20-Year Active Pension
20-Year Active Pension: 50% High-3 Base Pay For Life
Service members who complete 20 years of active service receive a pension equal to 2.5% × years of service × highest 36 months average base pay (Legacy / High-3 system) OR 2.0% × years × High-3 (BRS system).
Details
Service members who complete 20 years of active service receive a pension equal to 2.5% × years of service × highest 36 months average base pay (Legacy / High-3 system) OR 2.0% × years × High-3 (BRS system). At exactly 20 years, that's 50% (Legacy) or 40% (BRS) of average base pay, payable for life starting the month after retirement. Cost-of-living adjustments annual. Inflation-protected.
Restrictions
Legacy (High-3) recipients = those who entered before 2018-01-01 and stayed in Legacy when BRS option came. BRS recipients (entered 2018+) get a smaller 2% multiplier in exchange for TSP matching during service. At 20 years E-7 base pay (~$60K avg) Legacy retiree = ~$30K/year for life, before COLA escalation. At 30 years O-5 (~$110K base) = ~$82,500/year Legacy. Stack with TSP withdrawal at 59.5,
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