The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2006

certification courses. As a matter of fact, we were even told that we might have to clean bathrooms, if there were any located inside the restricted areas of the IPC (thankfully, that’s not the case at my post). Stefan’s criticisms are not consis- tent with my experience as a new-hire IMS. Chris Corlett IMS Doha Gen X and IRM It was with great interest that I read “State’s Generation X Work Force” in the May FSJ and compared it to my own “new” experiences with IRM: two tours in two hardship posts. I was born in 1962, which makes me a “Boomer” with a “Gen X” lifestyle. When I joined the Foreign Service, I already had IT certifications, earned during corporate and military com- munications experience. I have ben- efited from promotion, while some of my “just as qualified” colleagues fear that promotion for them will be a long road to travel when looking at the statistics. If the author’s research holds true, then I say, “Yahoo!” The number of management positions opening up by 2010 will only put those of us that want to stay and make it into the Senior Foreign Service on a faster track to promotion than any of our predeces- sors. But after seeing a number of the Gen Xers leave the department after one or two tours, and sometimes even sooner, I have to question manage- ment. I have worked with some (just some, not all) Boomers who had no desire ever to learn new technical skills, lacked any management skills whatsoever and had no usable skills other then longevity. Yet they contin- ued to receive meritorious service increases when, in reality, if their EER had reflected their actual job perfor- mance, they should have been low- ranked. I have seen excellent candidates depart the Service, not primarily to accept offers for three times their cur- rent salary, but because the people who were supposed to be teaching them the job went out of their way to make life miserable, mainly because they were just RIP, “Retired in Place.” What are we really offering Gen Xers, who aren’t being paid even close to what the private sector makes? In order to make changes, one has to stick around, give feedback and be able to articulate problems, and live with less than desirable situations until one gets high enough to change them. I intend to stick around. Gwen M. Sell IMS Maputo Roth IRAs and the TSP AFSA seems to suggest that TSP contributions be maximized instead of funding a Roth IRA (“Make the Most of Your Thrift Savings Plan,” FS Know-How, April). It’s true that everyone should contribute the amount to a TSP that will gain the maximum employer match, but after that amount, the Roth IRA’s benefit of tax-free withdrawals at retirement out- weighs — for most people — the TSP’s benefit of pretax contributions. The FSI Transition Center’s “Personal Finances and Investments” course also strongly recommends the Roth, but don’t just take their word or mine for it. Do the research yourself: Google “traditional Roth IRA compar- ison” to confirm whether the Roth IRA is a better deal for you than a tra- ditional IRA. The TSP is essentially the same kind of instrument as a traditional IRA: pretax contributions and fully- taxed withdrawals. The Roth IRA is the opposite: after-tax contributions and withdrawals are never taxed. Unless your retirement income is drastically lower than current income (don’t forget that you’ll be collecting your pension, Social Security and other investment income), the Roth IRA is hard to beat. The TSP article claims that Roth IRAs “frequently lack the TSP’s auto- matic contribution mechanism, so they require much more discipline to make installment payments.” If you can find an IRA custodian who doesn’t allow automatic contributions, you’ve probably found “Spike’s Bail Bonds and IRAs,” down by the railroad tracks. Any reputable company that has a Web site and a toll-free number will offer convenient automatic contri- butions from your bank account. The article also includes a state- ment about Roth IRAs that’s not cor- rect: “[B]ecause Roth IRAs permit withdrawals with no further taxes or penalties (unlike TSP contributions), it can be very tempting to use those invested dollars to pay for vacations, a new car, etc.” The Roth IRA allows withdrawals before retirement with- out penalty only for the purchase of a first home (vacation and car purchases do not qualify). Non-qualified with- drawals from a Roth IRA are hit with a 10-percent penalty, right off the top, which is a big disincentive to making frivolous withdrawals from your Roth. If you’re concerned that easy access to your retirement savings might make it too tempting to buy cars and vaca- tions, it’s harder to take a 10-percent hit on a non-qualified Roth IRA with- drawal than to take out a penalty-free TSP loan. The Roth IRA is an excellent retirement savings vehicle. I recom- mend researching whether the Roth IRA is right for your personal situation before simply maxing out TSP contri- butions. Rich Roesing FSO FSI/Consulate Calgary 8 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 6 L E T T E R S