Posted on Sep 18, 2017
My 1st contract was 6 yrs guard, 2nd 5 yrs active, now I am going back to guard. When will I be able to retire?
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Posted in these groups: 
Retirement
Guard
Retirement Guard
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 8
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20 years... If you retire from the Guard or Reserve you have to have 20 "good" years. After you have completed 20 years you'll get a 20 Year Letter... Keep track of your "Retirement Points Worksheet" so you can make sure you have all the points you are entitled to.
You'll have to wait until you are 60 to collect if you don't have 20 years of Active Federal Service. unless you've been deployed...
I am not sure how Title 32 Active Duty is counted if there is a "State Call-Up" as far as retirement is concerned... I'm also not sure how your Active Duty time counts towards the lowering of the retirement age. Ask your S1 about your specific situation.
Retirement Age [1]
A member is generally not eligible for Reserve (non-regular) retired pay until they reach age 6o. However, any member of the Ready Reserve who is recalled to active duty or, in response to a national emergency, is called to certain active service after January 28, 2008, shall have the age 60 requirement reduced by 3 months for each cumulative period of 90 days so performed in any fiscal year after that date.
[1] http://militarypay.defense.gov/Pay/Retirement/reserve/
You'll have to wait until you are 60 to collect if you don't have 20 years of Active Federal Service. unless you've been deployed...
I am not sure how Title 32 Active Duty is counted if there is a "State Call-Up" as far as retirement is concerned... I'm also not sure how your Active Duty time counts towards the lowering of the retirement age. Ask your S1 about your specific situation.
Retirement Age [1]
A member is generally not eligible for Reserve (non-regular) retired pay until they reach age 6o. However, any member of the Ready Reserve who is recalled to active duty or, in response to a national emergency, is called to certain active service after January 28, 2008, shall have the age 60 requirement reduced by 3 months for each cumulative period of 90 days so performed in any fiscal year after that date.
[1] http://militarypay.defense.gov/Pay/Retirement/reserve/
Military Pay and Benefits Website sponsored by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
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SGT (Join to see) Your best off contacting your local Retirement Services Office. They are best equipped to help you. You can find your local RSO at https://soldierforlife.army.mil/retirement/rso
Army Retirement Services Officers | Soldier for Life
Army Retirement Services Officers (RSOs) can provide answers for retiring and Retired Soldiers and surviving spouses. Before retirement, contact your RSO for your pre-retirement and Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) briefings. After retirement, contact your RSO for benefits assistance and for special program items such as the retiree councils, Retiree Appreciation Days, and installation retiree newsletters.
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Wow a lot of these responses are excellent thank you all for the help. Too many people to call out by name but if you said more than go to S1 (I'm in theatre and separated by a large distance from my S1 likely until I re deploy to the states still a valid statement but not especially helpful for the next several months) then you helped me cut through a lot of the confusion I have been having trying to figure some of this out.
For my first post here I'm amazed how helpful you all have been. Thank you for the warm welcome
For my first post here I'm amazed how helpful you all have been. Thank you for the warm welcome
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MSG Andrew White
REMEMBER, THE RESERVE AND NG REQUIRE A GOOD YEAR GOES FROM YOUR RYE DATE-YOUR RETIREMENT YEAR ENDING DATE!!!
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Looks like you got the good word on the 20/60 thing. Make sure you transfer to the reserve/guard retired list (Fleet Reserve in the Navy equivalent) and don't resign. A resignation sets your pay at that point which you won't see until you're 60. You want the retired pay to be based on what it is when you turn 60.
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So unlike an active retirement where my 6 years NG was about an accumulated 1 year of service for active, meaning I would need 14 more years, for guard I would only need 9 correct?
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COL Vincent Stoneking
Correct, but....
Assuming all your guard years were "good" years, that is correct. However, that is really only part of the story. 20 good years ALLOW you to retire, said retirement's pay to begin at age 60[1].
The second half of the story is figuring out how much your retirement will be. This is ENTIRELY based on total years of service[2] and total points. Take your total points (be they for active duty, IDT, whatever), divide by 360 (not a typo) and the result is your "equivalent years of active duty". Multiply your equivalent years of active duty by 2.5%[3]. That is your % "active duty pay" you will receive upon retirement[4]. Your active duty pay will simply be the pay chart that was in effect when you finally retired, based on rank and years of service[2].
This can vary greatly. If one did the absolute minimum of 50 points a year to get 20 good years, they would retire with 1000 retirement points (This is the absolute minimum for a good year, Assuming you did 48 assemblies a year, 12 days of AT, and got your 15 membership points, a year should be at least 75 points). This would be equivalent to 2.8 years of active duty. Multiply 2.8 * 2.5% = 6.9% of active duty base pay. In your case, with 5 years active, the minimum would be 2575 points, or 7.15 AD years, or 17.9% of active duty base pay. Obviously, the more you are mobilized, the more schools you attend, the more drills you do, the more points you accumulate, the higher your retired pay.
As you'll note, there were several footnotes just in this reply. There really should have been more, as I just glossed over a lot of other details. It is definitely worth cracking into the topic seriously, especially as you are already over halfway there! Especially as you have the option for the blended system.
