Military retirees?

[moneymaker]

How many military retirees are on here?

Did you work after military retirement? If so, did you realy HAVE to work?

Where did you retire to?

Did your pension and any saving cover your lifestyle?

 

[corn18]

How many military retirees are on here?

Did you work after military retirement? If so, did you realy HAVE to work?

Where did you retire to?

Did your pension and any saving cover your lifestyle?

Retired @ 42 from the Navy. Had to keep working because we were in debt up to our eyeballs. Got that fixed thanks to a ludicrously high income + savings rate, we are hoping to retire at 56.

 

[JDARNELL]

Retired at 43. Did a short bridge career for 3.5 yrs to see if I could do it. BS bucket filled up and I walked away. Could
Have retired right away. Plenty of $$ without the bridge career.

 

[NanoSour]

Retired @ 38 from military and took a 1 year sabbatical before heading back to work for 10 years. Retired for good @ 49. Thanks to years of LWBM, pension and savings provide a comfortable lifestyle till SS and second pension kicks in.

 

[cbo111]

I was extremely fortunate to retire from the AF in a flight test job, and get hired by a defense contractor to perform essentially the same job. I was even able to keep the same desk and work tele number. It paid a good bit more that the military gig, which enabled me to retire comfortably after about 10 years at age 58.
We ended up in Florida and have plenty of $ to cover our essentials, to include golf, tennis, and generally goofing off.

 

[braumeister]

We military retirees are very, very lucky to have a good pension with the same COLA as Social Security. I did civilian work for a dozen years after retiring from the Air Force, and thoroughly enjoyed it. That gave me enough to have a comfortable lifestyle instead of a frugal one.

 

[razztazz]

Retired at 38. Had planned to work a while longer but ended up working a whole 5 months between two jobs. Alas, I just didn't give a crap. You only need so much money. The free medical insurance was the real golden doughnut however. With that, yes the pension + the savings covered expenses like an ice cream sundae.

I was stationed in Utah but retired to a major city in Flyover Country. Had I known I was going to be able to actually call it quits for good the day I retired, I would have moved to a smaller city. But, given where I grew up almost every city is smaller to me.

 

[corn18]

Another amazing benefit we have as retirees is Tricare and then Tricare for life. I calculated this is worth north of $500k in retirement savings. And we didn't have to pay for health care while I was working which saved us another $120k or so.

 

[FmrLurker]

Retired at 52 after 30 years. Returned to Washington State...pension covers everything.

 

[Lewis Clark]

Retired at age 41 with 20 years of service in central Florida.

We've always been good savers and lived on one income while saving the other (smaller) income and part of the larger income. But we were not super frugal, and did not know anything about retiring early. We could not have both stopped working and maintained our then-current lifestyle just on my military pension and our investments.

And then we wanted to do a lot of travel, which required additional funds.

 

[wrigley]

My wife and I are both retired Navy. I did 20, she did 24. I retired at age 38 and started my current and only civilian job while I was on terminal leave. I will turn 60 in March.

Mike

 

[Red Badger]

Another amazing benefit we have as retirees is Tricare and then Tricare for life. I calculated this is worth north of $500k in retirement savings. And we didn't have to pay for health care while I was working which saved us another $120k or so.

My Army career was split about even with 15 years active/15 reserve. I had a corporate gig after AD and retired at 60. W/O Tricare, that wouldn't have happened. Military pay and health care shaved 5 years off of my corporate gig that was getting very stale.

 

[RetireBy90]

DW and I both retired from Army, me at 20 years and her at 21 years.

She was without a job for a year but didn't like being a stay-at-home mom, so she worked at the school for another 20 years and retired with a small pension from county.

I went back to work as a govt contractor for about 6 years and then went to work at Verizon for another 18 years. No pension from Verizon but the 401K allowed us to save enough to retire comfortably.

DW is on Medicare and Kaiser so she is good and I'm using Tricare Prime till I get medicare eligible.

Our Army checks have paid house payment plus a bit of travel each year and our other expenses are paid from 401K/IRA savings.

 

[Timeisprecious]

A "somewhat atypical" military career

How many military retirees are on here?

