Federal Disability Retirement: The Value of Complaint

The older generation would probably disagree.  For, complaining about anything in this world “never gets you anywhere”, is the refrain often heard from a generation which endured the Great Depression, a World War, the Cold War, nuclear threats — and, more recently, of global terrorism.

And where did “complaining” get us?  Nowhere.  Government keeps getting bigger and bigger, more intrusive into our lives, while the services offered become less efficient.  Things always seem to get worse, over time, despite promises of greater efficiency and openness.

Yet, there is a value in complaining — at a minimum, of simply releasing the pent-up frustrations amassed through standing in long lines, inability to get through to a live person on the telephone, and a myriad of other frustrations and withheld, repressed irritations.  Complaining also has the value of letting your concerns be known to others.

There is, of course, a “fine line” between complaining (a negative connotation) and expressing one’s “concerns” (a valid, more-acceptable linguistic contortion that is somehow a “positive” engagement).  Perhaps it has to do with the accompanying tone of voice, facial expression, or just the plain fact that if the listening individual likes you, then you are expressing a concern, but if he/she decides to not like you, then you are “complaining”.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who are considering filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under the FERS system, through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, “complaining” is a necessary component in preparing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application.  For one thing, you need to — at a minimum — have some documentary proof of your health complaints (i.e., have a history of medical treatment).  Moreover, it is often helpful if your agency knows of your health concerns (here we go again — a more “positive” way of putting it).

And when you are ready, call a Federal Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and begin to complain to him about the complex bureaucratic process of preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement case.  And as to the value of complaint?  I promise to listen.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

FERS Disability Retirement Help: The Quagmire of Past

The balance between times is an important talent to garner, cultivate and help flourish; it is that lack of ability which doesn’t come naturally, but is a necessary tool for living a successful life.  We watch jugglers adeptly perform the feat of seemingly effortless magic — of a dozen balls twirling this way and that, making circles and loops as if in a continuum of timeless fluidity.

We have a past; we live in the present; we look to the future.  The past is based upon our memories and is no more; the present is the existential encounter with Being; the future is based upon our past memories projected into a time anticipated but not yet objectively “real”.

The quagmire of past is the failure to compartmentalize and store away with disciplined severity; the entrapment of the present is when a person allows for the appetitive, lower parts of the soul to dominate; and anxiety about the future comes about when we know that we are wasting our time either by dwelling too much upon the past, or in the manner of our present living.  In the end, the quagmire of past is often a difficulty which cannot be completely controlled, but governed and managed by how we live today.

For those who are employed with the Federal Government or the U.S. Postal Service who are suffering from a health condition but concurrently stuck in the quagmire of past because you cannot believe that you are no longer the same “you” of a decade ago, it may be time to focus upon the present circumstances and plan for a better future by preparing, formulating and filing for Federal or Postal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS, through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Contact a FERS Ret. Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and consider that the quagmire of past needs to be replaced with a hope for the future, and getting a Federal Disability Retirement annuity may be the best first step in the present circumstances to achieve that goal.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

OPM Medical Retirement Benefits: The Inadequacy of Language

Adequacy is determined by comparing the expectation of fulfillment to the reality of what occurs.  For a short period of time in the history of human existence, adequacy was met — for, language as a tool of communication was successful in conveying commands, following simple instructions, purveying uncomplicated thoughts, relating oral traditions of historical facts, etc.

As life became more and more complex, of course, language had to keep up in order to accommodate the greater need.  The development and evolution of language has certainly become more complex, and the discipline of philology reveals such evolving complexities — but the question always remains, Is language adequate?  And the follow-up question by necessity: Adequate for what?

One might avoid the question by criticizing the vehicle of language, of course — that in the end, language is adequate, but it is the speaker of a language whose inadequacy is revealed by the inefficient manner in which it is applied, the inability to choose or recognize the right words, etc.  In the end, it is likely both — for, even a lifetime of studying one’s own language is often not enough to be able to describe the inherent complexities of the world in which we live, especially given the technological expansion in modernity.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition necessitates contemplation of preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under FERS, make sure that you recognize: (A) That such an application for Federal Disability Retirement is first and foremost a paper presentation to OPM and (B) that conveying the severity and extent of your medical conditions must by necessity be through the expertise of linguistic formulation.

As such, it is often the inadequacy of language which will determine the success or failure of an OPM Disability Retirement application.

Contact an OPM Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and make sure that the inadequacy of language is not to your disadvantage.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

OPM Disability Retirement for Federal & Postal Workers: Worlds Apart

It is a phrase which is oft-used to describe the distance still to be traversed when negotiations break down; but more generally, it reveals the differences between people, ideas, countries and cultures.  There are, indeed, many different worlds — of countries; societies; of the internal “world” by which we live — our thoughts, cares, conceptual lives and pondering narratives.

So long as the inner world by which we operate is consistent with the “objective” reality of the Kantian “noumenal” universe, we are deemed sane and left alone.  It is when the distance between the objective world and our own world of thoughts becomes too disjointed, overly separated and — worlds apart — that we are deemed insane or otherwise disconnected from reality.  The key is to maintain a semblance of worlds knit closely together, lest becoming worlds apart leads to falling apart.

That is what filing for Federal/Postal Disability Retirement is all about — of keeping one’s universe from becoming worlds apart, or from falling apart.  Medical conditions separate one’s private world of pain, suffering, depression, anxiety, etc., from the “world” of one’s Federal or Postal job. Federal Disability Retirement is that bridge between Federal or Postal employment and termination from that world because of a medical condition.