[1] If you have deployed for contingency operations sometime after 2008, it may be slightly less. Basically, lower the retirement age by 90 days for every 90 days served in support of a contingency operation. It's more complicated than that, but that gets us off topic.
[2] This makes transferring to the retired reserve a much better option than separating once you "retire", as time in the retired reserve counts for total years of service. Theoretically, you could be recalled to service from the retired reserve, but I think it's a pretty small risk.
[3] May change under the blended system.
[4] Ignoring Survivor benefit options, etc.
Assuming all your guard years were "good" years, that is correct. However, that is really only part of the story. 20 good years ALLOW you to retire, said retirement's pay to begin at age 60[1].
The second half of the story is figuring out how much your retirement will be. This is ENTIRELY based on total years of service[2] and total points. Take your total points (be they for active duty, IDT, whatever), divide by 360 (not a typo) and the result is your "equivalent years of active duty". Multiply your equivalent years of active duty by 2.5%[3]. That is your % "active duty pay" you will receive upon retirement[4]. Your active duty pay will simply be the pay chart that was in effect when you finally retired, based on rank and years of service[2].
This can vary greatly. If one did the absolute minimum of 50 points a year to get 20 good years, they would retire with 1000 retirement points (This is the absolute minimum for a good year, Assuming you did 48 assemblies a year, 12 days of AT, and got your 15 membership points, a year should be at least 75 points). This would be equivalent to 2.8 years of active duty. Multiply 2.8 * 2.5% = 6.9% of active duty base pay. In your case, with 5 years active, the minimum would be 2575 points, or 7.15 AD years, or 17.9% of active duty base pay. Obviously, the more you are mobilized, the more schools you attend, the more drills you do, the more points you accumulate, the higher your retired pay.
As you'll note, there were several footnotes just in this reply. There really should have been more, as I just glossed over a lot of other details. It is definitely worth cracking into the topic seriously, especially as you are already over halfway there! Especially as you have the option for the blended system.
[1] If you have deployed for contingency operations sometime after 2008, it may be slightly less. Basically, lower the retirement age by 90 days for every 90 days served in support of a contingency operation. It's more complicated than that, but that gets us off topic.
[2] This makes transferring to the retired reserve a much better option than separating once you "retire", as time in the retired reserve counts for total years of service. Theoretically, you could be recalled to service from the retired reserve, but I think it's a pretty small risk.
[3] May change under the blended system.
[4] Ignoring Survivor benefit options, etc.
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CPT (Join to see)
COL Vincent Stoneking - To piggyback off what LTC Stoneking said in accordance with [3] above...
SGT Nick Tursi you have some options for your retirement... See the cut and paste below from "The Uniformed Services Blended Retirement Systems" website:
http://militarypay.defense.gov/BlendedRetirement/
Policy Highlights
** The Fiscal Year 2016 Nation Defense Authorization Act created a new military retirement system that blends the traditional legacy retirement pension with a defined contribution to Service members’ Thrift Savings Plan account. The new Blended Retirement System goes into effect on January 1, 2018.
** All members serving as of December 31, 2017, are grandfathered under the legacy retirement system. No one currently-serving will be automatically switched to the Blended Retirement System.
** Though they are grandfathered under the legacy retirement system, Active Component Service members with fewer than 12 years since their Pay Entry Base Date, and Reserve Component Service members who have accrued fewer than 4,320 retirement points as of December 31, 2017, will have the option to opt into the Blended Retirement System. The opt-in/election period for the Blended Retirement System begins January 1, 2018, and concludes on December 31, 2018.
** All Service members who enter the military on or after January 1, 2018, will automatically be enrolled in BRS.
SGT Nick Tursi you have some options for your retirement... See the cut and paste below from "The Uniformed Services Blended Retirement Systems" website:
http://militarypay.defense.gov/BlendedRetirement/
Policy Highlights
** The Fiscal Year 2016 Nation Defense Authorization Act created a new military retirement system that blends the traditional legacy retirement pension with a defined contribution to Service members’ Thrift Savings Plan account. The new Blended Retirement System goes into effect on January 1, 2018.
** All members serving as of December 31, 2017, are grandfathered under the legacy retirement system. No one currently-serving will be automatically switched to the Blended Retirement System.
** Though they are grandfathered under the legacy retirement system, Active Component Service members with fewer than 12 years since their Pay Entry Base Date, and Reserve Component Service members who have accrued fewer than 4,320 retirement points as of December 31, 2017, will have the option to opt into the Blended Retirement System. The opt-in/election period for the Blended Retirement System begins January 1, 2018, and concludes on December 31, 2018.
** All Service members who enter the military on or after January 1, 2018, will automatically be enrolled in BRS.
Information on the U.S. Department of Defense Blended Retirement System.
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Damn straight you will be able to. Get that Letter!!! Worth its weight in gold!!!
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As previously stated 20 good years, provided your first contract was 6 good years, add that to 5 years active you have 9 more good years in the guard to get your retirement letter.
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