With the fallout of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade still settling two years later, House lawmakers added a provision to the fiscal 2025 defense appropriations bill that restricts leave and reimbursement benefits for federal employees seeking an abortion or related procedures. On Friday, the $833 billion bill was approved in a 217-199 vote.

“Biden’s Department of Defense is using taxpayer dollars to fund time off, lodging and travel expenses for elective abortions, directly violating the long-standing Hyde Amendment in yet another attempt to promote abortion,” said Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Tx., who led that amendment to the defense bill.

In 2022, Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a memo permitting three weeks of “administrative absence,” which doesn’t charge leave balance, for service members to receive reproductive health care or support a dependent seeking it. The policy came after states began initiating legislation to restrict abortion after the Supreme Court overturned the longstanding constitutional protection in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

As of April, 41 states have some kind of abortion restriction in place, 14 of which are a total ban, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that advocates for reproductive rights worldwide.

The benefit in question only provides reimbursement of travels costs to get access to otherwise noncovered reproductive health care services; it does not pay for the actual procedures with government funds. The policy also permits time off for appointments that may be related to infertility treatments.

On Thursday, Senate Republicans blocked a sweeping bill that would’ve made IVF more affordable and accessible to veterans, service members and feds.

Just this March, the Pentagon released numbers showing how many in the department used the abortion travel policy since it was implemented in 2022. Between June and December 2023, the policy was used 12 times across the services, costing roughly $45,000.

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said at the time that count may include individuals who used the policy more than once.

In addition to overriding the 2022 memo establishing these policies, the amendment makes an attempt to bar any future rules with the same objective.

“The bill furthers Republicans’ goal of making abortion illegal nationally by making it harder for women in our military to obtain reproductive care,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. “No woman deserves to have her health care and family planning decisions made by politicians, but especially those who have put their lives on the line to protect all Americans’ rights and freedoms.”

Now that the House has passed its version of the defense bill, it will send it to the Senate for consideration.

Both chambers must reconcile their differences before the spending bill can become law.

Ashish Vazirani, acting Under Secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, said in a May 28 report that other federal agencies paid entry-level nurses “substantially more,” and that his office is working in conjunction with others to add and update special salary rates to attract and retain employees at medical facilities. It’s using the Department of Veterans Affairs as a model.

“The agency is fully engaged and postured to continue to maintain or achieve pay parity with the VA and receive competitive special salary rates that align with current market pay,” the office said in its response to the inspector general report.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which at its height saw a 150,000 weekly hospitalization rate in the U.S., severely disrupted the federal health care sector. The Bureau of Prisons, Veterans Health Administration and Medicare- and Medicaid-operated nursing homes were understaffed during the pandemic, federal data shows.

While it’s unlikely anything could’ve prepared the federal government for such an emergency, the Pentagon had been experiencing medical personnel shortages even before the coronavirus spread in 2020. As of last year, inspector general identified at least 6,000 vacant civilian positions in its sample of medical facilities, with nearly a third operating at 30% vacant or more.

Officials blamed the shortage on an inability to set competitive pay and other instances of bureaucratic red tape slowing down onboarding for health care workers. Shortages were particularly acute at medical centers serving metro areas, where pay lagged even more given the higher costs of living and incomparable private sector rates.

Workers became burned out, with some working 80 to 100 hours per week. Others couldn’t get access to bases that had the resources they needed. For service members, the effects of understaffing led to a decrease in preventative screenings and care, and delays in deployments because mandatory COVID-19 tests couldn’t be processed quickly enough.

“Service members left the military because of their experiences during the COVID‑19 pandemic, such as continued expectations of filling in for callouts and working overtime,” according to the report.

One unnamed official interviewed cited a delay in diagnosis and treatment for a tumor of a pediatric patient because a majority of the available doctors were deployed elsewhere for pandemic response. Another gave an example of a patient who died by suicide three days after visiting the emergency department, where psychiatrists were not able to evaluate patients in person due to pandemic protocols, low staffing and “task saturation.”

“… A senior enlisted leader at another [medical treatment facility] stated that their health care personnel were exhausted from the extra work caused by personnel shortages, and they were worried that it was only a matter of time before a provider would ‘miss something,’” according to the report.

Madigan Army Medical Center at on Joint Base Lewis-McChord logged the highest vacancy rate at 38%. Close behind was the 88th Medical Group at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base at 36% and the 51st Medical Group at Osan Air Base at about a third.

