Retirement stories and suggestions

[Bquat]

I was CSRS, we didn't get TSP Matching Contributions, but had a real retirement plan then the Government found out how much money they could save with FERS.:suspicious:

I don't know if they did it yet but they're thinking or taking CSRS income as annual income toward SS earning limit. Deduct $1.00 from every $2.00 earned. Kind of like when retired military join civil service. I believe if you guys made the criteria for both or all three you should get it. Theyshouldn't punish the hard workers. O'well that another story don't want to start a rant.:embarrest:

 

[law87]

I agree the military should get it but I don't see it in the short term. The outside economy is keeping their retinsion rate up and signup bonuses is keeping up their enlistment rate with enought turn over as not to be a retirement load in the future. They also use reenlistment bonuses to retain critical personnel without increasing retiremet incentives. Pay now not later approach. I had 8 years and had reenlisted for 6 after 2 years for SRB of 5. Got out in 1980 after a hitch of 13 months 24 on and 24 off.
Tends to tear up family and I liked the time and half for working hours those as a civilian. Got into civil service in 1985 which was a career that had a lot of overtime also, DOD.

sometimes half the crap our government does, just doesn't make any sense to me

 

[nnuut]

I don't know if they did it yet but they're thinking or taking CSRS income as annual income toward SS earning limit. Deduct $1.00 from every $2.00 earned. Kind of like when retired military join civil service. I believe if you guys made the criteria for both or all three you should get it. Theyshouldn't punish the hard workers. O'well that another story don't want to start a rant.:embarrest:

Hey they already reduced my Social Security by 60% because I was CSRS, I had 54 quarters. They can do that if they want, just give me the money I paid in plus interest sense 1963, when I started paying in.

 

[Frixxxx]

I envy you guys that have that TSP matching contribution, i dont see why military cant get it, we're making less of a pay check then you guys

You stay in twenty years and it's a $1,000,000 annuity paying you for the rest of your life. That's why you get NO MATCHING!

Plus you get tax free bennies that civilians DO NOT get. BAS/VHA

Plus you get free education.

TSP is tax deferred just like everyone else.

And I am military!

Sorry Law, I get into this debate all the time......It's not personal

 

[nnuut]

Yeah I would have loved that housing allowance, free electric, water, Garbage collection, No sales tax at the Commersary, and BX. That's OK they deserve it, you should have seen my paycheck in the USAF in 1965.

 

[nasa1974]

Yeah I would have loved that housing allowance, free electric, water, Garbage collection, No sales tax at the Commersary, and BX. That's OK they deserve it, you should have seen my paycheck in the USAF in 1965. View attachment 10645

Preaching to the choir here. My best year in the USAF was my last year in (got out in April 74). I made almost $5,000.00.

 

[Steel_Magnolia]

Hey they already reduced my Social Security by 60% because I was CSRS, I had 54 quarters. They can do that if they want, just give me the money I paid in plus interest sense 1963, when I started paying in.

Trade ya! <wink and grin>

No takers on the question re "For the few of you that are old enough to get Medicare, did any of you keep Part B? With federal health insurance is Part B still needed?"

Nobody that old??

 

[nnuut]

Trade ya! <wink and grin>

No takers on the question re "For the few of you that are old enough to get Medicare, did any of you keep Part B? With federal health insurance is Part B still needed?"

Nobody that old??

Yes I have part "B" $110 a Month on top of FEHB. You are, let's say encouraged to participate in Medicare. Opted for BCBS Basic option FEHB and Parts "A" and "B" Medicare. BCBS still covers the wife 100% until she gets to be 65 (Young Chick). That way we get better prescription drug prices and for me what Part "A" and "B" doesn't pay FEHB covers.

 

[Bquat]

Trade ya! <wink and grin>

No takers on the question re "For the few of you that are old enough to get Medicare, did any of you keep Part B? With federal health insurance is Part B still needed?"

Nobody that old??

Ok, at a retirement seminar in 2008, the guy said if you have more than 4 appointments a year you should consider part B. Part B was $88.50 a month per person to and it pays toward hospital visits, labfees and outpaticent visits.

There once was a weekend insurance thread where they talked about this stuff.