Did you work after military retirement? If so, did you realy HAVE to work?

Where did you retire to?

Did your pension and any saving cover your lifestyle?

How many military retirees in here? Several more than those whom have checked in so far. I think more will be stopping in soon. (For one, I think I remember Gumby being military retired?) Thank you all for your service to the nation!

My military career has been "somewhat atypical" - served an AF stint back during the cold war and said I'd never rejoin, but DID rejoin as an Army officer after 9-11 took place (I can't begin to tell you how much that pissed me off!). My transition leave out of the Army as an O5 begins in three weeks after having served just over 20 years, and "for a while" (6 mo - 2 yrs?) it'll be real retirement - not sure I'll work again or not. I'm currently 62 years old.

Two things have kept our savings from being at the level of many in here: 1) My wife stayed home w/ the two kiddos, but before they were out of the house she had to fight over 10 years of brain cancer and other health issues. She hasn't been able to work again after all that (hey, I'm glad I still HAVE her - the cancer was classified as stage 4 for a while!). So, we made do with my pretty good income. 2) I didn't even really consider retirement until after age 40 (I got my Ph.D. at 33, and after that it felt pretty good to make some decent money! ). However, how much is enough? I feel we have plenty.

So - long answer to your short question, but my pension will cover all our projected expenses and then some, and savings and interest added on will help us to enjoy the lifestyle for which we're planning. Others have mentioned the amazing health plan for military retirees - yes, that'll help too. I don't plan to take SS until 70 - I see no need for that now.

 

[griffithee]

DW and I are both retired military. I retired from Navy in 2013 after almost 27 years. I was 44. DW retired two years later from Air Force after 21 years. She was 41. Haven't worked a day since then. We did have to move from Hawaii to Texas to be able to afford not to work. But totally worth it.

 

[Eagle43]

I retired from the military in 1981, then did 22 years in Megacorp . Today we have 2 pensions, two social security checks, Medicare, small VA perk, and an RMD withdrawal check.

BTW: I was 38 when I retired 1981.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

As my sig indicates, I retired from the AF 5 years ago after 22 years of service...and was but a "sweaty enlisted dude."

Pension and dividends have more than covered our expenses and for a few years after my retirement, also had a rental property.

DW has continued to w*rk, but hasn't had to. The good thing about this is she w*rks from home and seems to enjoy what she does. Also saving 80% of her income has significantly added to our bottom line.

Tricare is an awesome benefit and have had zero issues using it for some pretty complex issues.

 

[Lawrencewendall]

Retired in 2004 and did a contractor stint for 7 years and then went FERS for another 8 years. The Military retirement, VA disability (70%) and aggressively socking money into TSP allowed me to pull the plug almost 6 months ago. Numbers still say I made the right decision. (Tricare is awesome!)

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

How many military retirees are on here?

I am here.

The US Navy booted me out after my 20th anniversary, due to the High-Year-Tenure [HYT] policy. I was not allowed to stay on Active Duty beyond 20 years.

... Did you work after military retirement? If so, did you realy HAVE to work?

No.

At first we were a foster-family, we took other children and raised them. As our finances settled, then we moved to a low-cost rural area, where we bought 150 acres of forest land and I build a big farmhouse.

... Where did you retire to?

Did your pension and any saving cover your lifestyle?

We moved to rural Maine. My E6 pension more than covers what I need to support my family.

Our investments were enough to cover buying land and building a farmhouse.

 

[Retiredmajor]

My 21+ year service was split between Active Duty and National Guard Duty. My pension and Tricare health insurance kicked in at age 60. We both retired later that year. The pension and healthcare cut 5 years off our working life. Otherwise, I would have had to work until age 65 for Medicare. Tricare is great and worth a ton of money. My pension, along with our savings and SS will keep us comfortable.

 

[nash031]

How many military retirees are on here?

Here! Well, technically I'm on terminal leave retiring officially 1 Jan 2020 after 20 years.

Did you work after military retirement? If so, did you realy HAVE to work?

