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