Financial advisers and their firms that are interested in expanding their business into a rewarding niche market, should know that the Federal government is the nation's largest employer -- with over 2.1 million full-time, permanent civilian workers.  In addition to all having access to the same employee benefits programs, the Office of Personnel Management's 2013 Common Characteristics of the Federal Government report says that:

85% of all Federal employees work outside of the Washington D.C. area. The top 10 states with the highest number of Federal employees are California, Virginia, Texas, Maryland, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York, Washington, and Ohio.

Federal employees are paid competitively and have many different types of jobs, including attorneys, physicians, and even rocket scientists.

The Federal workforce is highly educated. Over 62% percent of Federal workers have an associate, bachelor, or post-graduate degree, compared to just 54% in the private sector.

The Federal workforce is diverse. Men comprise only 56.5% of all Federal employees. Minorities constitute 33.4% of the workforce, with the largest members of this group being African-American (17.9%) and Hispanic (7.2%).

The Federal workforce is aging. Nearly 39% of the Federal workforce is 50 years of age or older (contrasted to about 24% in the private sector.) The average Federal employee is 47 years of age with 16.3 years of service, according to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which projects that one out of every three Federal employees will be ready to retire by 2018.