The Foreign Service Journal, April 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2021 73 you expected. To avoid such bad news, see ALDAC cable 21 State 10876, “The Retirement Process: Retirement Credit for Prior Service,” posted at www.afsa. org/retirement-services. If applicable, take action to add eligible service to, or remove ineligible service from, your retirement SCD. In some cases, processing by mul- tiple agencies is required, so you should initiate action at least several years before you plan to retire. 5. Divorce. Foreign Service ex-spouses enjoy a default statutory entitlement to retirement benefits under the Foreign Service Act if they meet certain require- ments. The default entitlements can be altered through a court order or spousal agreement. The order or agreement, how- ever, must include specific language to be valid. Even many Washington, D.C.–area divorce attorneys are unaware of this and unknowingly draw up divorce paperwork that the State Department’s Office of Retirement cannot accept. An explanation of the rules is in ALDAC cable 19 State 53266, “Divorce and Foreign Service Retirement Benefits,” at www.afsa. org/retirement-services. If applicable, sub- mit divorce documentation to the Office of Retirement for review at least several years before you plan to retire. 6. Retirement Planning. If you have not taken any of FSI’s retirement plan- ning seminars, you owe it to yourself to do so. Watching in-depth presentations by subject matter experts may help you avoidmajor oversights in your retirement planning. As of this writing, the classes are being presented online and are thus avail- able to employees anywhere in the world. The courses are RV105 (2-day; early and mid-career) and RV101 (4-day; late career). RV101 has two subcomponents that can be taken individually: RV103 (1-day; financial planning and estates) and RV104 (1-day; annuity, TSP and Social Security). State Department employees can register via the FSI intranet site. But if the training is in conjunction with a perma- nent change of station (PCS) or home leave, then register via your career devel- opment officer (CDO). Non-State employ- ees register via their agency’s human resources office, which submits a funded SF-182 Request for Training to FSI. For registration procedures for eligible family members (EFMs), see https://fsitraining. state.gov/Search?q=RV, and then click on the course number. 7. Short-Career Retirement. While most Foreign Service members serve at least 20 years before retiring, it is possible to retire after five to 19 years. If you are consider- ing this, be aware that most such options come with substantial financial penalties. For example, most pensions based on less than 20 years of service are calcu- lated at a 41 percent lower rate (1 percent instead of 1.7 percent per year of your high-3 salary, the average of your three highest years of pay). Exceptions include FS-1s or above who TIC out (reach their time-in-class limit) prior to attaining 20 years of service and employees with less than 20 years of service who retire on the last day of the month in which they reach age 65. In the latter case, those employees should not retire via the FSI Job Search Program, because it ends before the last day of the month. Also, retirements after 10 to 19 years of service under mini- mum retirement age (MRA) provisions prior to age 62 are subject to substantial reductions. To learn more, attend an FSI retirement planning seminar or contact a retirement counselor at your agency. For Retirees 8. Marital Changes. Post-retirement divorce, marriage or death of a spouse or former spouse are occasions to change your survivor annuity election by remov-