I know that you goverment insurance becomes secondary to Medicare, so you might want to contack them on this question and being bias they'll more likely say yes anyway.

I'm lucky to have VA and they charge my insurance and accept what they pay as paid in full. I'll have to check if they become secondary also.
I will have to take the part B for my wife, she likes visiting the doctor.

 

[PessOptimist]

You stay in twenty years and it's a $1,000,000 annuity paying you for the rest of your life. That's why you get NO MATCHING!

Plus you get tax free bennies that civilians DO NOT get. BAS/VHA

Plus you get free education.

TSP is tax deferred just like everyone else.

And I am military!

Sorry Law, I get into this debate all the time......It's not personal

Go Frixxxx. My best year I made $28k plus BAS/BAQ. Now after a few years of adjustments I get $20k annuity.

A few other things:

Yeah I would have loved that housing allowance, free electric, water, Garbage collection, No sales tax at the Commersary, and BX. That's OK they deserve it, you should have seen my paycheck in the USAF in 1965. View attachment 10645

Not everyone lived in government housing. The closest I ever came was when my name came up on the waiting list 2 months before PCS. Not worth the effort to move. I always loved visiting those in "base housing" because the house was always much warmer or cooler (depending on the season) than mine. At no point in time did my BAQ ever cover rent AND utilities.

True about the no sales tax thing. The commissary does have a 5% surcharge.

Not picking on you nnuut, just sayin...

And back on topic, I just learned that everything I though I knew about military annuitants in federal service may be wrong. (or one big thing).
I'll start another thread for that.

 

[Zebra]

Listen my friends, those of you who have never served in the military really have no ideal the sacrifice the military go through. I am a 22 year vet who at times had to work part time to support my family (that is when I was not overseas on a remote tour). We just made it in my early years. I am not sure how the military calculates the 20 year retirement, but when I retire it was only 50% of the basic pay; all those allowances just fell to the wayside.

*S* I Salute our military (active and retired)

 

[nnuut]

Go Frixxxx. My best year I made $28k plus BAS/BAQ. Now after a few years of adjustments I get $20k annuity.

A few other things:



Not everyone lived in government housing. The closest I ever came was when my name came up on the waiting list 2 months before PCS. Not worth the effort to move. I always loved visiting those in "base housing" because the house was always much warmer or cooler (depending on the season) than mine. At no point in time did my BAQ ever cover rent AND utilities.

True about the no sales tax thing. The commissary does have a 5% surcharge.

Not picking on you nnuut, just sayin...

And back on topic, I just learned that everything I though I knew about military annuitants in federal service may be wrong. (or one big thing).
I'll start another thread for that.

Hey I'm all for the Military and think it's a real pain in the you know what sometimes to serve your country. I was in the USAF for one hitch and a single Airman, when I made E4 they allowed me to move off base if I wanted to so me and two buddies rented a house, I received $37.50 a month for Separate Quarters back then. :laugh:
Now is a different story it's much better, my Daughter is married to a TSgt at Nellis AFB, last year they finally got Base Housing, all new two story 4 bedroom 2 bath really nice. Before this move they rented a 2,500 sqft house off base, I think Uncle gave they $1,250 a month which covered the rent but they had to pay utilities, so moving on to base housing was a big money saver.

 

[driz]

Hey I'm all for the Military and think it's a real pain in the you know what sometimes to serve your country. I was in the USAF for one hitch and a single Airman, when I made E4 they allowed me to move off base if I wanted to so me and two buddies rented a house, I received $37.50 a month for Separate Quarters back then. :laugh:
Now is a different story it's much better, my Daughter is married to a TSgt at Nellis AFB, last year they finally got Base Housing, all new two story 4 bedroom 2 bath really nice. Before this move they rented a 2,500 sqft house off base, I think Uncle gave they $1,250 a month which covered the rent but they had to pay utilities, so moving on to base housing was a big money saver.

