Working for Half Pay? Maybe, But Not at 20
Loading...
Authors
Nestler, Scott T.
Subjects
military retirement
pension
retirement
pension
retirement
Advisors
Date of Issue
2011-11-17
Date
November 11, 2017
Publisher
SSRN
Language
en_US
Abstract
Throughout a military career, service members often hear a phrase about how someone who is serving past 20 years is “working for half pay.” Presumably, the thought behind this old saw is that since they are eligible to retire, they could simply stop working and collect their pension worth half of their wages. In reality, those retiring at 20 years actually receive about one-third of their total pre-retirement compensation package; the "half pay" isn't actually attained, by by both enlisted service members and officers, until approximately 30 years of service. This is demonstrated with some illustrative examples. Potential military retirees should be aware of these facts, as they make crucially important personal and professional decisions with long-term implications.
Type
Working Paper
Description
The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1961323
Series/Report No
Department
Business and Public Policy (GSBPP)
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
5 p.
Citation
Nestler, Scott T., Working for Half Pay? Maybe, But Not at 20 (November 17, 2011).
Distribution Statement
Rights
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.