Hi, I’m a 48 year old active duty military service member

[haloFIRE]

Excellent VA Care

A bit off topic, but I would NEVER get worked on in a VA facility - so, would plan on suitable medical insurance until 65.

And, IMO a “full” colonel is not going to be happy goofing off at age 48.

As someone else already stated, there are good facilities, and not so good facilities. This holds true for just about every entity that has multiple locations.

My VA care is much better than my Tricare provided care. I actually really like my Tricare - I'm seen in the same facility I used when I was active duty. The care is great, but the VA care is even better. Why? VA appointment slots are longer - more time with my Doc, and wait time for referrals/specialists is usually faster.

I'm fortunate to be able to use both systems.

As long as the VA is sufficiently funded, I anticipate their care to remain exceptional.

Oh, retired at 50, no problem goofing off at all!

 

[BighousePT]

Looks great to me, thanks for your service!

Any tips (youngest kid AROTC, currently spending 5 weeks at Ft. Knox) to make O-6+?

All the AROTC guys I knew back in college retired at O-5.

My best advice is to find out what is most important to your boss and do that to your best ability or even better than he can do it. Do this even if you don’t think it is the most important thing. If it’s important to him, it’s important to you. I learned this early as a 2LT.

 

[Nords]

Hi,
did you already check out

https://the-military-guide.com/
Nords, the founder, also drops in here from time to time.

For ideas about spending your time after ER, I like the 'tree of life' exercise in Ernie Zelinski's books "The Joy of not Working" and "How to retiere happy, wild and free".

Enjoy the way to ER as well as a long ER!

Thanks, Chris2008!

I second the Get-A-Life Tree in Ernie Zelinski’s books. Here’s one example:
Retirement Planning Wisdom That You Won't Get from Your Financial Advisor: The Get-a-Life Tree: A Great Retirement Planning Tool!

with 26 years of active duty time. I entered the service when I was 21 as a 2nd LT and am now a full COL. My plan is to stay on active duty to hit the 30 year mark and then retire early. I would be just turning 52 years old. Can I retire early?

With 30 years of active duty time I am calculating my pension to be around $9800 a month after taxes and SBP.

What do you think? Any pitfalls to this plan?

What is the best way to tackle that question? I can easily estimate recurrent monthly bills/utilities etc. but I am not sure how to factor in other expenses like traveling or hobbies. My life has basically been the military since I was 21.

Welcome back, BighousePT. My advice this time is going to look a lot like the thread you started seven years ago.

First, I’d still take your career one tour at a time and calculate your pension (in today’s dollars) as if you retire with only six months’ notice. Every military family thinks that they’re going to go the full career… until life gets in the way.

Second, as others have mentioned, you should figure out your travel & hobby expenses. Do the research. Read about them here or on other forums or in Facebook groups. If you’re totally flummoxed then decide that you’re going to start by living within your pension and withdrawing from your investments/savings at the 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate. Keep in mind that when you’re retired you can travel off-peak, stay in AirBnB apartments instead of resorts, and live like a local in very inexpensive locations for months at a time.

Third, you should attend your service’s transition seminar. Do it now. (You might be retiring sooner than you think, and you need all the prep time you can get.) Don’t get suckered into the syndrome of being too vital to the command’s mission to make the time for TAP, because in a few years you’ll be retired whether you’re vital or not. When you attend TAP then consider attending with your spouse. (Get childcare if necessary. It’s worth the money.) You’ll each hear different aspects of the same presentations and you’ll have many thoughtful conversations about your future together.

Finally, you can find a copy of “The Military Guide To Financial Independence And Retirement” in your base library or nearby public library. You can also read the first six months of posts at the website that Chris linked above.

Contact me if you have more questions.

I'm sorry, but you got to be an O-6 and can't decide whether you can retire on $9,800/mon after tax and Tricare medical and pending SS. You're kidding me right?

No worries, NanoSour, we vets spent our time in the military to defend your First Amendment right to express your opinion.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

As someone else already stated, there are good facilities, and not so good facilities. This holds true for just about every entity that has multiple locations.

My VA care is much better than my Tricare provided care. I actually really like my Tricare - I'm seen in the same facility I used when I was active duty. The care is great, but the VA care is even better. Why? VA appointment slots are longer - more time with my Doc, and wait time for referrals/specialists is usually faster.

I'm fortunate to be able to use both systems.

As long as the VA is sufficiently funded, I anticipate their care to remain exceptional.