Wow, Things sure have changed since the 70's. I was dancing on air when we were getting 1.75 Deutchmarks to the dollar , couldn't afford a beer at a decent clup and Jimmy Carter gave us COLA. The equipment was all left over Vietmam junk too. Those nasty old m155 Jeeps might be a collectors dream but to an MP who had to drive one on daily patrol duty, especially on rainy cobblestones it was an accident looking for a place to kill you. I cringe when someone says Humvees suck and would rather have a jeep. They never drove one from Garmisch to Munich at night in mid January. The only real heat we had was wrapping in blankets.:embarrest:

 

[Mista_Magee]

You stay in twenty years and it's a $1,000,000 annuity paying you for the rest of your life. That's why you get NO MATCHING!

Plus you get tax free bennies that civilians DO NOT get. BAS/VHA

Plus you get free education.

TSP is tax deferred just like everyone else.

And I am military!

Sorry Law, I get into this debate all the time......It's not personal

Hi gang. Furthermore, it was only within the last 8 - 10 years that the military was allowed/permitted to participate in the TSP. Some of the youngstes are not aware of this fact.

You forgot, everything medical.

 

[Handballer]

Trade ya! <wink and grin>

No takers on the question re "For the few of you that are old enough to get Medicare, did any of you keep Part B? With federal health insurance is Part B still needed?"

Nobody that old??[/QUOTE]

No Dear.

 

[nnuut]

Trade ya! <wink and grin>

No takers on the question re "For the few of you that are old enough to get Medicare, did any of you keep Part B? With federal health insurance is Part B still needed?"

Nobody that old??[/QUOTE]

No Dear.

http://www.tsptalk.com/mb/showpost.php?p=302527&postcount=28

 

[Handballer]

Listen my friends, those of you who have never served in the military really have no ideal the sacrifice the military go through. I am a 22 year vet who at times had to work part time to support my family (that is when I was not overseas on a remote tour). We just made it in my early years. I am not sure how the military calculates the 20 year retirement, but when I retire it was only 50% of the basic pay; all those allowances just fell to the wayside.

*S* I Salute our military (active and retired)

Didn't you get another 5% or so for the 2 years beyond 20 that you served?

 

[brooksmd]

Didn't you get another 5% or so for the 2 years beyond 20 that you served?

I think the retirement system has changed a little since the era me and Z retired. In our time you had to do 20 yrs to retire and you got 50%. For every year after 20 you got an additional 2.5% per year. I may be wrong but I believe it was capped at 30 yrs and 75%. I wasn't too concerned about that cause when I hit 20 years I couldn't see staying longer for just half pay. Don't get me wrong, except for one assignment to Duluth, MN, I loved my career in the Air Force including time I spent on isolated/remote mountain tops as a radar tech.

BTW, SS told me I would get my first and subsequent payments on the 4th Thur of the month. They lied. It was in my checking account this morning (4th Wed). :toung: Still no PIN from OPM, but at least they're sending me money.

And as for Medicare, haven't reached that age yet.

 

[driz]

, except for one assignment to Duluth, MN, I loved my career in the Air Force including time I spent on isolated/remote mountain tops as a radar tech.

When I was an MP in Garmisch Germany the Air Force had a few guys stationed there who did some sort of commo function up on the Zugspitze off on some God forsake outcrop way off the path. Those guys worked something like 2 on 4 off and positively loved it sitting up there waiting for the Yetti to eat them. Automation surely caught up with their little scam. There aren't very many nice little jobs like that left anywhere now days.

 

[nnuut]

Good info on Part "B" Medicare and FEHB:

Medicare and The
Service Benefit Plan:​

Coordinated Benefits for Seamless Coverage

Should I enroll in Medicare Part B?
If you are eligible for Medicare and you do not have current employment
health insurance, you might want to consider enrolling in Part B even
with Service Benefit Plan coverage. When you have Medicare Part B
and Service Benefit Plan coverage, most of your covered health care
expenses are paid in full. Your Service Benefit Plan coverage pays for
Medicare Part B deductibles, coinsurance and copayment amounts.
The deductibles, coinsurance and copayment amounts under your
Service Benefit Plan coverage are waived when Medicare Part B is the
primary. So, by having both coverages, you may be able to save money

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and have peace of mind knowing that your covered health care expenses are paid in full.

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http://www.anthem.com/fep/noapplication/f4/s0/t0/pw_b157417.pdf?refer=ahpfep
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