Bquat's Account Talk

[Birchtree]

If the Asian markets open strong tonight - get ready for some real fun on the NYAD.

 

[MaStA]

my biggest gripe about tsp is that they only double my money for free. i expected them to at least triple it for free. who care what restrictions they put on it? it's half theirs to begin with anyway. plus they get to hold it all until i want it later. that's why i don't like to keep much in the G fund for very long. their accountants are crooked i think.

Why is half theirs exactly? I don't get matched contributions since I'm in the military if that is what you are talking about with the half is theirs comment.

 

[burrocrat]

how come the military doesn't get matching contrubutuions? that doesn't seem fair. what's the reasoning behind that?

 

[MaStA]

how come the military doesn't get matching contrubutuions? that doesn't seem fair. what's the reasoning behind that?

If you retire after 20 years of service in the military you get a check every month starting right after you retire and I don't believe civil service gets that. You all get matching contributions up to 10% (I think) and that is the retirement you all get.

 

[nnuut]

My son in law just retired form the USAF on 60% disability, got $110,000 severance pay at 17 years. Kiss ma butt, in my time you wouldn't get shiest for severance, what's up with that? Severance for what?

 

[MaStA]

My son in law just retired form the USAF on 60% disability, got $110,000 severance pay at 17 years. Kiss ma butt, in my time you wouldn't get shiest for severance, what's up with that? Severance for what?

So did he get a medical retirement or medical discharge? What medical condition was it for? It sounds like the 60% will be coming from the VA and not from the USAF. Maybe he played the system real good...I don't know lol.

 

[burrocrat]

how do they calculate the regular military retirement? civil service gets about 1% of hi 3-5 average salary for each year of employment. in my case ~30%. plus social security. plus anything i manage to save in the meantime.

has anybody calculated the value of a small check for a long time vs. a bigger check at the end?

i wonder how that pencils out.

however it works i think if you put 20 years in that environment you should be able to bail with all you can get your hands on. no arguement here. we'll cut the budget somewhere else.

 

[MaStA]

how do they calculate the regular military retirement? civil service gets about 1% of hi 3-5 average salary for each year of employment. in my case ~30%. plus social security. plus anything i manage to save in the meantime.

has anybody calculated the value of a small check for a long time vs. a bigger check at the end?

i wonder how that pencils out.

however it works i think if you put 20 years in that environment you should be able to bail with all you can get your hands on. no arguement here. we'll cut the budget somewhere else.

Military retirement is 50% of your base pay/month for the rest of your life at 20 years. Every extra year up to 30 years adds 2.5% for a total of up to 75%. You do have to serve I think two or three years in the pay grade you wish to retire at to receive that base pay for retirement purposes.

So on the civil service side you all do get a retirement outside of TSP? I was not aware of that...does it start right when you retire or when you turn a certain age?

 

[nnuut]

So did he get a medical retirement or medical discharge? What medical condition was it for? It sounds like the 60% will be coming from the VA and not from the USAF. Maybe he played the system real good...I don't know lol.

I really don't know but has a rotator cuff problem, chronic! Can't pass the PT!

 

[MaStA]

I really don't know but has a rotator cup problem, chronic! Can't pass the PT!

Well I have bulging discs in my upper back that physical therapy does nothing for, but I just eat the pain and get through it anyways. I bet if I pushed the issue I could get a medical retirement or something, but I like the Air Force too much and I'm only 27 years old so it's too early to retire lol. I'm sure I will get disability when I retire for my back and some other issues, but I plan on staying for my full 20.

 

[burrocrat]

Military retirement is 50% of your base pay/month for the rest of your life at 20 years. Every extra year up to 30 years adds 2.5% for a total of up to 75%. You do have to serve I think two or three years in the pay grade you wish to retire at to receive that base pay for retirement purposes.

