They can try this, but people will leave in droves, especially if they are constantly moved and/or deployed.
The article at the link is 5 years old — is it still applicable with our current administration?
I did 1968-1976. As an Airman Basic, I remember my first advance pay was a twenty a five and a one. I had to give the one to a damned barber to whack off my hair.
After basic, it was about $94 a month that stayed pretty much around there until I went “over two.”
After 8 plus years as an E-5 my monthly pay was $597.30 with another $153 thrown in for housing. Me and the wife subsisted on Stouffers Macaroni and Cheese (at 25 cents) and our son got everything else, including all the heat in our electric house.
Nobody ever told me about “investments” and “bonds” and 401Ks - just that 50% basic pay stuff of retirement. The only so-called good-thing I got back then was an additional life insurance policy for $15K that cost ONLY $33.65 a month and I could get it all back at ‘age 65’...problem was that ‘age’ was the policy age - Metropolitan Life Insurance Company folks.. thieving bastards! Screw the hell out of Snoopy.
I will say this, and I believe it was my godsend. The GI Bill. I used that to pay for books and tuition all through my three years at Georgia Institute of Technology where I went on to a much better life.
Those hardships are behind me and my family now, and we are all the better for it. Yet I can’t help remember back to things like no 401Ks, no bonds, lower-than-low pay and endless absence (7 of 8 years overseas).
If anyone is interested in reading about the new blended retirement system, use this link in Military One Source:
http://www.militaryonesource.mil/financial-and-legal/personal-financial-management-and-taxes
It has a section there that goes over the whole thing. Essentially, starting in January 2018 all members coming in will be in the new BRS and those with less than 12 years will have the option to join it. In a nutshell, here are the changes:
There will be a match in their TSP (Thrift Savings Plan, the mil version of a 401K) of up to 5% after two years (vesting).
At 12 years, all members will be eligible for a continuation pay which will be like a bonus if you sign up for 4 more years. The amount of bonus will probably depend on your job but everyone does get a bonus.
If you make at least 20 years, the multiplier will be 2% instead of what it is now at 2.5% to figure your pension.
All in all, I think it is a much better retirement plan than the current one. Only about 19.5% of the people are like me and do at least 20 years and retire. Most don’t get anything, now almost everyone gets something and if you are a smart investor, you will have more money after 24 years than what I got.
The big change I see, is they are preparing for the value of the dollar to deflate radically. The current plan pegs your retirement to what’s currently being paid the changed plan pegs your retirement to what was paid.
The new plan is worthless.
Did you notice when this was published? It is copyrighted 2011. These changes happened several years ago. I’d like to know what’s going on now.
Since only about 20-20% are staying for at least 20 years, the plan is more flexible. If you are getting out, you just rollover your benefits to an IRA if you want to. The plan doesn’t eliminate other existing benefits.
“Once you hit 20 years of service, you are eligible to retire and receive lifetime benefits equaling the average of the last 36 months of pay.”
Under government restriction, if you do not reach the grade of E-7 by the time you reach 20 years, you are forced out with a retirement. But this statement only applies to troops not in a critical career field.
“The current military retirement plan was designed when many personnel left Military Service and did not seek, or in some cases, did not have the skills to get post-military retirement employment (second career)”
With the disabilities the soldiers have been retiring with, and their inability to receive the type of education and work experience employers require from their employers prior to hiring, a second career for a large amount of troops consists of stocking at Walmart or sales which places the employers in no commitment to the employee other than commission. The unemployment problem for the retiree is the same, if not more, than the person with the doctorate walking the street looking.
“Retirement benefits are not greater for personnel serving in high risk jobs, on combat deployments or hardship tours. Whether you sit behind a desk for 20 years or you clear routes of IEDs for 20 years, both would get the same retirement.”
Maybe so, but the pay while you were in was predominately different for downrange troops. It’s gotten so bad to keep people in that they are now starting to offer a selective re-imbursement bonus, (SRB) to troops just to stay in another year of $10k extra. They are hurting. So if the troops are flooding out into an almost non-existent employment possibility, what’s to retire for?
There’s a lot of things in the new retirement plan tghat add up to one thing, they can’t keep people in so they try to entice them to stay by making it ugly to get out. Problem solved.
red
Say what?
This has not been the case for the past 30 years.
You only get 50% if you go to 30 years not 20. With the "up or out" policies the only people who will retire at 30 are O-6 or E-8 and above.
I don't know who wrote this but considering they are blatantly wrong about this I would take it with a big honking grain of salt.
Imo, changing retirement on those already under contract is a violation of that contract.
If soldiers have no reason to maintain good faith and confidence in their government, then the government should be terrified of having to try to maintain good faith and obedience of the soldiers.
Active Duty ping.