Barfield Financial, LLC

06/01/2026

The annual US Marshal Service Hockey Team vs JFK Customs Hockey Team hockey game is on again this year. This time in the Washington DC area.

This is a special once-a-year fundraiser to honor a hero, Tommy Weeks, a Marshal killed in the line of duty while serving a warrant in Charlotte, NC two years ago.

Barfield Financial is proud to be one of the sponsors again this year.

More info to come in the future. For now, if you want to support the U.S. Marshals Survivors Benefit Fund, you can purchase a t-shirt and/or hoodie here:

https://www.sallyscopshop.com/products/weeks-memorial-shirt?fbclid=IwY2xjawSJuPVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFnR3paUGdPMzQ3ajJpaGtBc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHqzk5HW1zJEoS8-La2rYg_ghC2a6sBQSwoBiSbzn-3vYPRcHpas3_Sd1Tl3f_aem_Jd_cr2MO6yEthPWnoeL2GA

There will also be some commemorative pucks for sale soon. Stay tuned.

For those of you that want to attend the game, please do!

Location: MedStar Capitals Iceplex (Washington Capitals practice facility)
627 N Glebe Road
Arlington, VA

Date: August 29, 2026

Time: 12 pm

05/27/2026

Stock funds in double digits right now for 2026.

Something that seemed highly unlikely a couple of months ago!

C: 10% ($120--all time high)
S: 12% ($112--all time high)
I: 15% ($64---all time high)



Curious--does this make you happy.....or scared?

05/27/2026

A personal note that is actually very retirement related.

I am in the midst of my move from Indiana back to North Carolina (Go Canes!). Which means I am also in the midst of a serious bout of self-loathing.

I have a lot of pursuits. Shooting (long-range, s***t, reloading, etc.), hunting, motorcycle riding, ice hockey, fly fishing, golf, running several businesses (Barfield Financial, a knife company and a newly formed kydex company), books, books, and more books, and on it goes. I have a 4200 sq ft house. With a huge, Midwestern basement.

Those two things combine to produce a LOT of stuff. Like an embarrassing amount of stuff.

You get to a point where you realize your stuff owns YOU as much, if not more, than you own IT.

Advice for those that are retiring soon, particularly if you are moving, whether downsizing or not: GET RID OF STUFF! You'll never read that book again. Those t-shirts from that special work function 15 years ago won't fit. You were employee of the quarter in 2003? Fantastic--it doesn't matter now.

A sample of conversations with myself:

"Why in the world do I have a box of 40 holsters?!?!!"

"Does a fella really need 35 Yeti mugs?!?!?!"

"So let me get this straight--I pay for a gym membership AND I have a garage full of weights?!?!"

"Who needs 15 hoodies?"

"The ping pong table hasn't been touched in years."

"Is this 1990 Mac Classic worth anything? And why have I dragged it around the world for 35 years?????"

It takes far longer than you think to get rid of belongings. And you might be surprised at what you can sell some of this stuff for.

Retirement is about freedom. Some of us put off moving to our ideal location because we dread the move itself. That's crazy, isn't it? We delay getting to our happy place, because of.....just stuff. Make it easier on yourself.



Y'all got any decluttering stories?

05/27/2026

The new 2026 TSP Rule. A reminder/explanation.

Some of you are starting to get messages about this and notes on your leave and earnings statements.

New rule started for 2026 states:

1. IF you made over $150k in your government job in 2025

AND

2. IF you put in over $24,500 in your TSP for 2026 (meaning you're over 50 and doing the catch-up)

THEN

ALL of your contributions over the $24,500 MUST go into the Roth side of the TSP.

YOU MUST. MANDATORY. NOT OPTIONAL. You have to fund your Roth TSP.

"Chris--I don't even HAVE a Roth TSP!"

Doesn't matter, they'll create one

"Chris--I don't want to do this!"

Doesn't matter.

"Chris---I'm in my highest earnings years! A Roth TSP doesn't make sense from a tax standpoint!"

Doesn't matter.

"Chris--I'm not 50 or older. Does this affect me?"

No. Read above.