Oh, retired at 50, no problem goofing off at all!

YMMV with this to a VERY large degree and I would caution anyone to chose one over the other without some due diligence.

 

[braumeister]

YMMV with this to a VERY large degree and I would caution anyone to chose one over the other without some due diligence.

Of course.

But if I can offer another anecdotal point of view, I have used both civilian medical care (with Tricare and then Medicare/TFL) and VA care ever since I retired. I've had excellent experiences with both systems.

I keep my registration with VA current mainly to have an alternate source of care if I ever need it, but nothing about the VA medical system has ever seemed inferior.

I'm perfectly willing to concede that I have just had a set of superior VA facilities and people to interact with, and I know that the other kind exists as well. I just don't like to see people using too broad a brush to characterize an entire healthcare system.

 

[SnowballCamper]

What do you think? Any pitfalls to this plan?

I think your plan is pretty vague. It says nothing about spending. If after 30 years you have less than $500k saved, then your spending far exceeds your expected pension. Head over to SFL-TAP and sign up for the budget/finance briefing for retiring soldiers. The one I did had a very thorough budget worksheet to track spending. Many families could easily retire on $9,800 a month, but you have to know what you spend your money on in order to answer this for you & your family.

Good luck!

 

[BighousePT]

Thanks for the reply. This may have been a mistake but I chose to pay off my children’s college and we nearly have a $450,000 house paid for. I felt those debts were threats to my plan to retire early. Paying off the house frees up $2300 a month and makes the $9800 go further.

 

[Musica40]

I'm sorry, but you got to be an O-6 and can't decide whether you can retire on $9,800/mon after tax and Tricare medical and pending SS. You're kidding me right?

I agree. Seems like bragging. I retired 23 years ago as an E-7 and my retirement did not even come close. I started at $1200 per month and currently pull around $1780. I guess he just wants someone to envy his position.

 

[BighousePT]

I guess it does appear that way. I’m a medical officer and am pretty good at taking care of service members medically, not so good at finances and financial planning. I’ll just delete this thread, thanks for all who replied. It was helpful.

 

[JDARNELL]

I guess it does appear that way. I’m a medical officer and am pretty good at taking care of service members medically, not so good at finances and financial planning. I’ll just delete this thread, thanks for all who replied. It was helpful.

I don’t think it appeared that way at all. I took it as your a career officer having been focused on the mission. And if your enjoying what your doing stay longer. Many of us understand what it takes for a line officer to make 0-6 and I’m sure it’s just as hard for a medical officer. There may come a time when you get that call from the assignment officer that you decide to say thanks but no thanks. You clearly have been successful in your chosen career path and now your being proactive in asking about the next phase of your life. Keep asking questions.

The key is to make sure you know your spending as compared to your income. You’ll probably find in retirement your spending changes dramatically as you have more time to choose what you spend your resources on instead of just spending to make your life more convenient because you are focused on taking care of the troops.

 

[pacergal]

BighousePT--
Congratulations on your retirement plans so far. You have college paid for and no other debt besides your mortgage, which you are working on.
Review and monitor your spending, attend the retirement seminars that Nords discussed to prep you for military retirement issues.
You have a great pension which will give you a solid retirement income.
The next few years will go by faster than you think!

Thank you for your continued service to our Country.

 

[Speculator]

"I’ll just delete this thread, thanks for all who replied. It was helpful."

Please reconsider? For me, this community allows me to learn about all aspects of life and threads such as yours open a window into a community I know little about. There will always be folks who may read what we say the wrong way and, in my opinion, that's on them, not on the poster.

 

[av8er]

I’m a couple of YGs behind you but also intend to permanently exit the workforce after MIL retirement (though I intend to hang up my cleats prior to 30).

To echo what others have said, knowing your expenses and keeping them at or below your pension payment is likely the key to success. You mentioned you’d almost paid off your mortgage—do you intend to remain where you’re at after retirement? If so, you should have a very good idea of your expenses over the next four years (be sure to also forecast known future expenses like home repairs, cars, etc). And, if you intend to move, the data you gather should help you form a pretty solid projection for what your retirement expenses will be wherever you choose to settle.

For what it’s worth, we intend to use my pension to cover our non-discretionary expenses and to use our retirement savings to cover discretionary spending, such as travel (and eventually to augment SBP). I also intend to delay SS until 70 to maximize the survivor benefit for my spouse. We’ve saved aggressively over the years and, admittedly, have likely overfunded our retirement accts considering my pension. On the upside, though, that high savings rate has prevented lifestyle creep and helped us keep our pre-retirement expenses down.