So far, DoD has leveraged Title 38 pay flexibilities for physicians and dentists, but not for nurses. But a separate report submitted to Congress in 2023 notes that registered nurses and licensed practical nurses are most likely to leave the Defense Department in search of other work. They also account for about 46% of the overall Defense Health Agency workforce.

With approval from the federal government’s HR office, these authorities that adjust the usual pay rules can allow agencies to offer more money for certain positions that are either hard to fill or in demand. However, the usefulness of that is somewhat dampened by the complexities and limitations involved with implementing them, officials said.

Agencies have to grapple with available funding, collective bargaining and pay caps when adjusting pay rates that can limit the range of effectiveness of these authorities even once they’re granted. Some medical treatment facilities were able to attract nurses with a special salary rate, but that was not uniform across all areas. Some centers were advised to consider alternatives before requesting a special rate, according to internal guidance.

In any case, officials said in the report that it stood up a tiger team last year to reevaluate pay.

Per the Office of Management and Budget, two business days before funds expire, agencies are to notify employees of the status of appropriations. A Biden administration official said initial communication to agencies about lapse planning began Wednesday.

Senate lawmakers are poised to pass a budget extension on Thursday, funding all government operations through March 1 and some — including the Department of Defense — through March 8. The legislation still only allows spending at fiscal 2023 levels, limiting new program starts and equipment purchases. But it would prevent a partial government shutdown prompted by an appropriations lapse.

“No one back home wants to see a shutdown or chaos, so let’s quickly pass this and work to finalize serious appropriations bills, free of partisan poison pills, that protect key investments in our country’s future,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a statement on the budget plan Monday.

House leaders have said they will take up the measure ahead of the Friday night deadline, but the timing — and support for that — remains unclear.

Far-right members of the House GOP caucus have said they do not want any more short-term budget measures. At the same time, other Republicans are trying to steer away from massive omnibus packages, signaling perhaps the original intent behind the two-step continuing resolution.

Should another extension fail, funding for the departments of Agriculture, Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Veterans Affairs would all end, forcing a series of closures at each of those agencies. Some military construction funding would also be impacted.

Shutdown impact

Most VA operations were funded through advance appropriations approved last year, meaning the effects of a budget lapse would be limited.

In a statement, VA press secretary Terrence Hayes said if Congress misses the Friday deadline “there would be no impact on veteran healthcare, burials would continue at VA national cemeteries, and VA would continue to process and deliver benefits to veterans, including compensation, pension, education, and housing benefits.”

However, most outreach services would shutter, he said. Public-facing regional offices would be closed, as would career counseling and transition assistance programs. Cemetery grounds maintenance would be postponed until a budget deal is reached.

About 4% of the VA staff — around 18,000 VA staffers — could be furloughed during a partial shutdown, although exact numbers would depend on what other funding is available to department planners.

At the Department of Agriculture, about 59% of the agency’s 97,000 employees would be furloughed in the event of a shutdown. Certain functions funded by the Inflation Reduction Act or other funding legislation would be allowed to continue, like the Farm Service Agency’s loan program and the Forest Service. Regulatory food inspections to maintain public health are also deemed critical functions. Other administrative, research and clerical work would cease.

About 18,000 Department of Transportation workers would face furloughs, equally roughly a third of the workforce, according to the agency’s shutdown plan on file with OMB. However, sub-agencies paid out of the Highway Trust Fund or Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act are not solely reliant on annual appropriations and thus may continue operating.

Further, the Federal Aviation Administration would retain about 63% of its workforce to maintain air traffic control, though there could still be disruptions to travel if employees must work without pay. Aviation policymaking, bringing on new air traffic controllers, and facility inspections would be halted.

The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy would continue to operate on funding other than annual appropriations in the name of national security.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development, a largely public-facing agency that assists with housing and rental assistance, would close its headquarters and field offices if funds run out. The majority — about 80% — of employees are barred from working during a shutdown. The department said in its plan that monthly subsidy programs and fair housing activities could be impacted severely by a shutdown.

Much of the Department of Energy’s funding is multi-year or “no year.” But if available funds are exhausted by a lengthy shutdown, that could stop any non-essential work and lead to subsequent furloughs. As of August, the department said 1,040 employees are fully or partially funded by multi-year appropriations and could keep working even if the department’s base funds are depleted. The National Nuclear Security Administration would continue to safeguard nuclear reactors and other scientific equipment.

The Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works division also receives some funding under the Energy-Water appropriations bill. In any case, operations to secure hydropower plants, commercial locks and flood control projects would continue with minimal staffing.

It’s the gift that keeps on giving for roughly 6 million current and former federal employees as many are looking to file for retirement in the coming weeks or organize their finances in preparation for tax season.

The TSP has been around for decades and has been cited as one of the unique benefits of working in the public sector. In a 2023 survey conducted by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, 82% of participants reported being satisfied with the TSP, though that figure has fallen over the last three years.

Those in the newer Federal Employees Retirement System get matching contributions up to 5%, while those who retired under the Civil Service Retirement System receive no match but can still contribute.

Overall, the TSP managed $726 billion in assets as of September 2022, the latest year for which data is available.

Here’s how the TSP did in December:

— The S fund, which aims to match stock indexes comprised of small and medium-sized U.S. companies, performed the best last month with returns of 10.45%. While still in the green, the government securities investment, or the G fund, grew the smallest at 0.39%.

— Year to date, the C fund has the highest return of 20.8% and the G fund has hovered around 4%.

— Each of the ten lifecycle, or L, funds also improved in December, as they did in November.

As the IRS prepares to begin tax season on Jan. 23, here are some reminders for TSP account holders:

In November, the agency announced contribution limits for 2024, which increased to $23,000 for regular contributions and an additional $7,500 for catch-up contributions for those 50 and older.

And recall that any withdrawals taken Dec. 28 or 29 count as taxable income for 2024.

Additionally, employees who wish contributions to begin on the first pay date of 2024 had to have made their TSP selections for pay period 26, which ended Dec. 30.

In 2024, there will be 26 pay dates.

For annuitants anticipating 1099-R tax forms from the government, the Office of Personnel Management traditionally mails those out by the end of the month, but beware that you may not receive it until February, depending on delivery times.

In the past, OPM has said retirees can sign in to their online retirement services account starting the third week in January to digitally access their tax form.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, only traditional TSP balances will be subject to mandatory withdrawals. Historically, a required minimum distribution, or RMD, applied to the combined balance of the traditional and Roth TSP account. Participants could’ve skirted that by choosing to take an RMD only from their traditional balance, but that left it subject to tax.

“This means an overall smaller amount of [the] TSP is subject to the RMD, which effectively creates a smaller RMD and does indeed allow TSP participants to maintain more dollars inside their accounts,” said Thiago Glieger, a private wealth expert for Maryland-based RMG Advisors, to Federal Times in an email.

That’s simply because the bigger the balance, the larger the RMD is, according to the formula.

That’s one of many changes for retirees provided by the Secure 2.0 Act, which passed last year and intends to make retirement planning more flexible. It also brings TSP account holders more in line with the private sector, which never subjected Roth IRA accounts to RMDs during the account holder’s lifetime.

According to the IRS, Roth accounts in a 401(k) or 403(b) plan are subject to the old RMD rules for 2023. Beginning in 2024 and beyond, the change for the TSP will be in effect, according to the rule published in the Federal Register on Oct. 31.

“You must still take RMDs from designated Roth accounts for 2023, including those with a required beginning date of April 1, 2024,” the agency said.

Other changes affecting RMDs under the law include a reduced penalty of 25% instead of 50% on the withdrawal if a retiree fails to take it. The age when a retiree must take their first withdrawal is also increasing to 75 from 73 in 2033.

“This change means that if you turn 72 in or after 2023, you can delay your RMDs one more year, allowing the funds in these accounts to grow tax-free for longer,” writes Jim Miller in a column for the American Legion.

In years past, when inflation has been high, Congress has been urged to pass a provision to temporarily suspend RMDs so retirees don’t deplete their savings in a time of high prices.

More than 6 million people use the TSP, which manages approximately $709.6 billion in assets.

The Social Security Administration announced on Thursday that the COLA for 2024 will be 3.2%, which beneficiaries will see reflected in their statements come January. That means retirees would see an average increase of $59 each month, according to the AARP.

The adjustment is significantly less than last year’s, which at 8.7% was the largest bump in four decades following a period of high prices for consumer goods during the COVID-19 pandemic. About 7.7 million veterans and retirees receive some sort of stipend affected by the announcement, and Social Security benefits account for about 30% of income for people over the age of 65.

