5 U.S.C. § 8350: Retirement counseling

For the purposes of this section, the term “retirement counselor”, when used with respect to an agency, means an employee of the agency who is designated by the head of the agency to furnish information on benefits under this subchapter and chapter 84 of this title and counseling services relating to such benefits to other employees of the agency. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall establish a training program for all retirement counselors of agencies of the Federal Government. The training program established under subsection (b) of this section shall provide for comprehensive training in the provisions and administration of this subchapter and chapter 84 of this title, shall be designed to promote fully informed retirement decisions by employees and Members under this subchapter and individuals subject to chapter 84 of this title, and shall be revised as necessary to assure that the information furnished to retirement counselors of agencies under the program is current. The Director shall conduct a training session under the training program at least once every 3 months. Once each year, each retirement counselor of an agency shall successfully complete a training session conducted under the training program. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (in this section referred to as the ‘Board’) shall periodically evaluate whether the tools available to participants provide the information needed to understand, evaluate, and compare financial products, services, and opportunities offered through the Thrift Savings Plan. The Board shall use these evaluations to improve its existing education program for Thrift Savings Plan participants. The Board shall annually report to the Committee on Governmental Affairs [now Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs] of the Senate and the Committee on Government Reform [now Committee on Oversight and Accountability] of the House of Representatives on its Thrift Savings Plan education efforts on behalf of plan participants. shall educate Federal employees on the need for retirement savings and investment; and provide information related to how Federal employees can receive additional information on how to plan for retirement and calculate what their retirement investment should be in order to meet their retirement goals; and submit a report to the Committee on Governmental Affairs [now Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs] of the Senate and the Committee on Government Reform [now Committee on Oversight and Accountability] of the House of Representatives on the strategy described under paragraph (1).”