Medical Retirement Benefits for US Government Employees: The Watchmaker

Artisans are scarce in existence, these days.  With the constant drone for the economic push for profits, and the incessant pressures of everyday expenses, the village watchmaker, the goldsmith who personally fashions the engagement rings for the couple whom he saw just a moment ago playing outside his shop window as two children lost in the world of make-believe; that is a world we once read about, perhaps in a Dickens novel, of characters out of an era long lost and forgotten.

But the remnants of the characteristics evidencing quality and craftsmanship must survive, lest perfection be lost as a goal and exactitude no longer an achievement worth applauding.  Of course, there will always be cheap replicas; of digital watches manufactured en masse in factories where labor is inexpensive and the worth of human creativity barely given a moment’s glance.  That is why, when one comes upon a true craftsman, observing the care and skill being put into creating a product of worth is indeed something to behold.

And so it is in every endeavor.

For the Federal and Postal employee who must find, of necessity, that filing for Federal Disability Retirement can no longer be put off, it is well to heed the warnings of those predecessors who have experienced the nightmarish administrative procedures required in attaining the benefit.  While it need not take an artisan to put together an effective case, the approach one embraces should include the characteristics of that unique watchmaker:  care in the details; slowly building from a solid foundation; bringing together all of the variegated “parts”, including the medical documentation, legal arguments, effective factual statements, etc.

The Federal and Postal employee, whether under FERS or CSRS, needs to look at the process of preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits as not only the presentation of the case, but the lasting impact of the finished product.  For, in the end, the true artisan creates not only a timepiece, but a timeless piece of work which should last well into a bright future.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Postal and Federal Disability Retirement: Pleasure & Pain

Other than the obvious alliteration of the two concepts, they are antonyms defined by the reality of sensations.  On a spectrum, each can reach differing measures of identification and tolerance:  pain can vary in degree of severity and tolerance, based upon an individual’s capacity; pleasure can reach a wide range of obscure identifiers, because of the subjectivity involved in what constitutes pleasure for one individual as opposed to another.

The two principles combined, of course, can complement and detract on a spectrum; as pain increases, one’s pleasure diminishes; but the corollary effect may not be of parallel consequence in that an increase in pleasure will not necessarily subtract or minimize the pain one experiences.  As a general principle of life, however, the proportional existence of each brings about the valuation and quality of one’s being and existence, and the worthiness of a sustained life.

For those who suffer from a medical condition such that one’s medical condition directly impacts the daily quality of one’s life, measurable pain and the quantitative existence of pleasure is important in planning for the future.  For the Federal and Postal employee who suffers from a progressively deteriorating medical condition, whether physical, psychiatric, or a combination of both, pain often becomes a constant companion which negates the sustenance of life’s pleasures.

Federal Disability Retirement for Federal and Postal Workers, whether under FERS or CSRS, filed through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, is an employment benefit meant to allow for the Federal and Postal employee to alter the course of one’s life and career, by providing for a basic annuity with the added encouragement of going out into the private sector and pursuing a second vocation and career.  It is thus a recognition of the paired principles of pain and pleasure; of allowing for a respite from the pain in one’s career, while identifying that work and productivity often results in the increase of pleasure in one’s life.

It is an anomaly that two such opposing conceptual constructs are perceived inseparably; but as life often presents us with conundrums which cannot be explained by mere linguistic gymnastics, the reality of pain and pleasure provides markers by which we are guided to act.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire