As a Soldier in the Army Reserve, you are eligible to participate in a retirement savings and investment plan. But it’s buried in BUPERSINST 1001.39F of 17 Sep 07, “Administrative Procedures for Navy Reservists”. TSP is a 403(a) retirement plan, which is similar to a 401(k), but is a section of the Internal Revenue Code that allows for salary deferments. Otherwise, you’re “High Three”.  If you joined the military with a DIEMS/DIEUS date after 31 December 2017 then you’re BRS. You’ll have the BRS in the Reserves or Guard, just as you do on active duty. I have always wanted to rejoin, or work with the government, etc. Where can I find out about the 10 year rule and if or how it applies to me? Perhaps the most valuable benefit, however, is access to military health care in your retirement years. I also have 25 yrs for retirement purposes now with a RYE date 06/08. Retirement planners and calculators (part 1 of 2), Don’t Gut It Out To 20: Leave Active Duty For The Reserves Or National Guard, The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement, https://the-military-guide.com/reserve-retirement-calculator/, http://gubmints.com/2013/03/26/gubmints-comprehensive-military-service-credit-deposit-guide/, https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records, https://www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans/contact_rlc_info.asp, https://www.hrc.army.mil/Calculators/RetirementCalc.aspx, https://the-military-guide.com/calculating-a-reserve-retirement/, https://www.manpower.usmc.mil/portal/page/portal/M_RA_HOME/MM/SR/RETIREMENTS, Reader story: “How I Bumbled Into Financial Independence” (part 2), Reader story: “How I Bumbled Into Financial Independence”, 2021 VA Disability Compensation Rates – Updated Veterans Compensation Benefits Rate Tables. I will turn 60 in February 2016. b. I live in Florida. Wanted to know which scenario would benefit me more financially if I retire as a active duty with 20 years ( if I get sanctuary status) or as a gray area reservist waiting till 59.5 years old (mobilized in 2012 for OEF). – Selected to stay enrolled in High-3 rather than BRS. Whether you are close to federal employee retirement or just starting out in your career, this is the place to share ideas with your federal colleagues on planning for your retirement. 5324 / 360 x 2.5 = 36.97. Your estimate is good. I’ll tell you how it’s used and then you can check the numbers. What do I need to do to not have to pay the money back? To buy back the time I need the points to be converted into actual months/years. There are some exceptions to the rule. (It’ll probably be a column like “>30”.) More importantly, you want to make sure that DFAS also has that information in your record, or else they’ll default to High Three. I have a couple of questions if you can please assist me with. In addition, if you started at the service academy or signed a ROTC scholarship agreement before 31 December 2017, then when you commission you can opt into the Blended Retirement System. Second, your point count is subject to verification just before you start your retirement. What worked for us will probably work for you, but unfortunately, we can’t guarantee it. You’ll have to make sure that your 90-day periods are all done in the same fiscal year (up through September 2014) for deployments to combat zones. I’d suggest you begin with a current copy of the OPM FERS Handbook. However I can get you (and perhaps your lawyer) started with the references. That too would meet the criteria. Outstanding article and feedback. Author: Doug Nordman Last Updated: August 6, 2019 10 Comments Advertiser Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any other entity. I expected more of a “Message to Garcia” retirement, one where people who deal with this for their job would actually do their job. Do you get paid for 30 days per month or does the retirement pay vary according to the number of days per month? In other words, you’ll be figuring out your High-Three average of the pay tables in effect at age 60 (or in your case, as early as age 56). I’ll break it down by the branch of service and tell you what I know of their latest status. Regarding my situation it looks like for me to go on active duty orders will take an act of Congress (literally). If you want to dig into the nitty-gritty of the calculation then it’s in Chapter 3 of Volume 7b of the DoD Financial Management Regulation: http://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/documents/fmr/current/07b/07b_03.pdf starting with paragraph 030205 at the bottom of page 3-9. If your Date of Initial Entry into Military Service is 17 March 1985 then (for pay longevity purposes) your DIEMS date puts you as an O-6>30 in March 2015. If you’re already close to age 60 (or starting your pension early) then you might be able to calculate your High Three average from the current pay tables and assume a 2% pay raise for next year. Retired from army reserve with 22 yrs .was asked to volunteer for Army inactive duty with hip pocket orders to go to McDill AFB Tampa to open a reception station in case of a emergency conflict,Had to keep a military duffel bag maintained for the 13 years should my retirement pay be recomputed for that time? First service December 1966 and 19 years. E-8>34 or >36 pay in 2019 will be ~$6197/month. Serg, here’s a more detailed answer (with dollar figures) at this post: https://the-military-guide.com/tera-early-military-retirement-reserve-retirement/. Thanks for sharing! The problem is that Title 10 U.S. Code sections 3914 and 3963 apply to Army Reserve enlisted who were “previously administratively reduced in grade not as a result of the member’s own misconduct” and refer to retirement in an enlisted paygrade. but I’m not sure it’s worth the payoff. (I am 45). That is only slightly more than Social Security. When you reach age 65, you will be eligible for TRICARE for Life. So1826* .426 = $777 a month (estimated- before tax, SBP, RCSPB, etc). Can you help me figure out how the point valuation factor, used in retirement calculators, is determined? You need solid legal advice on both of these criteria before you can count on the numbers. You can learn more about that by contacting your final service (the Army Reserve?) If that’s the case then you only have 14 good years remaining until you’re eligible for retirement. If I do that, will I get my retirement when I complete my 10 years of active duty time or will I have to do more time to get my retirement right when I retire? Another rule is that the 90 days can accumulate over fiscal years. This status is tracked in your service’s Reserve/Guard databases, and you may be issued occasional updates. Anyway, I was honorably discharged from the USAF Reserves in 2006, and I joined the US Army reserves as an E5. The Navy started the “Dude, where’s my calculator?” movement a year ago, but I’m a little slow to catch on. Put those numbers into the Reserve pension formula, and that would give you a pension estimate in today’s dollars. I understand I am high three so current pay scales would be great for now. What am I missing here? Note that this delay is only worth doing for Final Pay retirees. All rights reserved. How about putting a working retirement calculator on your webpage? I just re-sent you my response to your 4 July “Contact me”; please check your e-mail (and perhaps your spam folder) for my NordsNords at Gmail address. That’s pretty rare these days, and us remaining Final Pay dinosaurs who are still in uniform are either admirals/generals or Reserve/Guard members with very long breaks in service. Great article and I really enjoyed reading the comments and questions of others. Can anyone show me in writing where it says you can or cannot get credit for your Midshipmen summer cruise? I have a customer that just got out of the military that said I can still join because I have the ability to still serve 15yrs. Finally, talk to a military lawyer who’s familiar with Title X U.S. Code for military retirement law. Should I retire using the NDAA service or wait until age 60? I’ll start by disclaiming that I’m not a lawyer, and your friend definitely needs the services of one. If I have 4 years of active duty time and 16 years of reserve time all with “good years,” does that mean that the age to begin receiving retirement pay will still be at age 60 or at 56 due to the years of active time? Any other combination of dates meant that you’d only accumulate three 90-day periods. My discharge DD-214 shows E-7 as my discharge grade, my discharge was R-1 Honorable. Any ideas? From the information you’ve mentioned, it looks like you’ll turn 60 years of age in March 2021. Doug, if I hit 20 good years at age 43, can I still be affiliated with the Reserves(pay or non-pay)? Another caveat to the 2008 NDAA is that it applies to the pension but not to Tricare. The reality is that most Guard/Reserve servicemembers never reach sanctuary and continue to earn points. There are also special circumstances (mainly medical) when you may be eligible to retire before reaching 20 good years. I’m happy to help with those numbers, although I depend on the manual calculation instead of those point charts. You’d use six months (January-June) of pay for that rank at the max longevity in the 2012 pay table. (It’s certainly not in federal law or on DoD’s website.) I am eligible for retirement pay in March 2022. Another one for you ;). A good year is defined as one in which you earned a minimum of 50 points. However if you’re injured during a mobilization for combat duty under these conditions (either in training or in the combat zone) then your time in a Warrior Transition Unit also counts toward the 90 days. If your Reserve pension starts at age 60 and your 60th birthday was in 2017, then you base your pension on the 2017 pay tables. My LES shows 34 years of service so I am over 26 years for pay purposes. How much credit is being taken away from my retired pay calculation? Here’s the references on the Tower Amendment. My total points is 6522 but only 6214 for retirement. Do I need to add a day? You can do points in the IRR, but before you make that leap you should make absolutely sure that you’ll earn a good year. I left the Guard in September 1986 (one good year) to begin ROTC. What is your recommendation between early retirement from AD or a Reserve retirement? I commissioned in 1994. However, whenever I try to access it, my computer lights up with security warnings reference hackers, regardless of the web browser used. Servicemembers can earn day-for-day credit for earlier retirement without having to count across fiscal years. In October 2021 your High Three average becomes: https://www.dfas.mil/MilitaryMembers/payentitlements/Pay-Tables/PayTableArchives/ 2020 and nine months of 2021 as an O-6>22, 2019 as an O-6>20, and 2018 for three months as an O-6>20. TSP allows federal employees to contribute bi-weekly to a retirement savings and investment plan before tax contributions. There are also medical retirements, but that’s a different program for permanent disability. That still starts at age 60 regardless of deployments to combat zones. It can work with the Final Pay pension system (it’s usually less than a 10-year payback), which is applicable to those who started active duty before 8 September 1980. You will also be eligible to obtain health coverage through an employer or through a private exchange. If your commissioning source was a service academy, then your DIEMS date is the date you started at the service academy. When you move to the federal civil service (and that TSP account), then you’re still eligible for matching contributions from both your military TSP account and your civil-service TSP account. Good morning. With those possible changes in mind, your Guard Final Pay pension is based on your longevity (40 good years) at your final rank (E-9) as though you’ve been on duty the entire time (which, in your case, you have actually done). Is there any truth to this? Excellent article – one of the best explanations I’ve seen…I never knew how they came up with that multiplier – thanks! You could drill in the National Guard or Reserves for up to 40 years (depending on making rank) and could even get an age waiver as old as 62 years. However, for purposes of this post, we’re going to assume that your retirement eligibility is based on the main requirement of 20 good years. Reserve Military Pension for "Discharge" Instead of "Retired Awaiting Pay", About the Book – The Military Guide To Financial Independence & Retirement, About the Book – Raising Your Money-Savvy Family, Guard and Reserve Points Guide on The Military Wallet, the history of participation points.  It’s discussed on page 164 of the 11th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, ways to earn more retirement points in the Guard and Reserves, http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/career/retirement/OfficerRetirements/Pages/Mid-Shipman-FAQ’s.aspx, pay base system of “Final Pay, “High Three”, or the Blended Retirement System, reduces the age 60 retirement requirement by three months, Retiring from the Reserves and National Guard, Comparing an E-7 active-duty pension to an E-7 Reserve pension, Options for a Guard or Reserve Retirement, Using Reserve & Guard Retirement Calculators To Estimate Your Military Pension, The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement, 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https://the-military-guide.com/mixed-plate-military-sanctuary-disability-and-civilian-pensions/, http://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/documents/fmr/current/07b/07b_03.pdf, https://the-military-guide.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=2578&action=edit, https://the-military-guide.com/military-retirement-with-reserve-enlisted-and-officer-service/, https://www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/manage/ras.html, https://the-military-guide.com/buying-your-military-service-credit-in-the-federal-civil-service/, https://the-military-guide.com/maximizing-your-civil-service-computation-date/, https://www.hrc.army.mil/tagd/reducedageretirement, http://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html, https://doni.documentservices.dla.mil/Directives/01000%20Military%20Personnel%20Support/01-01%20General%20Military%20Personnel%20Records/1001.27.pdf, https://militarypay.defense.gov/Retirement/, https://the-military-guide.com/the-regulation-for-calculating-an-active-duty-pension/, https://the-military-guide.com/retire-at-17-years-of-service-or-20/, https://the-military-guide.com/tera-early-military-retirement-reserve-retirement/, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/101, https://the-military-guide.com/military-retirement-and-divorce/, https://www.hrc.army.mil/Calculators/ValueOfAPoint.aspx, http://www.public.navy.mil/BUPERS-NPC/CAREER/RESERVEPERSONNELMGMT/Pages/PointsFAQ.aspx, http://www.public.navy.mil/BUPERS-NPC/CAREER/RESERVEPERSONNELMGMT/Pages/ContactInformation.aspx, http://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/documents/fmr/current/07b/Volume_07b.pdf, Reader story: “How I Bumbled Into Financial Independence” (part 2), Reader story: “How I Bumbled Into Financial Independence”, 2021 VA Disability Compensation Rates – Updated Veterans Compensation Benefits Rate Tables, the number of “good years” you’ve completed, completion of online or correspondence courses, providing support to recruiting personnel, Monthly Drills – 48 (12 months x 4 drills). Any thoughts on how to get my officer retirement? In 1985, I entered AD USAF as an officer and served 7.5 years – again I was honorably discharged in 1992. That should earn you the 15 participation points for a good year, but of course it’d be even better if you earned 50 points on your own before December 2020. You could use those estimates to calculate the 36-month average of your O-5 base pay. DFAS will choose the higher amount for you when your pension starts. Learn more about the federal carbon pollution pricing program from the Government of Canada. You have two more years of E-8 drill pay and two more years of TRS health insurance. Is there a maximum number of reserve point that can be earned in a career? There are two ways to retire, and they require you to consider a certain amount of risk. March 2021’s High Three E-8 average has nine months in 2018 as an E-7, three months in 2019 as an E-7, 9 months in 2019 as an E-8, 12 months in 2020, and three months in 2021. There is no mention of 10 US Code 1370 in this regulation. It takes a certain amount of discipline (and free time) to keep up with the pace of correspondence courses to reach a good years’ worth of points, and if you can only access the website from a distant Reserve Center then you’re not going to be happy. • The Federal Reserve has signaled that it will keep rates near zero at least through 2023 in order to allow the economy to fully recover. As usual, you’ll have to meet all of the unit’s other requirements to be awarded that 20th good year. This is not a very accurate assumption but it’s the best available for calculating future dollars. All rights reserved. I was expecting my retirement pay to be in the range of 600 a month. I understand the frustration about the world’s most complicated retirement system, but the federal laws are designed around military retention in the shorter term. (Besides, I know I have at least one USCGR reader.) Good luck! (If you’re only 37 years old when you retire, then you’d have to wait nearly 23 years to find out.) Link for computing time between two dates: http://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html. Is that correct? Who could answer this question definitively? If you continue to drill until age 60 then you’ll receive drill pay (at the E-7 or E-8 rank) and you’ll keep Tricare Reserve Select. If it is no longer fun, then it might be time for a change is what I was told a long time ago and have seen it repeated in your comments. Per DoDI Instruction 1215.07, the Funeral Honors requires a minimum of two hours duty. Could use some help! (Because it’s in today’s dollars, when you start the pension it should have about the same buying power.) Third, based on the info I have give and your knowledge, what is a ballpark figure for my retirement? You’d have to do a drill weekend plus another 5-6 days of orders or drills (every month) to get up to an average of $2900/month. They’re essentially for situations beyond your control which prevent you from serving three years, or when you’re an O-5 select (still awaiting Congress’ approval for promotion) serving in an O-5 billet. I’ve been through the Navy’s MILPERSMAN, but the language used isn’t exactly straightforward. That comes from the DoD Financial Management Regulation (the FMR) which has detailed procedures for calculating the Reserve/Guard pension. Congratulations, Serg, it looks like you’re already eligible for a Reserve retirement! Do I need to do anything before then to initiate my retirement pay? Keep an eye on your service’s Reserve personnel website or ask them about it. In order to qualify you have to be on active duty (mobilization or other orders >29 days) at the date you go over the 18-year point. Those went into effect for deployments starting after 28 January 2008. 