The Foreign Service Journal, September 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2022 79 Re-Employed Annuitant (REA, formerly known as WAE). For details, see my “Insider’s Guide to the Re-Employed Annuitant Program” in the May 2022 Foreign Service Journal , which is linked to AFSA’s Retirement Services web page under “Re-Employed Annuitant Pro- gram.” Beyond the REA program, AFSA’s Next Stage series features videos of your peers discussing how they successfully transitioned from the Foreign Service to careers in teaching, security and writing. Look under “Next Stage: What’s Next for You Post–Foreign Service?” in the Retirement Services section of the AFSA website. In addition, LinkedIn and Facebook have information spe- cific to the Foreign Service, including employment leads. Maintain Your AFSA Membership. AFSA membership does not auto- matically continue after retirement. Dues deductions from your salary stop when your salary stops. To continue your membership, you must sign up for deductions from your pension or start making annual dues payments by check or credit card. If you do not see the dues deduction form when you complete your retirement paperwork, just email member@afsa.org to obtain a copy. Maintaining your membership will keep you informed about retirement issues, give you access to AFSA staff support should you encounter problems after retirement with the State Department’s finance office, and support AFSA’s leg- islative advocacy to defend your earned retirement benefits. n