In May, Congress approved legislation guaranteeing that veterans receiving disability and support benefits will see the same cost-of-living boost in 2024 as Social Security recipients.

The move was non-controversial but required annually so veterans’ payouts will keep pace with other federal stipends. Military retirees will also see the same increase in their benefits.

COLAs are applied each year if there are changes to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, which tracks the costs of essential goods over time.

This year, financial advisers have said a smaller COLA is a good thing because it means inflation is trending down. Still, retirees and veterans should keep in mind that a COLA is not likely to completely counteract lingering high prices, especially for medical care, which has also become more expensive over the last decade.

“Those living off fixed incomes and retirement savings are some of the most vulnerable in our society to rising costs, and recent years of high inflation have placed a significant burden on retirees,” said William Shackelford, national president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, in a statement. “While inflation has cooled relative to recent years, the pain is still considerable.”

In years when there are no increases in the CPI-W, there are no adjustments, which underscores the fact that COLAs are not pay raises. They merely help retirement benefits keep pace with inflation.

Federal employees also may receive a smaller version of the increase if they are a part of the Federal Employee Retirement System, which covers most civil servants who were hired after 1983.

Those under FERS get the full amount if the CPI-W increase is less than 2%. If it increased between 2% and 3%, the COLA is a flat rate of 2%. If it increased more than 3%, the COLA is the value of the CPI-W minus one.

Social Security begins notifying people about their new benefit amount by mail starting in early December. Individuals who have a personal my Social Security account can view their COLA notice online, the agency said.

Oct. 8 is when staff in the National Capital Region will be expected to report onsite for at least half of each two-week pay period, VA Secretary Denis McDonough told reporters on Friday. Officials had indicated as far back as May that changes in work-from-home rules were coming.

McDonough said in his initial memo to the workforce four months ago that he strongly believes “increasing in-person engagement will enhance problem-solving, spark even more creativity, and strengthen the connections that make us more productive and successful in our core mission.”

About 20% of the VA’s workforce is considered telework eligible, according to employment data kept by the Office of Personnel Management.

Much of the federal workforce had been working remotely during and after the pandemic, which forced agencies to send workers home in higher numbers, though many had been permitted to telework well before the public health emergency required it.

Over the summer, however, agencies began reexamining their telework policies, assessing which teams may need to be brought back to offices since the national pandemic emergency ended on May 11. Lawmakers, too, have been compelling agency leaders to report on how much of the workforce does their job from home, while some federal offices have opened and remain largely unoccupied.

White House officials also said in an April 13 memo that they expect agencies to “substantially increase meaningful in-person work” at headquarter offices in the coming months.

At the same time, the federal union representing 300,000 VA workers has maintained that telework has been a boon for morale and productivity, despite what some Republican lawmakers have said about remote work being potentially ripe for abuse.

“Whether working on-site or remotely, VA workers have been ‘showing up’ to carry out the VA’s missions,” the American Federation of Government Employees said in a statement on March 27.

For the VA, many frontline health care workers have been working in-person at medical centers throughout the pandemic while others in more administrative tasks have been able to leverage hybrid work options.

The total VA workforce has grown by about 33,000 employees in the last 20 months, an increase of about 8%.

With reporting by Leo Shane III at Military Times.

With the current budget measure set to expire in less than two weeks, concerns of a possible funding lapse are reverberating throughout the federal government, as well as the contracting community that supplies it.

Contractors responsible for carrying out $600 billion worth of government work each year have been here before, and generally know what to expect. That doesn’t make it easier, especially for smaller firms with limited ability to weather a disruption in revenue.

“Generally, if there’s not funding to allow the work to carry forward, the contractor either has to stop working or be at risk of not getting paid if they continue,” said Bob Tompkins, an attorney with Holland & Knight, a law firm in Washington, D.C., that practices government contract law. “Antideficiency Act considerations feed into the risk analysis and are really part of what drives the contractor being at risk because the [law] says that government contracting officers cannot requisition work that they don’t have funds to pay for, essentially.

“They can’t run up a debt on the government’s behalf without obligated funds to back it up,” he said.

Contractors, like federal agencies, are reading the handwriting on the wall and are once again bracing for a shutdown next week. Congress narrowly avoided a shutdown on Sept. 30 when it passed a stopgap measure to keep the government open through Nov. 17, buying lawmakers more time to come to an agreement on a full 2024 budget.

