Yeah I'm with you! It certainly is cause for concern. However, i think military retired pay / disability will be the last benefits touched by the government. This would cause riots in the streets especially after the past 11-12 years of constant deployments and wars. I anticipate future retirement benefits being changed for those entering active duty, as I don't think it's sustainable for our government to keep paying future pensions, but I seriously doubt that they will fool around with the entitlements that were promised to those that so bravely served this nation in the past.
The Tricare, I expect to go up. So not sure what to think about that.
Devin,
I read all of your posts in this thread, and have general advice for you. Make sure you read and re-read advice, as it can fall between the cracks. The idea of reading the book mentioned is a perfect start.
The way you're gathering advice and all is similar to what I do. It is not the quickest route, but you get to ask a lot of questions and look at various scenarios. The base pension you're working from is well-deserved, but you see how things change in just a few months. I'm sure that at the time of your August post most of us would wager that mil pensions would not be touched. This is a very good example of how the unexpected can upset a plan. If you retirement dream is built on additional pillars, it will be more difficult to knock off course.
For now at least, it seems that some of your pension won't keep up with inflation, but at 62 will reset. Still, that's 20 years, and legislation can change anything as you've seen.
The part of your plan where you continuing working and wife gets a tech degree is fantastic. That has to happen, and it will add another pillar to the plan. But it will take 20 years of work and saving.
Your own job is what is causing the concern. Right now your plan stands on two pillars (pension and current job), and you want to quit. BTW, so do I, but I am waiting for megacorp to lay me off instead of quitting. I'm 20 years ahead of you, and have no pension (but wife will get one). We have at least six investing spaces (pillars) to support our retirement. None are large enough to support our plan alone. That is why we still work--to build more support into the plan.
Back to your job. Turn it into something that works for you, if possible. At least for now. If there is a way to cut the number of days you must go to the cube farm and eat b/s, by all means do that.
Keep gathering numbers and facts as best you can. Use all the tools to model and predict, and take some time to look at all of the future needs in depth. Health care is one big wild card, for instance.
Whatever way you go, I wish you well.