‘Most refund claimants leaving NMI for the US’

About 60 percent of government employees who resigned and refunded their retirement contribution last month are leaving for the U.S. mainland in hopes of finding greener pastures, the NMI Retirement Fund said.

Fund administrator Mark Augon said that, based on an in-house survey, 59 percent of 50 respondents said that they would go to the United States.

“I got curious where the people are going; the board, too. So we decided to take a short survey to see if they are staying or leaving off-island and where they are going. We gave them a form to fill out when they come here,” said Aguon in an interview Friday.

The first survey, which was for the last pay period, showed that “59 percent of those asking for refunds are leaving the island.”

The rest cited the loss of their jobs or other reasons.

For those who are leaving, many of them said they would settle in the West Coast—Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

Aguon said they are “relatively young and educated people.”

“Unfortunately, we are losing our best assets, the young and educated people. They’ve found better jobs in the states,” he said.

He said these people are bringing their families along.

The Fund has said that an average of 100 members of the government’s retirement plan leave the program a month since the enactment of laws restructuring the system. The Fund said that since June, the agency has paid out an average of $400,000 in refunds a month.

Then board chair Joseph Reyes that the Fund released $4.5 million for refunds from October 2005 to early September 2006. He said that from October to May 2006, the Fund paid out $2.8 million. From June to early last month, the Fund has paid $1.7 million or over $400,000 on average a month.

The central government enacted a law suspending its contribution to the Retirement Fund up to the end of fiscal year 2007, prompting members to worry about the fiscal stability of the program.

The government also passed two other laws that aim to extend the Fund’s full funding by 25 years and the creation of a defined contribution plan effective Jan. 1, 2007.

Before the suspension, the central government was said to owe the Fund some $120 million in unpaid contribution and debts from non-remittance of appropriated funds.