How many military retirees are on here?
Back in 2008 (when I was still drafting The Military Guide) we had 78 servicemembers, vets, & family members sign up for the book’s private group. Not all were retirees, and a few were not veterans. Statistically perhaps about 10 of them are retirees.
(Note to new members: that social group is inactive & archived. There’s no need to join it.)
Did you work after military retirement?
No. My spouse and I were financially independent and had zero interest in working for paychecks.
We maintained a high savings rate (~40%) for most of our dual-military career. In retrospect, we reached FI on our savings & investments in 1999 but we didn’t realize it. (To be fair, everyone else in the stock market that year also reached FI... unless they stayed invested for the next year.) In 1999 I was at the 17-year point with a great billet and a good chain of command. Life did not suck so badly by then and I retired in 2002.
While I never worked after retiring from the military, I was surprised to get unsolicited job offers every year for the first few years. Even today they roll in every 3-4 years.
DoD actuarial statistics show that only 15% of the U.S. military force serves until retirement. It’s broken down at about 19% active duty and 14% Reserves/National Guard. I haven’t seen any recent statistical breakdown by service or by officer/enlisted/MOS, but the highly credible rumor is that Air Force officers have the highest retirement rate while enlisted Marines have the lowest.
According to a 2004 thesis survey by a PhD who’s retired military, 85% of military retirees immediately start bridge careers. (For various reasons.) There was a weak correlation (insufficient data) between higher ranks and higher likelihood of starting a bridge career.
We stayed on Oahu, where (at the time) we’d already been for 13 years.
Today it’s >30 years... more than half of my life. I’ve also lived at the same address here (>19 years) for longer than I’ve lived anywhere.
Perhaps more to your point, I'd recommend the website TheEarthAwaits.com to help you identify your criteria and a list of places to check out.
Did your pension and any saving cover your lifestyle?
Yes.
Again (in retrospect) our analysis showed that I should have left active duty at the 12-year point (where I dropped off the submariner career track) and gone to the Reserves. I would’ve taken a civilian contractor or consulting job (or lots of Reserve duty). The finances would’ve worked out about the same but our quality of life would’ve been much better. For those who haven’t seen this yet:
https://the-military-guide.com/dont-gut-20-leave-active-duty-reserves-national-guard/
After 17 years of active-duty retirement, my pension has risen over 40% despite three years of zero COLAs. Our investments have grown much faster, and that growth has slashed their necessary withdrawal rate. We spent 16 of those 17 years converting our TSPs and IRAs to Roth IRAs, and today we won’t need to touch our Roth IRAs. We barely touch our taxable account.
Life is very good and it’s become clear that we’re not spending it fast enough. In 1999 we could have given up either the military pension or a million dollars, and we’d still be FI with a lifetime-sustainable withdrawal rate.
https://the-military-guide.com/hey-nords-hows-net-worth/
Thread hijack:
While I have the attention of the U.S. military retirees, I’d like to make sure you’re aware of military Space A flights. If you haven’t taken a Space A flight in the last decade, they’re much better today. Stephanie Montague at Poppin’ Smoke has everything you need to know, and there are several other sites like SpaceA.net and Facebook groups.
https://www.poppinsmoke.com/
In our military retirement, my spouse and I have flown more miles on military aircraft than commercial ones.
Vets with a 100% VA disability rating are also eligible to fly Space A, although there are no special accommodations and family members are not eligible. This is a very recent change. Air Mobility Command agrees that this is not the way it could be, and they’re working with the VA & Congress to make it better.
https://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/60642/eligibility-disabled-veterans-space-available-flights/