It only takes 20 full years of active duty to be eligible for lifetime pension. Does that mean a 38 year-old can retire with full pension provided they started active duty at 18 and never stopped?
Is that even common ?
38 is just too young to retire I feel like.
I'm confused. So active duty means you can actually retire at 38 with full pension?
byu/cryptofan01 inMilitaryFinance
Posted by cryptofan01
8 Comments
Possible, yes. Common, ish. 80% of enlisted and 50% of officers separate before that milestone. Officers will generally be in their early 40’s though because of college.
Yes, though most get a job after that.
Yeah, but in all likelihood you will probably get a second job after.
I’m retiring soon and there’s no way my pension will support my family.
Just because you retire and collect a pension, doesn’t mean you cannot go out and get another job. Not uncommon to do 20+, then get a civil service job while collecting that sweet pension
The hard part is staying in for 20 years. If you’re young, you jump ship for better opportunities like college then post college careers which net out more over the long run than military retirement.
Plus it’s hard to be young in the military. You’re the one the older people go to for tasks.
Yes, you can retire at 38 if you join at 18 with a pension. That is the good news.
Bad news is that you are unlikely to have enough to not work.
Good news is that you will continue to receive money every month as long as you are breathing. And healthcare. That pension is something most people do not have and will make your financial future much brighter.
My husband will be 43 (officer) he plans to go work in the civilian world for 10-15 years. The pension isn’t enough for us to retire on by itself with kids and college costs coming up. I know one enlisted guy who is retired and doesn’t work at all but he seems to not really do much with his time and financially he’s not that stable.
You can’t “retire” on that pension. Let’s say you retire as an e9 (highest enlisted) at 20. You get 40% of your pay, meaning you get 3240 a month from your pension. Yes you may have VA disability and some TSP ( that you can’t access until 59) but idk about you 3240 isn’t cutting it for me. You will get a pension, but retire? Maybe if are extremely frugal, 100% disabled and save your money well