TJ,

I ain't crying poor, but I'm far from the public sector crowd you described. You also know a whole lot less than you think you do. And I'm older than my pre-84 gov't peers who retired 5 to 8 years ago. I'm not certain, but won't retire until I can get full SS in a little more than 2 years when I'll be 10 or 11 years older than the folks on the old civil service system. If I'd joined federal service right out of college I could have retired comfortably 8 years ago and maybe have some of those accuterments you described earlier. I feel like I need to max my SS and continue investing more in TSP to afford retirement.