There is something i have been wondering about retirement. When you retire after 20 years of service you get 50% of your last base pay. So if the military keeps getting a 3.5% pay raise every year, does that pay raise also apply to retirement pay?
You have to cross the date line of 1 January every year to collect your COLA pay,then you have another year before you cross it again,if you make it every year for 30-40 years like some of us,you become a member of TOF club.
Ok, two things. "50% of your last base pay" is incorrect. If you are talking 50%, that tells me that you probably enlisted post the "50% of your last base pay" and what you probably get is 50% of the average of your high 36. Your last 36 month of base pay is not the same as the last 3 yearly base pay, which many tend to get confused. Many people think that if they wait until January and get the new pay raise, that pay raise is 1 of the 3 high 3s used for this calculation. Wrong, that one month is just 1 of 36 months used for this calculation.
2nd, the pay raises announced for active duty are not necessarily the same as for retire pay. As someone indicated here, what you are referring is to COLA. I am not 100% sure, but I believe those of us currently retired will see a 5.8% increase to our retirement pay as of January 2009. I don't think active duty pay tables are getting 5.8% raise.
Nevertheless, I am not 100% sure of these figures but I am about what high 3 (or 36) and COLA are.
COLAs for Retired Pay The retired pay COLA for those who first became a member of a Uniformed Service before September 8, 1980, is specified according to the effective date of their retirement, as follows: Retired Pay Based on Rates of Pay Effective: Percent Increase 10 U.S.C. Authority Before January 1, 2008 5.8 percent 1401a(b)(2) January 1 - December, 2008 5.0 percent 1401a(c)
The retired pay COLA for those who first became a member of a Uniformed Service on or after September 8, 1980, is specified according to the effective date of their retirement, as follows: Retired Pay Based on Rates of Pay Effective: Percent Increase 10 U.S.C. Authority Before January 1, 2008 5.8 percent 1401a(b)(2) January 1 - March 31, 2008 5.0 percent 1401a(d) April 1 - June 30, 2008 3.8 percent 1401a(d) July 1 - September 30, 2008 1.2 percent 1401a(d) October 1 - December 31, 2008 0.0 percent 1401a(d)
The retired pay COLA for those who first became a member of a Uniformed Service on or after August 1, 1986, who elected to receive a career status bonus under the provisions of section 322 of title 37 United States Code is specified according to the date of their retirement as follows: Retired Pay Based on Rates of Pay Effective: Percent Increase 10 U.S.C. Authority Before January 1, 2008 4.8 percent 1401a(e) January 1 - March 31, 2008 4.2 percent 1401a(e) April 1 - June 30, 2008 3.3 percent 1401a(e) July 1 - September 30, 2008 1.0 percent 1401a(e) October 1 - December 31, 2008 0.0 percent 1401a(e)
Keko; To make it MORE complicated, don't forget the (silly) folks that choose to stay with redux. Not only is their 20 year mark calculated at 40% vice 50%, but their COLA is 1 % point LOWER than folks that did not choose to stay with redux. (Using your numbers, they would get a 4.8% COLA). (and yes, there are folks currently retired who are under REDUX). Somewhere short of 1% of the folks remaining in service are under the final pay plan. EVERYBODY under 20 is under the REDUX version of high 3 and must make (or had to make) the redux decision at 15.
(EDIT: DAMN, you and I hit post at the same time and you added my info!)
OMG Mighthy, that's another issue that I don't even want to think about! But you are correct, it is by far much more complicated than it should be. And in my opinion things are this complicated because "they" (you know who "they" are) are looking for ways to pinch a penny at servicemen/women expense. Just my opinion.
At least the current REDUX choice was a significant improvement over actual redux! Score one for the good folks among "them."
I singed on the dotted line believing I was to get the 50% like my dad got. Little did I know that I was only supposed to get 40% until they semi-repealed redux.
I made two assumptions. One that I would get 50% of my last base pay and a full GI Bill to pay for my education. However, I ended up w/ 50% of a high 36 and VEAP. I eventually took my $2.7K out of VEAP and bought a car...lol. Then I used tuition assistant and finished my BS at University of MD...and then CG paid for my MSA (Central Michigan University). But yes, I think most of us made assumptions when we signed on that dotted line.....
I am so dissapointed with our present Administration's abiltiy to give the Military Retirees a COLA for 2010. I think it is a Travesty on the part of our Government. I am beginning to wonder if people of America should have any faith in their government at all. It seems to me that the People are having to fight for all of the Freedoms that Our Government is supposed to provide. In my opinion, the People are ahead by a mile, and the Government got lost along the way; either this or the Government simply does not know how to take care of its people. People who have fought and made sacrifices for this country, should be at the top of the list when it comes to receiving their military benefits upon their Retirements. They had faith in their Government and they made the sacrificies that their Government asked of them. So where is the Faith, on the Government's part, that the people put in them to protect and defend this nation? It is just unbelievable and inconceivable to me that the Military Retirees' will not be getting a COLA for this year or any year. It is bad Karma on the Part of this current administration of our Government. Other than Money, this is what you can take to the Bank, which is nothing.
