{"id":26266,"date":"2013-10-24T15:12:10","date_gmt":"2013-10-24T07:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newspaper2.ctsi-logistics.com\/?p=26266"},"modified":"2013-10-24T15:12:10","modified_gmt":"2013-10-24T07:12:10","slug":"relief-worry-what-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/relief-worry-what-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Relief, worry: What now?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sample<\/a>
Sample Image Only. As of 8pm last night, Fund in-house legal counsel Viola Alepuyo said that 524 checks were released on Saipan. On Rota, all but seven were distributed, while on Tinian all but one were issued. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As of 8pm last night, Fund in-house legal counsel Viola Alepuyo said that 524 checks were released on Saipan. On Rota, all but seven were distributed, while on Tinian all but one were issued.<\/p>\n

Hundreds felt a mixed sense of relief, excitement, and worry as they picked up their checks or got their direct bank deposits yesterday as part of the NMI Retirement Fund\u2019s disbursements of over $40 million in remaining defined benefit plan employee contributions refunded to over 1,700 individuals.<\/p>\n

With portions of the over $40 million expected to circulate in the local economy, businesses are also bracing for a windfall. These could include grocery and retail store shopping, new car purchases, house renovations, and bank deposits.<\/p>\n

Checks picked up from the Retirement Fund office on Capital Hill yesterday ranged from $20,000 to $100,000, based on interviews with some of the members.<\/p>\n

Check releases continue today and the days ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cHolding the check in my hand gives me a sense of relief. I\u2019m thankful we\u2019re able to get what we put in, minus the interest. I will be saving most of it for what it was saved for\u2014retirement. I am thinking about buying stocks or putting it in TCD,\u201d Luise Quitugua Noisom, a registered nurse at the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., told Saipan Tribune moments after she got her check from the Retirement Fund building on Capital Hill yesterday morning.<\/p>\n

Noisom, a mother of five, said she\u2019s also looking into becoming a member of social security.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am going to invest most of what I received for my retirement. Some of it I will use for fixing my car, renovating the house,\u201d the 56-year-old CHC nurse said.<\/p>\n

Noisom, who has worked at CHC for 24 years, said she\u2019s still hopeful that the CNMI government \u201cwill find a way to pay the interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

With her 24-year government service, Noisom put in a substantial amount of contribution to the Fund\u2014and got most of it yesterday.<\/p>\n

While she\u2019ll make sure to set aside most of what she got for her later years, Noisom worries about the others who might have different priorities for their money.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is their money but I hope they will really save most, if not all of it, for their retirement. When Fund released refunds a few months ago, I saw a lot who bought new cars and bought a lot of things. I know it\u2019s their money and they can spend it any way they want to, but I worry they won\u2019t have anything left by the time they retire,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

One Fund member said he started seeing people as early as 7:15am at the Fund building, waiting for the 8am start of the release of checks yesterday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI rolled over everything to my 401(k) for my retirement. I hope many others will also do the same. I worry that if I don\u2019t roll it over to a 401(k), I might not have anything when I retire from government,\u201d one of them said.<\/p>\n

Some of those who got their checks said they didn\u2019t want their names to published in the newspaper, concerned that their relatives would start asking them for money.<\/p>\n

Steve Lee, of San Vicente, said he went to pick up his wife\u2019s check \u201cbecause she can\u2019t leave work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about time the government release these checks to the members before everything is gone. It\u2019s up to my wife how she wants to spend it but I heard her say she wants to renovate the house,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n

Mila B. Tan, a nurse at CHC since 2001, said she\u2019s \u201cvery glad\u201d to get her DB contribution which she will strictly use for her retirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt my age, I\u2019m 57, I\u2019m already thinking about going home to the Philippines. I plan to do farming, raise poultry,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Tan said the first refund check she got has been safely set aside, and the same will be done for the rest of the refunds she got yesterday.<\/p>\n

She said financial discipline and proper budgeting, along with investments, would spell the difference when it comes to making the refunds last through their retirement years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first check, I didn\u2019t touch it. I saved everything,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Maria S. Camacho, of Dandan, said she picked up her son-in-law\u2019s check from the Retirement Fund and she expects that most of it will go to her son-in-law\u2019s medical expenses.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is currently in Honolulu, Hawaii on medical referral. He would need this money. I\u2019m happy that he\u2019s finally got it,\u201d Camacho said.<\/p>\n

Another CHC nurse, Mila Cultura, said she\u2019s happy to finally get her DB contribution to the Fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still have an unstable economy, and as foreign worker, we still have unstable immigration status. What if they send us home after 2014? But the first refund check I got, I saved everything. With this second check, I will also save most of it for retirement and the rest, for the future of my children, for their education,\u201d the mother of three said.<\/p>\n

Alex Sablan, president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, said member businesses \u201care expecting a windfall\u201d as a result of the Fund\u2019s disbursement of over $40 million to members.<\/p>\n

He said days prior to the actual release of the checks and direct deposits, some businesses have already reported \u201cvehicles being purchased\u201d and \u201caccounts being settled,\u201d among other things.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are all positive signs. The money is circulating in the economy. The multiplier effect of $40 million is huge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But Sablan is also \u201chopeful\u201d that those who got their refunds would \u201creinvest in some type of 401(k)\u201d or similar programs for their retirement years.<\/p>\n

Acting Senate president Victor Hocog (R-Rota) shares this sentiment. He hopes that people who received their checks or direct deposits will exercise \u201cutmost care\u201d and think about their retirement years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s already expected that there will be a lot of economic activities when you have $40 million in the hands of people within days. But if they want to invest in their retirement and invest in their children\u2019s future, this is the right time to do that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hocog said as of 4pm, 35 on Rota had already picked up their checks, while seven had yet to be picked up because most of them were off-island yesterday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd 154 also on Rota got their direct deposits,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As of 8pm last night, Fund in-house legal counsel Viola Alepuyo said that 524 checks were released on Saipan. On Rota, all but seven were distributed, while on Tinian all but one were issued.<\/p>\n

Alepuyo earlier told Saipan Tribune that there are a total of 1,710 recipients: 1,372 on Saipan, 141 on Tinian, and 197 on Rota.<\/p>\n

Alepuyo said 708 are checks and the rests are ACH (automated clearing house).<\/p>\n

Public Law 17-82 allows Fund members to withdraw the full amount of their contributions without separating from the government. Public Law 18-2, meanwhile, compels the Fund to release up to 50 percent of members\u2019 contributions within 30 days of submitting a refund application.<\/p>\n

A joint resolution that the House and Senate adopted on Friday paved the way for the Fund\u2019s disbursement of over $40 million in remaining defined benefit plan employee contributions.<\/p>\n

Some $10 million were disbursed following the preliminary approval of a global settlement agreement in Johnson v Inos on Aug. 6 in the U.S. District Court for the NMI.<\/p>\n

Under the agreement, the remaining $42 million will be released after the court\u2019s final approval of the settlement agreement and then after legislative approval. Designated judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood gave the final approval on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As of 8pm last night, Fund in-house legal counsel Viola Alepuyo said that 524 checks…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[162,646,37,67,63],"class_list":["post-26266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-car","tag-contributed-photo","tag-education-2","tag-people","tag-philippines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26266\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}