However, even CRs have been known to pause or stop agency hiring, delay contract decisions and add administrative work when contracts must adjust for critical services to continue under incremental funding.

So that leaves contractors and everyone else with very little solid indication about how things will shake out come midnight on Nov 17. The general advice give by attorneys and industry experts is: avoid performing any work at risk, and get in touch with contracting officers often and early.

“We know that in [the] last two long shutdowns, tens of thousands of contractors were furloughed without pay, and unlike federal civilian employees, those contractors do not receive back pay,” said David Berteau, president of the Professional Services Council, a trade association for the government technology and professional services industries. “Or if they do receive back pay from their company, it’s not subject to reimbursement by the government. We know that stop-work orders were applied inconsistently. I think the impact on contractors is something that isn’t often understood even within the government itself.”

In 2019, a five-week shutdown left nearly 800,000 federal workers furloughed or working without pay, and affected an untold number of contractor employees. At the time, it was estimated that 10,000 companies with government contracts were affected, the Washington Post reported.

Prior to that, in 2013, a two-week shutdown disrupted contract delivery at certain agencies, watchdogs concluded in aftermath reports.

Frozen funds

In the case of a shutdown, when agencies cannot by law spend money in advance or in excess of what they’ve been appropriated, companies tied to an agency with frozen funds or closed facilities might receive “stop work” orders that bring operations to a halt.

Contractors are sometimes asked to renew a contract without funding because their work is considered “excepted,” and that could apply to more and more functions as a shutdown drags on, PSC’s Berteau said.

In any case, companies may want to ask what breathing room they do have and what they should do with their workers who are affected by a funding gap, whether that’s putting them on paid leave, furlough or redirecting them to non-billable tasks if they can’t perform their primary duty.

“The contractor has the right to do what it needs to do to maintain that workforce in certain circumstances, but they also have an obligation to try to find other productive uses of people’s’ time, including doing things like training,” Tompkins added.

Larger organizations likely have the financial cushion and resources to repurpose employees during a shutdown, whereas smaller businesses may not be able to absorb losses as easily.

The other potential issue is when employees’ labor is directly focused on one task on one contract, said Franklin Turner, an attorney with McCarter & English.

“I’ve seen companies do a variety of different things to try to help out, but there’s no-one-size-fits all approach,” he said.

Companies also need to be sure that they’re corresponding with the actual contracting officer when seeking agencies’ guidance or written assurances to be made whole post-shutdown.

“The CO is the only one under the regulations that actually has the requisite authority to speak on this issue and tell you what to do,” according to Turner.

In some cases, contracting officers may still work, but their support staff of analysts and administrators are furloughed.

“If the contract analyst isn’t there to do the analysis to support the [CO], that [officer] is likely to postpone that decision,” said Berteau. “I think it would behoove the government to … make sure that everybody associated with that ability to get stuff done is in place.”

Ask any financial planner for their best advice, and it probably involves saving.

How they advise you to do that might differ, but for the most part, money experts point to the value of planning and setting aside money for a rainy day, a crisis or — if you’re a federal employee — a temporary loss of income thanks to a government shutdown.

Like hurricane season, it’s a possible disaster that lurks every year, but not every year guarantees a category five storm or a weeks-long shutdown a la 2018. But it’s something you should plan for anyway, said Stephen Zelcer, a financial adviser who has been working federal employees since 2007.

“I wish people would think about this not when they have a whole shutdown [already],” he said in an interview. “This is the type of stuff that forward-thinking planning helps.”

At the beginning of the last prolonged lapse in appropriations five years ago, about 380,000 civil servants were furloughed, while another 420,000 continued working without pay. In a survey by Prudential Financial of more than 300 federal workers or contractors who went unpaid in 2018, nearly half fell behind on their bills during the shutdown.

This year, it’s up to House and Senate lawmakers to reconcile differences in the 12 appropriations bills by Nov. 17 when the current temporary continuing resolution expires. Agencies have remained open since Sept. 30 when the stopgap bill was passed, but they’ve been funded at 2023 levels, meaning new programs, hires or initiatives are difficult to get off the ground.

If lawmakers fail to extend the CR or pass a full budget, all non-funded and non-essential government programs would halt. That could also impact military pay.

Federal employees are guaranteed backpay by law, but when that money comes is flexible. The legislation says that employees will get their paycheck on the “earliest date possible” after the government reopens, regardless of the next regularly scheduled pay date.

