Posted on Sep 1, 2018
SGT Squad Leader
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SGT Cynthia Barnard
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That’s like asking the question is having no pension better than having a small pension. Any money that comes in at retirement is always good because let’s face it the more income do you have coming in at retirement the better
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MSgt Neil Greenfield
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Okay. I retired as a MSgt (E-7) from the ANG/AFR in 2000. That was after 21 years of both active and reserve service (Army and Air Force) giving me over 3700 points. I expect to start getting my military retirement in about 2 - 3 years when I turn 60. I expect my retirement pay to be between $16k - $18k a year.
Could I live on this amount? If I was single and lived off the grid, yes. But that’s not my situation. My reserve retirement pay, although smallish and not something i could actually live on, is a benefit I’m extremely grateful for having earned.
My reserve retirement pay is, however, a valuable component of my overall retirement plan, which consists of my 401k, pension, investments, Social Security, etc.
Is it worth it? Hell yes! I’m not one of the majority of Americans with only about $10k in savings for retirement. Make a plan and see an investment counselor (I use Edward Jones, there are many others) and become disciplined about saving for retirement.
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SGT Squad Leader
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Thank you for putting it into perspective. Great answer
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SFC Senior Human Resources Nco (S1)
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Don’t forget the Tricare for life, that starts around the age you’re going to want some good health insurance.

Also, for a quick idea, 7300 points is 20 years active duty. 20 years, 2.5% per year, 50% x BASE PAY.

Knowing that quick conversion, you can get an idea of what your reserve pension might be.

If you’re averaging 75 points per year, for 25 years, you’d be at roughly 12% of your base pay. That’s a super lowball calculation though.
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