Depletion of Fund resources
The Issue: Resignation to withdraw contributions from the Northern Mariana Islands Retirement Fund Program.
Our View: Refunds must be denied in the same way that contributions for Social Security deductions are treated.
It is troublesome to see public sector employees resign their post just to withdraw their retirement fund contributions.
It is more even troublesome when we see the same employees subsequently rehired to the same post, a seemingly clever scheme to withdraw money from the fund, a scheme that we understand have been worked out quietly between supervisor and employee.
This scheme must be stopped forthwith in that it is grossly unfair to toy around with the Fund’s solvency at the expense of current and future retirees. It is also very unfair for locals seeking jobs for the past three years.
The retirement program is designed to allow members a form of deferred use of a portion of their earnings so that they have something to look forward to upon retiring from government service. Two things happen positively for its members via biweekly payroll deductions: 1). Your money is invested in stocks that would give the program the financial stability to meet its obligations to current and future retirees. 2). Your contribution is similar to a lifetime savings you put away for your twilight years.
Perhaps the program can discourage and resolve this scheme in the following manner:
1.) Secure statutory mandate that refunds can only be allowed when a public sector employee has less than six months service.
2.) Otherwise, members can only avail of their contributions upon retirement from government service or at the age of 62.
3). In the interim, those who have resigned and withdrawn their contributions and have been rehired should be terminated and permanently banned from public sector employment.
Solvency of the program is a must to ensure that those who have already retired are given their pensions on time every time. We can’t allow instant gratification to predominate and melt the stability of the fund.
To allow this scheme to flourish is similar to termites eating away slowly on the foundation of a house we have built for the safety and security of our families. This penchant for instant gratification has got to stop right here and now! The least that current and future retirees want to hear is an insolvent fund. Si Yuus Maase`!