“That doesn’t help when your mortgage is due or your electric bill is due,” said Tammy Flanagan, another finance expert with Retire Federal. “So if at all possible, you want to have a cushion of cash set aside for those emergency times, whether it’s a furlough or anything else.”

The case for long-term saving

There are different philosophies about about to save, but Zelcer said a good baseline is to have several weeks or months worth of living expenses put away in the event of a loss of income. That’s a way to buy yourself time when you know you’re just temporarily in limbo, he said.

“So if you’re spending $10,000 a month and you need two months of time to traverse, $10,000 times two, that’s $20,000,” he said. “You need to have that money liquid and available.”

Flanagan acknowledged that saving that aggressively can be hard, especially for younger, less-experienced employees and with inflation making so many other demands of paychecks. So, if employees finds themselves facing a weeks-long furlough and without accessible cash to cover the essentials like rent, food or other bills, Flanagan said to reach out to bill providers and explain the situation.

“Call your mortgage company, call your electric company, and tell them what’s going on and they’ll usually give you some leeway,” she said. “But if you don’t call them and just don’t pay the bill, that can affect not only your credit score, but it can shut off your [utilities], so you want to be proactive on those things.”

Zelcer also encourages employees to diversity their income just like they would their investments. A secondary source of income, like a real estate property or a tutoring or consulting business, is not something that needs to produce the same salary as your current job, necessarily. It can be enough just to supplement it.

USAA

USAA members can apply for a no-interest loan equivalent to one missed paycheck (up to $6,000) if they are employed by an impacted federal agency and direct deposit their pay stubs into a USAA Federal Savings Bank account.

These members may also be eligible for a variety of payment relief options across USAA banking and insurance products, a spokesperson for the company said.

PenFed

A spokesperson for Pentagon Federal said members may qualify for an interest-free loan in the amount of their net pay (up to $6,000) through its government furlough Direct Deposit Assistance program.

PenFed also offers an emergency relief loan at the lowest available rate for a personal loan product. Members do need to qualify for that loan.

And lastly, members who do have existing PenFed loans can take opt into skip-payment assistance if it’s expected to be short-term. Interest does continue to accrue on these loans, but a payment is not required.

Thrift Savings Plan

If there’s a lapse in federal appropriations, the TSP will continue its normal daily operations and the ThriftLine will remain open.

“The TSP will give participants with an outstanding loan a way to notify us that they are impacted so we can keep their loans in good standing through the shutdown,” spokesperson Kim Weaver said. “This includes new loans taken by affected participants during the shutdown, which are allowed based on an exception provided for in TSP regulations.”

The TSP will post additional information on www.tsp.gov/shutdown, if a lapse in appropriations occurs. Members can also review this fact sheet for account holders who enter administrative furlough.

Security Service Federal Credit Union

SSFCU, originally opened to serve employees of the U.S. Air Force Security Service Command and today serving more than 800,000 members in the Southwest, does not offer a no-interest loan.

“However in the event of a government shutdown, we work directly with our members impacted to find beneficial solutions for their individual circumstances,” a spokesperson for the company said, which could include adjusted payment due dates or the refinancing of a loan, for example.

Navy Federal

A spokesperson for Navy Federal said it is closely monitoring the ongoing government funding negotiations and will provide members additional information as events unfold.

The spokesperson did not offer any current guidance about what kind of assistance may be offered to account holders. However, in 2019, it did circulate guidance on a zero-percent loan program.

As for other lenders who may be advertising low- or no-interest sums in the event of a shutdown, be sure that they are trustworthy, Zelcer said.

Sources of emergency cash

If you need to come into emergency money quickly to keep the lights on, Zelcer said employees can look into promotional credit card offers that will cover transactions with 0% interest for the first year or so.

That can work, Zelcer said, so long as “you enter that with the recognition that you’re just doing this temporarily, and you are very strict with yourself that you’re not going to start building credit card debt.”

Some employees may also look to borrow against their home equity line of credit and then immediately pay it off as interest will accrue, he added.

Every agency also has an employee assistance program that can offer legal or financial advice, Flanagan said.

Employees can also pause largely monthly contributions to a retirement account, like a Roth IRA, if they need to keep that money to tide them over.

“I wouldn’t take out less than the 5% because you don’t want to lose that matching agency money,” Flanagan said. “But if you’re putting in 10% of your pay and you don’t have an emergency fund, maybe drop it down to 5%.”