Permanent retirement is certainly within reach for you—good luck!

 

[RetireeRobert]

with 26 years of active duty time. I entered the service when I was 21 as a 2nd LT and am now a full COL. My plan is to stay on active duty to hit the 30 year mark and then retire early. I would be just turning 52 years old. Can I retire early?

With 30 years of active duty time I am calculating my pension to be around $9800 a month after taxes and SBP. My two kids colleges are paid for already. We have zero debt, cars are paid off. My wife and I stopped our investments this year to accelerate paying off a house that was currently appraised for $450,000. The last payment should happen in 2.5 years. We only have $340,000 saved that is tied up in Roth IRAs and the TSP. We have a $50,000 emergency fund in a generic savings account. Cars will probably need to be replaced in 5 years and roof on house probably in 12 years. HVACs were just replaced. Wife and I are in very good health. We are currently studying what a retirement budget would look like and we feel confident about a $9800 monthly pension.

My last day of work would be March of 2025 and then I don’t want to ever answer to another person again.

What do you think? Any pitfalls to this plan?

Thank you for your service, and congratulations on so arranging your financial situation.

YES---you can retire as you plan!

Obviously, you know how to live within available income and LBYM, as you are debt free, have college covered for kids, and have been adding to your investments and savings. Your health insurance after retirement is covered. I would say you are good to go.

 

[braumeister]

"I’ll just delete this thread, thanks for all who replied. It was helpful."

Please reconsider? For me, this community allows me to learn about all aspects of life and threads such as yours open a window into a community I know little about. There will always be folks who may read what we say the wrong way and, in my opinion, that's on them, not on the poster.

For those who may not realize it, we don't delete threads here (although we may close them at times for good reason). Everyone's input can be useful to someone.

 

[Nick12]

Thanks for the reply. This may have been a mistake but I chose to pay off my children’s college and we nearly have a $450,000 house paid for. I felt those debts were threats to my plan to retire early. Paying off the house frees up $2300 a month and makes the $9800 go further.

You are a good parent to pay off your kids college. Others I know don't even do that. We live and learn from the decisions we make. Your monthly pension and your health insurance covered by the VA is very good in my book.

 

[smalltownguy1]

A bit off topic, but I would NEVER get worked on in a VA facility - so, would plan on suitable medical insurance until 65.

And, IMO a “full” colonel is not going to be happy goofing off at age 48.

Just a lowly “LTC” here -I retired in late 2015 at age 45 and I goofed off every day since.

 

[smalltownguy1]

Nonetheless, Nick ... paying next to nothing is not the best reason for using a particular supplier - especially for medical care.

With Tricare and the VA as well as bc/bs from a former employer, I pick and choose who does what.

 

[smalltownguy1]

I guess it does appear that way. I’m a medical officer and am pretty good at taking care of service members medically, not so good at finances and financial planning. I’ll just delete this thread, thanks for all who replied. It was helpful.

Depending on your specially and what you like to do consider locum tenans,
I was a PA and ran a busy clinic but medically retired and went from 100mph to zero. It is very difficult.
I was taught to retire “to” something not retire “from” something.
My father is a radiologist and at 78 years old still works 3 days a week at a VA med center. One of my last bosses was a retired general surgeon that worked 3-4 days a week at my clinic after he was “retired” from his civilian group at 65. He was also a retired navy 05. He was 82 when he quit and was in a nursing home in 3 months and died in 6 months after he retired.

 

[23isme]

To add to all the other great advice already here, I would add my thoughts after retiring as an O-6 about 4 years ago, no where close to 30 years of service:
1. Experiment and see if you can live your life on the amount of your pension starting now. We did this for my last two years of active duty and it gave us a lot of confidence that we could make it with just the retirement check coming in each month. It also allowed us to set aside a pile of cash for the inevitable post-retirement needs.

2. Give your VA disability application laser-like focus. Your quality of customer service across the spectrum will never be better than it is now. Talk to a VA rep or one of the veteran orgs or ask other retirees for help in navigating the process. Getting started as early as possible will pay huge dividends down the line.

3. Attend ETAP as soon as possible, even if retirement looks to be 3-4 years away. I was blown away by how much information was new to me. I did TAP twice in two different locations and I don't think a third time would have been wasted.


Good luck and congrats!