washingtonscene Although the Senate still must confirm \\ COLA News //
Signs of Growth The March Consumer Price Index of 231.055 increased 0.7 percent compared to last month. It remains 1.4 percent below the FY 2014 COLA baseline. Follow the trends at
www.moaa.org/ colawatch.
the two, Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) offered both men praise, indicating in a written statement that their confirmation should not be contentious. With their confirmations expected in
the next few months, Dunford and Selva will be taking the reins in an austere bud- get environment. With the Pentagon con- tinuing to push cuts to pay and benefits and Congress moving ahead with over- hauling the military retirement system, MOAA hopes both men continue to look out for the best interest of the troops. MOAA looks forward to working with
Dunford and Selva in the future and thanks them for the tremendous work they have done for our military.
Enlisted Advisors
Weigh In Another group issues a warning against the MCRMC proposals.
T
op military medical leaders spoke out in March against the Military Compensation and
Retirement Modernization Commis- sion’s (MCRMC’s) proposals to privatize TRICARE, citing concerns over military medical readiness. Now, several recently retired senior
enlisted advisors have come together in a Military Times op-ed voicing caution over retirement proposals advanced by the MCRMC. Citing their responsibility to serve as the voice for servicemembers and their families, the advisors warned the retirement recommendations could short- change servicemembers.
One of the primary concerns with the
proposal to convert troops to a 401(k)- like retirement system is the associated
38 MILITARY OFFICER JULY 2015
shift in retirement responsibility from DoD to the servicemember. According to the article, “In order to achieve the pro- jected benefit totals in the commission’s report, a servicemember would have to make exactly the right decision at several career decision gates.” MOAA has concerns that troops might not make the correct fund se- lection when planning for retirement. These choices could result in drasti- cally lower returns than the commission projected. Few of the funds available through the Thrift Savings Plan provide the necessary returns to match the com- mission’s expectations. Under the MCRMC proposal, a service- member assumes all the investment risk of his or her defined contribution portfolio. The value of the available benefit is depen- dent on the financial market, which is a stark difference from the current predict- able and guaranteed defined benefit plan. For nearly 15 years, troops have faced long deployments, often back-to-back. Re- quiring servicemembers to plan and worry about their retirement when they should be focused on the mission generates an unnecessary burden. Further, the success of the MCRMC’s
proposal relies on major financial lit- eracy of the force. By the commission’s admission, only 12 percent of service- members surveyed indicated they re- ceived financial information from their command or installation. Based on industry past practices,
MOAA is skeptical of the services’ abilities to provide sound financial counseling. We also doubt highly qualified, government- sponsored financial planners will be avail- able at all locations to provide ongoing assistance to servicemembers and retirees and their families. MOAA President Vice Adm. Norbert R. Ryan Jr., USN (Ret), reached out April 7 to
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88