Having federal retirement benefits does not guarantee that you’ll have an amazing retirement, but it does give you an advantage that private sector employees don’t have. 

Long story short, you are probably doing better than you thought.  Federal health insurance is a big deal! 

Your agency funds about 70% of your premiums so if you pay $300/month then that means it would cost you about $1,000/month to get that same policy by yourself, and they continue to pay 70% of the premiums even into your retirement. 

Having access to great health insurance in retirement is one of the reasons that federal employees can retire earlier than their private sector counterparts.  

It is very hard for a private sector employee to retire at 57 or before age 65 (Medicare age) because most companies don’t pay for health insurance after retirement. 

So having FEHB has direct monetary benefits like having smaller health insurance premiums but also some unquantifiable benefits like being able to retire sooner.