3. Even if you start your pension four years early (because of the 2008 NDAA deployments) you’re still maximized on the O-5 pay table. (That’s in federal law.) The services have all been clamping down on the courses that qualify for IRR points, and it’s getting more difficult to access them without a valid CAC. Back in the days of the Final Pay dinosaurs (I’m one of them), some Reserve/Guard retirees would delay the start of their pension until after the next pay raise. https://the-military-guide.com/reserve-retirement-time-in-rank-and-high-three-pay/. At my MRD, I will have about 4600 points and 30 good retirement years (DA Form 5016) or 36 years for pay (from LES). Thanks for asking the question– I think it’ll help a lot of readers. Here’s a longer answer to your question, although I’m afraid GubMints has also not heard of any civil-service programs leading to earlier Reserve retirement: https://the-military-guide.com/maximizing-your-civil-service-computation-date/. Let us know if something’s not working for you, and we’ll try to figure out a better way… Continue Reading…. That’s your monthly pension. Third, the early-pension accounting is finicky. (Source: Bloomberg) After reading all the questions above, I don’t feel as bad. That was a slap in the face. Should I apply for CRSC, or is that automatically calculated with your retirement paperwork. For the vast majority of Reserve retirements, this is the maximum pay at your retirement rank (usually the >30 column). Sorry about the divorce, Margie, but the amount of the pension is a complicated and confusing question for many people. My main questions given the situation above are: – If I retired as an O4, what would my monthly retirement be? When your PEBD or DIEMS is set to that date then you’ll be paid for your current rank— and with over 26 years of longevity. For a Reserve pension you’d retire as an O-5 if you met the Title 10 U.S. Code section 1370 requirements, and then the High Three calculation would determine the pay factor in your pension. Over 99.99% of Reserve/Guard retirees choose this option. He’s looking for the regulation that defines AFS and specifies what the calculation includes. Let me know if the “90 days in a FY” or a higher VA disability rating might be an issue and I’ll go into the gory details. It also looks like you’re eligible to start your pension in November 2019. I turn 60 in October of 2021. I stumbled across this code a few weeks ago and sent it to the ‘Retirement Services’ section for clarification. I have my points statement and trying to get my unit to figure out dates eligible for the qualified service to reduce from age 60yo. I haven’t researched the question, but the other services should have similar Reserve/Guard advocacy organizations with similar support. at the Human Resources Command (https://hrc.army.mil/) to request a copy of your Notice Of Eligibility letter. Tricare starts at age 60 regardless of the start date of the Reserve pension. In my case, is the extra 308 points used for anything? See this post: https://the-military-guide.com/mixed-plate-military-sanctuary-disability-and-civilian-pensions/. You’ll still receive your pension at your start date (generally age 60) but it’ll be at the seniority you had in that rank when you resigned– and in the pay scale in effect when you resigned. Great article and I found it helpful, but I have some questions that I am having trouble finding answers to. Disclaimer: This is a privately owned website and is not affiliated with the U.S. government, Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, or any other government agency. Hope this helps. Higher copays and deductiable. All of my time was active, with over ten years as a commissioned officer. In this case, an O-6>30 or $11,094.90/month. The six months would only apply if you were being involuntarily retired (1370(d)(3)(B) through (F)). I don’t use point valuation factors because they’re frequently approximated or even outdated. That’s absolutely right, Gail, the pension is paid as a 30-day month. You’ll have to check your 90-day periods on your DD-214s to make sure it really is 48 months earlier and not a smaller number. You’d refer to paragraph 010102.A.1 (Final Pay) and .B (the pay tables in effect immediately before starting the pension). DFAS figured my gross pay by using this long drawn out formula that figures how many years my points convert to, then multiply by 2.5 to get a percentage of active duty pay. Regardless of the age that you’re eligible to retire or when you choose to start your pension, your Tricare benefits start at age 60. The answer regarding remarried ex-spouses is “It depends”. I had assumed since I was forced out by MRD (not my choice or voluntarily retire) my pay would be at the 06 rate, but instead they blended it to 1/2 05 and 1/2 06. I have used the calculators formulas etc, and what I have doesn’t match what DFAS has? For example, I enlisted in the IL Air National Guard on August 07, 2014. It just seems like it is such a waste and so unfair, all this effort going into figuring a retiree’s Service Percent Multiplier, then one year later it means NOTHING. The definition of active federal service is in federal law. I am currently a gray area retiree, transferring into the Retired Reserve April 1, 2015.