So on the civil service side you all do get a retirement outside of TSP? I was not aware of that...does it start right when you retire or when you turn a certain age?

they have lots of formulas to figure all that out. i think you do best if you wait until minimum retirement age with 25 years of employment. but the longer you work the better it is.

me? i just plan on working until 67 with about 27 years in, unless i die first. i have some old injuries too, but none that i could morally justify getting me off the hook. then i'm going to buy lots of cat food.

 

[MaStA]

they have lots of formulas to figure all that out. i think you do best if you wait until minimum retirement age with 25 years of employment. but the longer you work the better it is.

me? i just plan on working until 67 with about 27 years in, unless i die first. i have some old injuries too, but none that i could morally justify getting me off the hook. then i'm going to buy lots of cat food.

So do civil service employees get a retirement starting right when they retire or do they have to wait until a certain age? Sorry if you answered the question in your post, but I didn't see it. I was under the impression that the only retirement civil service employees received was TSP.

 

[burrocrat]

So do civil service employees get a retirement starting right when they retire or do they have to wait until a certain age? Sorry if you answered the question in your post, but I didn't see it. I was under the impression that the only retirement civil service employees received was TSP.

no, civil service gets a pension too. we pay like 1% in each pay period and the gov pays the rest. but gov has a plan to make us pay about 5% in with gov still covering the majority. it seems to make people mad when you take away their free stuff though, just read some of those govexec links nasa posts.

you can retire anytime, but if it's before age 57 then you take a huge discount on the payout. it is incentivized to keep you on the treadmill until at least 62. but the longer you can keep running the more your lottery ticket will be worth when you finally punch out. it's like a game. only sicker. you bet your life.

 

[PessOptimist]

Like the donkey said, it depends. If you have 30 years and meet minimum retirement age, usually immediately. For me, 20 years and over MRA gets me 20% of my high three salary. MRA is 56. I beat that. Now the 20. At that point I will be rich beyond my wildest dreams. Wow, 20%.

Google FERS or CSRS. Most of us still employed as feds are FERS. The links will tell you all you need too know.

 

[MaStA]

no, civil service gets a pension too. we pay like 1% in each pay period and the gov pays the rest. but gov has a plan to make us pay about 5% in with gov still covering the majority. it seems to make people mad when you take away their free stuff though, just read some of those govexec links nasa posts.

you can retire anytime, but if it's before age 57 then you take a huge discount on the payout. it is incentivized to keep you on the treadmill until at least 62. but the longer you can keep running the more your lottery ticket will be worth when you finally punch out. it's like a game. only sicker. you bet your life.

I see...well I'm hoping to one day consider civil service after I retire from the Air Force. I'll obviously go where the money is at, but it's an option. I'm a Computer Science major and I did four years of recruiting for the Air Force so I may even be able to get a job working for Oracle, Microsoft, etc. doing their recruiting. I met several "recruiters" for those companies at career fairs I attended for the Air Force and they had a computer background as well. I bet they got paid a lot more than me though.

 

[MaStA]

So I guess my next question is...why don't military members get matched contributions to TSP?

 

[burrocrat]

So I guess my next question is...why don't military members get matched contributions to TSP?

hey, no fair. that was my first question.

 

[PessOptimist]

MaStA I believe you could but DOD said no. All answers are on this MB somewhere.

 

[MaStA]

hey, no fair. that was my first question.

Lol you're right. When I first read your question I was unaware of a pension for civil service. I thought the only reason you all received matched contributions was due to not receiving a pension. I was obviously wrong.

 

[RealMoneyIssues]

So I guess my next question is...why don't military members get matched contributions to TSP?

The ability is in law, but the DOD doesn't feel it necessary. Back in the 2005 NDAA, the Army did a pilot program where they used matching funds as a recruiting tool. It didn't stick after the report was given to Congress, so here we are...

However, realize that there is a lot of talk about revamping the military retirement system because it is too lucrative... you know, save money...

So, in the future, you could see the military getting matching funds... but no pension like it exists now... I hope to retire before then.