The Foreign Service Journal, March 2005

M A R C H 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 5 We all have nightmares. Mine is that, when I am long retired and happily playing cards with fellow octogenarians, I receive a letter from the department saying, “We have examined your records and discovered that your annuity was erroneously cal- culated. We have determined that you owe us XX thousand dollars represent- ing 20 years of overpayments plus interest and penalties. But because we are all heart, we will allow you to choose between repaying this amount in one lump sum or in three equal pay- ments. Have a nice day.” My nightmare, or a variety of it, has become reality for toomany colleagues. And it could become yours. Anyone retired or planning to retire (i.e., every- body) and who wants to stay out of the poorhouse should go immediately to Bonnie Brown’s retirement issues col- umn in this month’s AFSA News (“Overpayments and the Depart- ment of State”) and read it carefully. Then read it again. Then memorize it. What she describes has become bitter reality for too many of us. AFSA believes that we all deserve a decent and dignified retirement after our years of loyal service to our coun- try. But in all too many cases, retire- ment has become a bureaucratic swamp of miscalculations, misinforma- tion, ambiguity, and officious demands for repayment of large sums of money from sick and elderly colleagues. AFSA has taken up this cause. While our legal staff looks at resolving existing overpayment cases in accor- dance with equity and common sense (i.e., the retiree should not get stuck with the cost of the department’s mis- takes), we are also looking for long- term solutions for a system too long neglected and dysfunctional. The good news is that, with AFSA’s encour- agement, senior management officials are working hard to improve the way employees in the two responsible offices (HR/RET, the retirement branch, and RM/GFS/GC/APPO/ RAD, accounts division, generally known to its friends as “RAD”) deal with both accounts (i.e., accurately or inaccurately) and with individual employees, be they current or prospective retirees. To this end, AFSA and the retirement branch have agreed on a statement of mutual expectations and rights (see box). As this second set of expectations sets forth, employees themselves bear much of the responsibility for making the system work. So please do your part and there will be no excuse for anyone to muck up your retirement accounts. And let us know, by e-mail (brown@afsa.org) or phone (202/944- 5509), your experiences with the retirement branch, both good and bad. Keep us informed and we will continue to encourage the improve- ments that will keep the nightmares away. n P RESIDENT ’ S V IEWS Your Retirement Rights and Responsibilities B Y J OHN L IMBERT John Limbert is the president of the American Foreign Service Association. In dealing with the Retirement Branch, Foreign Service employees and retirees have the right to expect: • Courteous and timely responses to inquiries and requests for assistance and calculations. • Clear, accurate and consistent counseling about basic retirement pro- cessing and benefits. • Referrals when issues cannot be resolved by retirement counselors. • Timely and efficient delivery of retirement services and statements. • An interactive, easy-to-use Web site that both provides annuity state- ment information and allows users to perform most transactions online. • Access to retirement records that are accurate and complete. HR/RET employees have the right to expect that Foreign Service employ- ees and retirees will: • Do their homework, reading and reviewing all pertinent information con- cerning their specific retirement system and benefits. • Pursue inquiries and requests for consultations with courtesy, respect and appreciation for the time needed to resolve issues. • Provide current, accurate and complete information to HR/RET, including timely notice of life changes (marriages, deaths, addresses). • Ensure that all service is properly documented and credited well before retirement. • (For FSPS — “new” system — employees) submit Social Security and TSP benefit information. • Pay attention to communications from the department and HR/RET, including the annual newsletter.