The Foreign Service Journal, December 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2015 57 AFSA NEWS Retirement Planning in Uncertain Times On Oct. 8, the American Foreign Service Association hosted the 11th installment of its Speaker Series on Federal Benefits, “Planning for Retire- ment.” Two expert financial planners—G.B. Bose and Patrick Beagle of D.C.-based firms Washington Retire- ment Planning Specialists and WealthCrest Financial Services—spoke to active- duty and retired members of the Foreign Service about tax reduction and family wealth planning, investment strate- gies and financial risks in retirement. Bose kicked off the session by offering conven- tional wisdom on how to get the most out of the Thrift Speaker Patrick Beagle warns audience members against underestimating how much time they will spend in retirement. AFSA/NATALIECHEUNG NEW AFSA GOVERN I NG BOARD MEMBER On Sept. 29, Youqing Ma was appointed to the Ameri- can Foreign Service Association’s Governing Board as a Foreign Commercial Service representative. Ma joined FCS in October 2011. Her first assignment was with the Indiana Export Assis- tance Center in Indianapolis. She next served at the Ameri- can Institute in Taiwan, where she led a team helping American companies to expand sales and services in Taiwan. She is currently a commercial officer with SelectUSA in Washington, D.C. Prior to the Foreign Service, Ma was the senior policy director for former Los Angeles Mayor Anto- nio Villaraigosa on trade promotion. She also has a background in banking and international supply chain management. n NEWS BRIEF REMI NDER : NOMI NAT I ONS FOR D I SSENT AWARDS The American Foreign Service Association proudly recognizes constructive dissent within the systemwith four separate awards. The W. Averell Harriman Award is for entry-level (FS-6 through FS-4) officers; the William R. Rivkin Award is for mid-level (FS-3 through FS-1) officers; the Christian A. Herter Award is for Senior Foreign Service officers; and the F. Allen “Tex” Harris Award is for Foreign Service specialists. Recipients receive prize money and travel expenses to attend and be honored at a ceremony in June in the Benjamin Frank- lin Diplomatic Reception Room at the State Department. Nominate someone—or yourself!—for one of these awards. The nomination deadline is Feb. 28, 2016. For more details on the awards, and to submit an online nomination, visit www. afsa.org/dissent. Please contact Foreign Ser- vice Profession Awards Coordinator Perri Green at green@afsa.org or (202) 719-9700 for more information n NEWS BRIEF Continued on page 58 Savings Plan—participants should contribute at least 5 percent of their incomes to get the full agency match, diversify their portfolios to include riskier funds for larger returns and wait as long as possible to begin drawing retirement benefits. He also underscored how solid tax planning—more than asset management—is paramount to financial secu- rity in retirement. In particular, he explained how the Tax Increase Preven- tion and Reconciliation Act of 2006 that went into effect in 2010 is “the best deal, bar none, that the U.S. govern- ment has ever offered to its citizens.” The law enables