Yes, I will start a new career on December 2nd ("double dipping" for a month). I do not need to do THIS specific job, but I would've needed to supplement my pension and wife's income with about $15,000 per year to cover expenses without touching savings or dividend income. Had I been willing to dip into savings or dividends right now, I would not need to work and we probably would've been fine long term.

I am working because I still have energy to do so, and am excited to try my hand in the business world. A unique opportunity came along for me to run a business with substantial compensation immediately after I left the Navy, so I'm taking it. I will do it for at least a year and then re-evaluate things.

There is a distinct possibility that my wife and I will start our own small business, and this experience will definitely help if we choose to go that route. Military retirees are in a great situation for entrepreneurship with health care and guaranteed income already in place.

Where did you retire to?

We are staying in San Diego, where I was stationed for 10 of my last 12 years and my wife has lived for 15 years.

Did your pension and any saving cover your lifestyle?

As mentioned above, it would cover us long term. Our expenses are high right now due to paying for in-home child care for our two young daughters, but we could cover that with my wife's income, my pension income, and dividend income if we had chosen to. Once they start school, we can more than cover expected expenses with just pension and either my wife's income or savings.

 

[dtbach]

Did 11 years AD followed by 11 years RD in the Navy. Flew in both AD and RD. Worked for defense industry while in RD and invested all my drill pay into the stock market of of the 90's. Retired as an 0-5. Then worked for Megacorp for another 11 years after that. Retired at 60 once the retirement pay started coming in and got Tricare coverage. Worked out just fine.

 

[friar1610]

Retired from the Navy at age 50 after 28.5 years of active duty (+ 3.5 years USNR while in college). Took a "sabbatical" before going to work as a "Beltway Bandit" for about 7 years and retired for good on my 58th birthday. Didn't particularly enjoy my BB career but saved/invested a lot by not letting lifestyle creep consume much of my higher income. (I had also been saving/investing modestly for the last half of my Navy career).

We now live primarily on my USN pension plus an occasional dip into our RMDs and SS checks for extras/travel. No debt, own our house outright. Our lifestyle, while not overly extravagant, is more than well covered by our income sources. We travel a lot and don't scrimp on that. Day-to-day living is more modest.

In retrospect I probably didn't have to work after Navy retirement but the extra cushion is nice, particularly since my wife will be left with lower guaranteed income streams if I depart this earth first.

We moved from Baltimore/Washington DC area to Vermont a couple of years after I stopped working and 6 months after my wife did. Lived there 8 years and then relocated to MA 6.5 years ago. Plan to remain here forever.

As others have mentioned, value of TRICARE (prior to MEDICARE) and MEDICARE w/TRICARE for Life supplement after 65 is tremendous.

I seriously considered retiring at 20 but decided to stay longer to accept the final promotion. That additional 8 years added 20% to my retirement multiplier and was applied to a higher base pay. That has also helped considerably.

 

[nash031]

I seriously considered retiring at 20 but decided to stay longer to accept the final promotion. That additional 8 years added 20% to my retirement multiplier and was applied to a higher base pay. That has also helped considerably.

This is a tough decision for a lot of us. It never was for me. I was still "due course" and almost certain to select for O6 in Jan 2020, but being home for family (wife and two young daughters) as well as no longer suspending the things I love doing to go back to sea were bigger priorities to me. I didn't want the next job at all, and didn't really want the job that likely would've come after that, so it was time... and that's what they tell you - when it's time, you'll know. I knew.

I planned to cover the gap between what I would've gotten had I stuck it out for 4 or 5 more years, and if I work in my bridge career for that long, the difference in our spending power is likely to be about 10% or less. The longer I or my wife works, the less and less impactful the difference in the pension becomes as our savings and income streams from that savings start to overwhelm the pension portion. In the end, the pension itself will make up probably 20-30% of our expected spending. The health care is arguably more important.

 

[jimnjana]

DW retired in 06 as a MSG. I retired in 07 as a LTC. I worked 54 weeks in civil service before deciding to quit. BRAC was coming wasn't gonna move again. Pensions + VA compensation (DW)) + rental income + mortgage note are primary income streams. DW also has some income from travel agent gig .