- Why We Made the Statement

The reason I built the statement is I wanted to have a platform for all of us to be able to communicate with one another. Something that was the same. I went into OPM, I found out there are 77 different pay stubs. I found out that there are 77 different ways of explaining benefits. I found out that when OPM changed their website, TSP changed their website, it's very confusing. Where are things? How do you find out? How do you know what you are reading is actually pertaining to you? 

So, all that motivated me to say we need something where everybody can get the same material, the same format, and yet it pertains strictly to them. I thought about, what if we create a statement that allowed people to enter their own pay information and do it in a way that is certainly respectful of their privacy, and yet also in a way that we can take this format and we can create a peek into the future as to what really is happening with your career financially, and also what's what's happened already. What do we have already? 

So, that's why I created it. I wanted to have a chance to talk to you. I wanted to have a chance to say to you that I understand your situation, I know where you are financially, and I think I can help you understand those benefits a lot better in terms of where you are and where you're headed, and give you a chance to respond to that. Give you a chance to say, ‘well that's comforting,’ or ‘well, that's disturbing,’ or, ‘man, I gotta do something,’ or, ‘I just gotta keep doing what I'm doing.’  

Let's find some way to just communicate with one another, but what I know best and what you know best. I know best the federal benefits, you know best to you. So, if you can give me a little bit about you and I give you the structure of the federal benefit statement, then we can actually communicate to one another in such a way that I can help you I can help you make decisions. That's what I wanted to do, I just I just wanna to communicate with you and help you.