BLENDED RETIREMENT SYSTEM: AN ANALYSIS OF MARINE CORPS OFFICER OPT-IN RATES BY MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY
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Authors
Bicknell, Adam D.
Subjects
Blended Retirement System
retention
military retirement
pension
behavioral economics
occupation
military occupational specialty
retention
military retirement
pension
behavioral economics
occupation
military occupational specialty
Advisors
Seagren, Chad W.
Bacolod, Marigee
Date of Issue
2020-03
Date
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
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Abstract
In 2018, the National Defense Authorization Act created the Blended Retirement System (BRS), effectively removing the defined benefit plan and 20-year cliff-vesting requirement under the High-Three military retirement system. By removing the defined benefit plan and replacing it with a defined contribution plan, the BRS enables military members to separate prior to serving 20 years while having some form of retirement benefit that is easily transferable to other employers. As such, many constituents voiced concern that the BRS may cause long-term negative effects to both retention and accession missions. To determine whether military members chose to opt into the BRS due to their intent to separate from the service earlier, I use a military-to-civilian crosswalk for Marine Corps officer military occupational specialties (MOSs) to civilian standard occupational codes (SOCs). I then use Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data to match MOS-SOC wages to analyze whether higher or lower opt-in rates are observed in MOSs where civilian wages are higher or lower while also analyzing opt-in rates among critical-fill MOSs. By using a logistic regression model, I find that civilian wages and critical-fill MOSs have no statistically significant effects on BRS opt-in rates. Further study on the effects of BRS on retention is suggested, which may provide more insight to a member’s decision to opt in and the potential associated effects on future retention.
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Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.