The Foreign Service Journal, May 2022

44 MAY 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL BY DOLORES BROWN AFSA Resources for Retirees FOCUS ON LIFE AFTER THE FOREIGN SERVICE I can still remember reading a random headline when I was about a decade away from retirement that asserted I would need $1.5 million in IRAs to keep the wolves from the door. That shook me, as I would have nowhere near that amount of money in 10 years, even though I had been consistently putting the maximum in my Thrift Savings Plan. In fact, that headline was patently wrong for me, as it would have been for you, because it was meant for people who would not have a guaranteed federal annuity or pension for life. Moral of the story? It is easy to fall into false assumptions con- cerning retirement. I did not realize until rather late in my educa- tion on the topic that the retirement package for federal employ- ees rests on three pillars. Current Foreign Service members will ultimately have at least three income streams in retirement: an annuity; Social Security benefits; and distributions from the Thrift Savings Plan. There is, in addition, a fourth pillar—namely, government-subsidized Federal Employees Health Benefits, a sig- nificant benefit. I’ve come to think of the package as something like a very sturdy kitchen stool. Regardless of our unique retirement package, it’s crucial to start thinking about positioning yourself for retirement early, even if you plan to retire at the latest possible date or it isn’t in your DNA to think that far ahead. Preparing for a healthy financial retirement is a complicated subject, full of variables that will evolve over time and, at least for me, required repetition and reinforcement to fully understand. The decisions you make early in your career concerning things like howmuch to save in your TSP and IRAs and whether to invest in a rental property will reverberate either positively or negatively as you get closer to your retirement date. We at AFSA help our members prepare for a successful retirement as a continuum, which starts early in your career and extends beyond retirement. Our Retirement Newsletter, for instance, is sent to all members—active duty and retired—and contains information of interest to people at all points of the continuum. Our Federal Benefits programs are concise but comprehensive guides to what members should be thinking about, depending on where they are in that continuum. They help to reinforce and crystallize what you will learn from the excellent in-depth courses on retirement at the Foreign Service Institute. Indeed, one of our most popular annual webinars is a Review of Your Retirement Plan, which helps you determine whether a course correction is needed, which is very helpful after retirement. But successful retirement rests on more than financial stability. AFSA offers support in many other ways as members cross the retirement Rubicon. We established a series of programs, titled AFSA’s Programs on Retirement Join us for retirement-related programming. A few examples: Finances and Benefits • Planning for Your Life and Lifestyle, with Financial Planner Dwayne Jackson, RPJ Advisors • Reviewing Your Retirement Plan, with AFSAVP John Naland, former director of State’s Retirement Office Next Stage Programs (to discuss with your FS col- leagues how they made successful career transitions) • Teaching International Affairs and the Art of Diplomacy • Post-FS Careers for Diplomatic Security Personnel Keep in Touch! SendAFSA your personal email address, because your gov- ernment email address retires with you: member@afsa.org. Also, please make sure we have your current mailing address.