The Foreign Service Journal, April 2009

Before the current economic crisis, few active-duty Foreign Service members probably de- voted much thought to retire- ment planning. After all, given the demands of work, family and daily life, who has time to plan for a retirement that is years or even decades away? The answer to that question can be found in the depress- ing Thrift Savings Plan balance state- ments mailed out earlier this year. All employees had better give retirement some advance thought if they wish to be well positioned to enjoy life after the Foreign Service. The need for long-range thinking re- garding retirement also applies to AFSA. While AFSA cannot make the stockmarket go up, we are very actively engaged in numerous advocacy efforts with great impact on current and future Foreign Service retirees. For example, AFSA’s efforts to close the overseas pay gap for current em- ployees are partly intended to amelio- rate the long-term financial damage that the pay gap inflicts on the ability of For- eign Service families to build up retire- ment savings and buy a home in which to retire. In addition, in the coming years AFSA will need to watch out for possible congressional revision of fed- eral retirement plans and be prepared to act tomake sure the Foreign Service’s well-earned benefits are not targeted. As always, AFSA is also en- gaged in a variety of member service activities to assist cur- rent retirees. For example, Retiree Affairs Coordinator Bonnie Brown provides one-on-one counseling and advice to individual retirees to sort out bureaucratic glitches with distant government offices. We produce writ- ten guidance on retiree issues in our Retiree Newsletter and in columns in the Foreign Service Journal . And we meet when needed with the State De- partment’s retirement office to discuss customer service concerns. These vital activities are made possi- ble by the financial support of our members — active-duty and retired— whose dues enable us to continue to fight for our members’ long-term finan- cial interests. For that reason, AFSA not only depends on new employees to join as members, but needs current members to maintain their AFSA membership after retirement, switching their payments frompayroll deductions to annuity deductions. Unfortunately, AFSA is typically more successful at convincing active- duty employees to join and stay than in getting new and current retirees to con- tinue their memberships. That is too bad. Even retirees who resettle far be- yond the Beltway still need an advocate on Capitol Hill to safeguard their bene- fits. And even retirees who fill out their retirement paperwork correctly could suffer from glitches with their annuities years into their retirement. If you knowForeign Service retirees who are not currently AFSA members, urge them to join you in supporting AFSA. After all, they are benefiting from our advocacy of issues affecting them—but are not contributing to the operating budget that funds that advo- cacy. To join as a retired member, go to www.afsa.org/mbr/retired.cfm or phone (202) 338-4045. While retirees certainly need AFSA, it is also true that AFSA needs retirees. Retirees tend to donate gen- erously to AFSA’s Scholarship Fund, Fund for American Diplomacy and other annual fundraising drives. Many retirees across the country write to local newspapers, contact their federal lawmakers, or speak to civic groups to explain the value of funding for diplomacy and development assistance. Numerous Washington, D.C.-based retirees serve on AFSA’s Govern- ing Board or on other AFSA commit- tees. In conclusion, I salute the members of the nine Foreign Service retiree groups across the nation with whom I have visited over the past two years. I also thank the many others with whom I have had e-mail contact, and wish you all a wonderful retirement. John K. Naland is the president of the American Foreign Service Association. P RESIDENT ’ S V IEWS Thinking About Tomorrow B Y J OHN K. N ALAND A P R I L 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 5