Contact an OPM Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, lest your application for Federal Disability Retirement is denied and remains worlds apart from a successful Federal Disability Retirement filing.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS Disability Retirement for Civilian Federal Employees: Necessity by Choice

There are always options; it is just that, because some of the alternatives presented are either unfathomable or illogical, we deem them to be “not” viable choices to consider.  The necessity of filing for Federal Employee Disability Retirement under FERS is often viewed in that manner: It is a necessity — yes, by choice, but only because all other options have become untenable.

The Federal employee or U.S. Postal worker does not come to making such a decision because he or she really has any other say in the matter.  Staying at the job with the deteriorating condition is really not an option.  Simply resigning and walking away with nothing to show for all of the hard work expended is unthinkable.

There are, for the few fortunate, the choice of an early retirement, or having reached that MRA crossroad; but such choices are limited and often not economically viable.  And so the necessity by choice must be faced: Unable to continue in the job because of a medical condition, OPM Disability Retirement is the only option left.

Contact a FERS Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and begin the process of preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal or Postal Disability Retirement application because the necessity has prompted the choosing of the only viable option left.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Employee Disability Pension: Avoiding the Rabbit Hole

The figurative “rabbit hole” originates from the famous Carroll classic, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.  As applied, it refers to the labyrinthine distractions which we pursue in acts of futility — of irrelevancies and asides that detract from the importance of a focused and purposeful endeavor.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, avoiding the proverbial “rabbit hole” is important both in terms of focus, as well as relevancy of application.

Avoid the obvious rabbit holes — Federal Disability Retirement is not the time to complain incessantly about how badly you have been treated by your agency; it is not the moment for revenge; it is not the forum for blasting your supervisor and how mean he or she has been, etc.  The focus is the rabbit, and not the rabbit hole.

Contact a FERS Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and make sure that your application for Federal Disability Retirement benefits leads to an approval — meaning, the prize of the rabbit, and not the empty rabbit hole.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Medical Retirement under FERS: The Wishes We Wish

People wish all the time.  Whether implicitly through fantasy or daydreaming, or explicitly by prefacing the thought with, “I wish that…” — the wishes we wish are often more revealing than the act of wishing itself.

Are humans the only species which projects upon things not possessed?  Do other species wish for things, circumstances, events and relationships that are not?  Does it border upon insanity to wish for things that are clearly outside of the realm of probabilities, or is it a healthy engagement of one’s time to daydream, wish, imagine and hope for?

Is there a distinction with a difference between a wish and a hope, a fantasy and a wandering daydream, or between a concocted reality and the miserable circumstances within which one exists?  If the difference is between containing one’s wishes within the privacy of one’s mind — on the one hand — and “acting as if” the wish itself is reality, on the other, then the boundary between sanity and its opposite is thin indeed.

Here’s something that tells us much about ourselves: Do we wish for things for ourselves, or for others?  Do we wish for extravagances — like a yacht, a vacation or a revitalization of a lost relationship — or something more mundane, like good health?

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s job, the wishes we wish may be common, understandable and mundane — of getting one’s health back.  And while Federal Disability Retirement may not result in better health, it allows for a Federal or Postal employee to extricate one’s self from a workplace situation that only increases the stresses upon one’s health because of the constant worry about being unable to perform the work assigned, and to instead focus upon one’s health and well-being.

In the end, the wishes we wish need to conform to the reality we find ourselves in, and for Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who need to file for Federal Employee Disability Retirement, you should contact a Federal Disability Lawyer who specializes in FERS Disability Retirement Law and allow for some wishes to turn into a reality.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Disability Retirement for Federal Employees: Looking After Yourself

All of our lives, most of us look after others.  Sure — there are those who are self-centered, egoistical, and selfish to a point of absurdity; but the rest of us find value in caring for others, or of working towards something else, at the expense of our own “whatever”.

There is much talk these days about joy, happiness, contentment, etc.  Gone are the days where you should do “whatever makes you happy” — for one thing, the economy isn’t good enough to embrace such a philosophy.  For another thing, it is often impractical for the art of living to simply pursue one’s desires.

We work for others; we do things to please others; we even accede to another’s wants and needs; and perhaps, in a perfect world, if everyone did things for others, it would mean that everyone’s needs would become satisfied because everyone else is also looking after yourself.  But that approach to life works only in a perfect world; whereas, much of modernity proves the opposite: If you don’t look after yourself, no one else will.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition begins to prevent you from performing one or more of the essential elements of your job, it is high time that you began to look after yourself, and not worry about your Federal Agency, your coworkers, your Postal Facility or anything else.

Health is of paramount importance.  Consult with an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and begin the process of preparing an effective FERS Medical Retirement application in order to begin looking after yourself, for once.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement under FERS: The Percentage Game

We all play it; whether in calculating the chances of success (most of us are not knowledgeable enough to be statisticians, not having paid close enough attention in high school or college to that mathematics course regarding the numerical analysis of a numbers-based algorithm), or in merely keeping an eye on interest rates in the housing market, or perhaps taking note of how likely it is to be attacked by a shark before we step into the polluted waters of the Atlantic.

OPM certainly plays the game — one needs only to look at a Denial from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to realize that, the manner in which the Denial of a Federal Disability Retirement application is written, there will be a certain percentage of people who will read it and say, “Gee, I never stood a chance.  I might as well not even go any further.”

The Denials are often written in unequivocal terms, stating with a tone of certainty that there was never any basis for filing, and that any further efforts would be fruitless and futile.  And from that language of certainty, a certain percentage of Federal Disability Retirement applicants will simply give up and walk away.  That is what the percentage game is based upon.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who have received a Denial from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, it is wise to consult with an experienced attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law to perform an objective-based evaluation of a Federal Disability Retirement claim.  Better, yet, consult with such an attorney even before you begin the process, to ensure the best chances in this “percentage game” which OPM plays.

Sincerely,

Robert R.McGill, Esquire