Realistic Officer Retirement Questions

[landeigestapo]

Happy Sunday / Mother’s Day!

I was curious for those who retired at the O-5+ level. How is life retired? Was it hard getting VA %? Any tips for a Junior Officer debating if military retirement is for them? What was your realistic net worth when you did retire? Thank you for your service & time!

Background Info:

Current O-2 about to hit 3 years TIS, contribute 10% to TSP, own a townhome with $100K equity, fully funded emergency savings, contributing to a HYSA currently.

 

[peterku]

@landeigestapo I am not an O-5+, but I will say that getting your VA% doesn't change whether you are an O, W or E. Also you should consider the full value of a military retirement. One of the most under-appreciated benefits is your healthcare being covered for life for you and your spouse/future spouse. That alone is worth potentially 1/2 million to more in premiums, deductibles, co-pay etc.

If you keep on your current path with savings and put the throttle down even more as you gain rank you will be sitting with a great pension, a large TSP account, IRA account, and taxable brokerage account plus possibly a nice real estate portfolio. Just know that there will be a lot of short-term pain points as you contemplate if it is really worth staying in, but look long-term and there is no doubt that it will be.

 

[black_square]

@peterku Yup.. cant really argue against an O retirement. Its somewhat hard for career officers to understand. We all think we’re hot shit because the AF is so easy progress in but the real world is not that forgiving. Its easier to get that guaranteed pension instead of gambling on the outside. Plus it’s not like civilian employment wont be there when you retire

 

[alex1971]

@landeigestapo Not exactly your demographic, but close. Retired W5. Made sure my medical issues were documented during my last two years, that made the disability application and screening process pretty easy.

For me and my family, it was worth sticking around for the retirement. Between the pension and the VA, a pretty comfortable baseline life is all funded.

I tried to fully retire when I left the service, but going from the pace I had been working to zero was much too abrupt of a change for me, so I went back to work. Now I work because I want to and it pays for the extras in life. Much less stress now because if I get sick of what I’m working on or who I’m working with, I can just quit because my family’s baseline life is funded. Not sure how long I’ll continue working, but I’m happy for now.

I’d say that a major benefit of sticking around for a military career is that you get to work on something hopefully meaningful to you, with some great people, and you earn a guaranteed income for life in your early 40s. If you want to keep working afterwards, hopefully you continued your education and built skills while in service that you can use to find a nice second career or post retirement job.

A career in the military isn’t for everyone, but it was good for me.

 

[landeigestapo]

@alex1971 This is an awesome reply, thank you! How did you make it work from both the family & career perspective?

It seems like I rarely come across people who have both balanced.

 

[alex1971]

@landeigestapo Not sure it was balanced the whole time. Not sure any career is, really. That’s the thing about balance, it’s never really done. We decided early on that we didn’t want our kids in daycare, so my spouse was a SAHM for most of my career. I don’t think I would have been able to focus on my career like I did if I had to also move to the right jobs for her and work around her business trips or deployments. She sacrificed having a career, I suppose that’s not very balanced.

Once kids come along, things get busier and life is a balancing act every day. This is tough in the military and with a civilian job. You just have to do your best to make time for school field trips, sports games, recitals, family dinner, vacations, and other family activities.

Honestly, my work/life balance is much better now as a civilian. Could be just my current job, but I’m there for my family much more now than when I was still in the military.

 

[everyman]

@landeigestapo You can use an Annuity calculator and 20-year O-5 pay and see that the retirement pay alone is worth $1.5-2M. That doesn't count any disability or your healthcare for life... So even if you saved nothing it'll like retiring a millionaire.

If you save smartly and invest your entire career you could also have well over a Million in the bank as well. My wife and I combined broke the $1M mark in our mid 30s and $2M in our late 30s, will probably retire over $3M if the markets average their historical rates...

Max your Roth and TSP, go all in on the C Fund in the TSP and grab a bunch of QQQM in your Roth and you'll live like a king at 42 when you retire and never have to work again unless you want to.

Good luck!

 

[yburhannan82]

@landeigestapo My wife is O4. Between high-3 O5, TSP, VA, and her IRA I am projecting $10k a month ish. And I am being lenient with the O5 promotion date. I factored in just enough for high-3, but she will make it before that, I think.

As for VA rating... Document, document, document.

I wrote an Excel spreadsheet to let you play with numbers / ailments to see what you need for 100%. Happy to share it with you if you do me an email. Not sure I can DM you an .xls.

Edit. Also projecting her TSP around $1.8m

Edit 2: trying to do this from my phone, so I am not sure if permissions are set correctly. People should be able to save their own copy. It is important to know you cannot have both a bilateral and a single for the same category. I.e. you cannot claim both feet for something and then claim it again on the singles portion (bottom).

I have some normally claimed items on the sheet already. The notes are the different percentages you can get based on severity.

There is a link to a good source of different ailments and their % guidelines in the sheet.

VA % Calculator

 

[hiyall]

@yburhannan82 I think we all want the spreadsheet.

 

[yburhannan82]

@hiyall trying to do this from my phone, so I am not sure if permissions are set correctly. People should be able to save their own copy. It is important to know you cannot have both a bilateral and a single for the same category. I.e. you cannot claim both feet for something and then claim it again on the singles portion (bottom).

I have some normally claimed items on the sheet already. The notes are the different percentages you can get based on severity.

There is a link to a good source of different ailments and their % guidelines in the sheet.

VA % Calculator

 

[black_square]

@yburhannan82 Yoooo can you dm me that spreadsheet?

 

[yburhannan82]

@black_square trying to do this from my phone, so I am not sure if permissions are set correctly. People should be able to save their own copy. It is important to know you cannot have both a bilateral and a single for the same category. I.e. you cannot claim both feet for something and then claim it again on the singles portion (bottom).

I have some normally claimed items on the sheet already. The notes are the different percentages you can get based on severity.

There is a link to a good source of different ailments and their % guidelines in the sheet.

VA % Calculator

 

[stevo1986]

@yburhannan82 Please share this gold!

 

[yburhannan82]

@stevo1986 trying to do this from my phone, so I am not sure if permissions are set correctly. People should be able to save their own copy. It is important to know you cannot have both a bilateral and a single for the same category. I.e. you cannot claim both feet for something and then claim it again on the singles portion (bottom).

I have some normally claimed items on the sheet already. The notes are the different percentages you can get based on severity.

There is a link to a good source of different ailments and their % guidelines in the sheet.

VA % Calculator

 

[cn33]

@yburhannan82 I would also like to join the list

 

[yburhannan82]

@cn33 trying to do this from my phone, so I am not sure if permissions are set correctly. People should be able to save their own copy. It is important to know you cannot have both a bilateral and a single for the same category. I.e. you cannot claim both feet for something and then claim it again on the singles portion (bottom).

I have some normally claimed items on the sheet already. The notes are the different percentages you can get based on severity.

There is a link to a good source of different ailments and their % guidelines in the sheet.

VA % Calculator

 

[leoooyu]

@yburhannan82 Thanks for sharing.

 

[rdsdent]

@yburhannan82 Can I get that spreadsheet as well? Thanks!

 

[yburhannan82]

@rdsdent trying to do this from my phone, so I am not sure if permissions are set correctly. People should be able to save their own copy. It is important to know you cannot have both a bilateral and a single for the same category. I.e. you cannot claim both feet for something and then claim it again on the singles portion (bottom).

I have some normally claimed items on the sheet already. The notes are the different percentages you can get based on severity.

There is a link to a good source of different ailments and their % guidelines in the sheet.

VA % Calculator

 

[rdsdent]

@yburhannan82 Thanks!