"Chris--I didn't make $150k in my government job last year. Does this affect me?"

No. Read above.

and maybe your Roth....

https://www.tsp.gov/publications/tspfs12.pdf

05/23/2026

🤣

Aint this the truth!

. It’s the antidote for the Sunday Scaries.

05/21/2026

Once again--FEHB rumors and Survivor Benefit Election for Dual Fed Couples (Please pass this along to anyone that doesn't understand this, including some HRs)

-If both spouses are federal employees, the rule is NOT that they both have to have FEHB in their own names 5 years prior to retirement to carry it into retirement. The rule is that they both have to be COVERED by FEHB. It could be in either spouse's name. They could even switch every year for the last 5 years.

-No survivor benefit is needed to continue FEHB for a dual fed couple who are both FERS retirees. Example: My wife and I have been married over 20 years. I've ALWAYS had the FEHB in my name, covering both of us. We both retired in 2022. We both elected 0 Survivor Benefit. I still carry the FEHB. If I get hit by a bus today, she can immediately start FEHB in her name.

Why? Because she was covered for 5 years prior to retirement and she's been continuously covered in retirement. No survivor benefit needed.

-Once retired, Dual Fed couples can switch FEHB around as they see fit and not lose the eligibility to continue after one dies. Example: I carry the FEHB for Self+Family. I can change that to my wife's name. Or we can both get Self Only. And we could change that every year if we wanted during open season.

-Bottom line: Dual Fed couples do not have to elect a survivor benefit for the FEHB to continue for the other if one of them passes away in retirement, assuming they are both qualified on their own, i.e., they retired and were covered under FEHB prior to retirement for 5 continuous years preceding retirement and continued with FEHB in retirement.

--Also remember if you ever cancel FEHB in retirement, you can never get it back. You can SUSPEND it under certain circumstances and get it back, but you can't CANCEL it and get it back.

Questions?

Discuss below.

and know the rules

05/18/2026

I'm going to write an article on how bad a TSP Annuity is.

Here's reason #317:

1. You take your TSP and buy a 50% Joint Annuity for you and your spouse.

2. Your spouse dies

3. The annuity YOU are receiving is cut in half.

Like....YOUR. OWN. ANNUITY. Not your spouse's. Yours. You are the federal employee. You buy the annuity with your own TSP money. Your husband or wife dies. Now they cut YOUR payments in half. Your payments are reduced 50% and you're still alive. You lose money just because your spouse passed away.

Please be careful. Know what you're getting into before you get into it.

and make the best decisions with it.

(THIS IS THE TSP ANNUITY WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. NOT YOUR FERS ANNUITY. TWO DIFFERENT THINGS TOTALLY.)

05/18/2026

This goes along with my 4% article post earlier. Instead of responding to several people individually, I'll post this so that more people see it:

www.ficalc.app

Is the single best calculator I've found anywhere online to run an infinite amount of scenarios to see how long your TSP will last over your lifetime.

You can set it to a percentage withdrawal rate (say 4%), a fixed amount, etc. You can enter your own estimated return or use the historical returns built in. You can change it from 100% stocks to any mix of stocks and bonds.

And it will run probability scenarios to show you your chance of outliving your money or your money outliving you.

And for what it's worth, ChatGPT and other AIs seem to not handle financial things all that well. And they do absolutely horrible handling FERS stuff, so beware.

FI Calc is a powerful and flexible retirement calculator for FIRE. Simulate retirements using historical data that spans more than 100 years.

05/18/2026

30 Year Treasuries are over 5%, the highest they've been in 20 years.

Who cares?

That directly impacts your G Fund rate. Which is currently at 4.5% and currently heading upward.

Will we see the 8-9% rates in the G Fund again like in the 80's and 90's? Who knows?

But we are at least out of those artificially low interest rate years and back closer to the normal, lifetime return of the G. (4.6%)

REMEMBER: The G Fund's purpose is not to make you money; it's to protect the money you've already made.

05/18/2026

As a reminder, your lump sum annual leave payment when you leave the government does NOT count towards the earnings test for your Supplement.