Mason & Associates, LLC

06/17/2026

In a perfect world, every federal employee would start retirement planning early, never get conflicting advice, and arrive at retirement with a flawless, optimized plan.

That's not usually how it goes.

Most people we work with have a financial history. Some decisions they'd make differently. A plan that was built for a version of their life that has since changed. Advice that was fine at the time but incomplete.

That's not failure. That's just how planning actually works.

The goal was never perfection on the first try. The goal is building the best possible plan from where you are right now, with what you know right now, and adjusting as life changes.

At Mason, we meet federal employees where they are. Not where they wish they'd started.

If your current plan needs a second look, that's not a setback. It's just the next step.

masonllc.net/get-started

06/16/2026

Most federal employees decline survivor benefits out of fear. Fear that they can't afford the cost on a reduced pension.

But when retirement income is planned correctly, Social Security plus FERS plus TSP and IRA withdrawals often has clients bringing home more in retirement than while they were working. Even after electing full survivor benefits.

There's also a feature most people don't know about: if a federal employee elects survivor benefits and their spouse passes first, the pension pops back up to the full amount. Premiums stop. Income is restored.

FERS survivor benefits include a cost of living adjustment, continued access to federal health benefits for a surviving spouse, and real financial protection that's hard to replicate elsewhere.

06/15/2026

Heading into retirement with a stack of insurance policies you've built up over the years? You might be carrying more coverage than you actually need.

06/11/2026

Federal employees wouldn't dream of signing a contract that wipes out their TSP at death.

Yet declining survivor benefits at retirement does exactly that to a pension.

One box left unchecked can take a spouse's income from $40,000 a year to nothing overnight.

Mason helps federal employees understand what's really at stake before they sign.

06/10/2026

One of the most common things we see among federal employees who've done everything right, saved diligently, planned carefully, built real security, is guilt around spending on things that aren't strictly necessary.

But a retirement plan isn't just a preservation strategy. It's a permission structure.

If your plan allows for it, spending on joy isn't a failure of discipline. It's the whole point. The camping trip your grandkid remembers. The tech toy you've been eyeing. The trip you keep pushing to "someday."

At Mason, we help federal employees build plans that are honest about both sides of retirement: protecting what you've built and actually enjoying it.

Bill Perkins calls these "memory dividends" in Die with Zero—the idea that some spending creates value that compounds in ways your portfolio never will. Make sure your plan accounts for them.

Want to talk through what your plan actually allows?

Mason & Associates Fee-Only Financial Planning and Tax Planning for Federal Employees Host of the Federal Employee Financial Planning Podcast Mason & Associates Fee-Only Financial Planning and Tax Planning for Federal Employees Host of the Federal Employee Financial Planning Podcast Mason & Associat...

06/09/2026

Getting help the first time can be scary. Getting help again after feeling burned is even harder.

John Mason knows this firsthand. A bad experience with a local ENT, an outdated allergy test that sent him into anaphylaxis, and a sweeping food elimination diet that turned out to be largely unnecessary. The advice wasn't great. But he followed it, figured some things out, and eventually sought a second opinion from a specialist at UVA.

The UVA allergist acknowledged what hadn't worked, and then they built a new plan. One he could actually maintain.

That's the part worth holding onto.

We work with a lot of federal employees who've had a frustrating experience with financial advice. Maybe it was incomplete. Maybe it missed their specific benefits entirely. Maybe it left them more confused than when they started. And now the idea of trying again feels like more risk than it's worth.

We'd push back on that.

At Mason, we're not going to dwell on what didn't work before. We'll acknowledge it, make sense of it, and build forward from where you actually are. And if the right help isn't in your backyard, that's okay too. We work with federal employees across the country.

Don't let a bad first experience be the reason you never find a great one.

Ready to take another look? masonllc.net/get-started

06/08/2026

In this special episode, John and Tommy walk through an updated version of a seminar the firm's founders created in the 1990s, now refreshed for 2026. They cover what federal employees actually need to know: how to calculate the real economic value of your pension, TSP pitfalls to avoid, FEHB timelines, and the nuances of life insurance and survivor benefits.

🎙️ Listen to the latest episode of the Federal Employee Financial Planning Podcast wherever you stream, or watch on YouTube here:

Are you maximizing the true value of your federal benefits, or are ...

06/05/2026

Mason is a proud sponsor of York County's Safety Town program! Each summer, rising kindergartners spend a week learning lifesaving skills through hands-on, age-appropriate experiences -- from pedestrian safety to meeting first responders and riding a school bus for the very first time. It's a wonderful program that invests in the youngest members of our community. Learn more: yorkcounty.gov/601/Safety-Town

06/04/2026

Mason & Associates is proud to support Peake Childhood Center, a Hampton Roads organization dedicated to providing quality early childhood education to local families.

Investing in our community means investing in its future, and we're honored to stand alongside so many other local organizations doing meaningful work.

Learn more about Peake Childhood Center at peakecc.org.

06/02/2026

Rising mortgage delinquencies are a reminder that getting approved for a loan and being ready to take it on are two very different things.

Mason & Associates partner Tommy Blackburn, CFP®, CPA, was recently quoted in CNBC on what homebuyers often miss: lender approval reflects what you can bear, not what's comfortable. That gap, plus rising insurance costs, property taxes, and everyday expenses, is squeezing more homeowners than the headlines let on.

Whether you're a federal employee considering a home purchase or approaching retirement with a mortgage still in the picture, your housing costs are part of a bigger financial plan. The goal is a plan that works, not just one that qualifies.

Read the full CNBC article:

While the overall share of delinquencies among all mortgages remains small, the growth is occurring faster than late payments for other types of consumer loans.