The Foreign Service Journal, January 2006

It is not hard to exceed the salary-plus- annuity cap, particularly because your salary and annuity may both be increased by annual cost-of-living adjustments dur- ing the period you are employed —making the amount you can earn a moving target. Some annuitants were hired during the two-year period when the salary-plus- annuity cap was waived for those working on activities related to the war against ter- ror, but that waiver has now expired. However, if your annuity is suspended or if you are asked to make restitution for an overpayment, and you think there are extenuating circum- stances, you can appeal for relief from the deputy assistant secretary for global financial services in the Bureau of Resource Management. I hope that others will benefit from my experience. I strongly encourage all annuitants to visit the HR/RET Web site (www.RNet.state.gov) for more information on issues of interest both to retiring and to retired employees. You may also sign up for a personal account in order to access your monthly annuity statements. HR/RET’s Global WAE Registry enables annuitants to sign up for the Operational Readiness Reserve and for the Standby Response Corps. If you are interested in working as a WAE, my best advice is to seek help from your network, just as they teach you in the Job Search Seminar at FSI. And I feel morally obligated to remind you to report any post-retirement employment with the federal government to the Office of Retirement. Best wishes for an active and fulfilling retirement to all of you! F O C U S J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 6 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 27 Annuitants can request an audit of their earnings from the Retirement Accounts Division.