The Blended Retirement System (BRS) is the new military retirement system. It went in to effect in 2018. The new system blends the traditional legacy retirement pension with a defined contribution benefit that is applied to the service member’s Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) account. It is one of the most significant changes to the compensation system since World War Two.
In 2024, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense made changes to the rules for accessing VA benefits with military discharges that formerly didn’t allow access. If you received a bad conduct discharge or an other-than-honorable discharge in the past you may have assumed you didn’t qualify for VA benefits. But that… Read more »
There will be an app that is coming out in mid-2022, that will make access to the TSP platform even easier. Also, there will be new tools such as a virtual assistant and virtual chat. There will also be a mutual fund window opening for the TSP. Learn more.
More than half of US states now exempt military retirement pay from state taxes. Discover which states offer tax-free retirement pay.
For 2022, the IRS annual limit for regular TSP contributions is $20,500. In 2021, it was $19,500. This limit is important because if you are covered by FERS, FERS-RAE, or FERS-FRAE, you will lose Agency Matching TSP contributions after you hit that limit. Learn more.
A bipartisan push in Congress could provide nearly 42,000 combat-injured veterans with expanded retirement benefits. They would be eligible to receive both disability compensation and retired pay. The bill, if passed, would allow disabled veterans who were medically retired before serving 20 years to receive their full military benefits.
Blended Retirement: Round 2 On June 23rd, 2020, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, introduced the Re-Open Enrollment for Servicemembers to Opt-In to Updated Retirement Choice for Enduring Security (RESOURCES) Act of 2020, which “would promote financial security for military families by improving financial training,” according to a… Read more »
COVID-19’s Impact on Military Retirees’ Compensation The pandemic has greatly impacted the economy and that can be felt in a number of places. Unfortunately, military veteran compensation has not escaped the grasp of COVID-19 and sadly, many retirees have been and will continue to feel its effects well into next year. Bureau of Labor and… Read more »
The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is a retirement savings and investment plan for federal employees. The plan is also available for members of the uniformed services, including the Ready Reserve. Congress established the Thrift Savings Plan in the Federal Employees’ Retirement System Act of 1986. The TSP offers savings and tax benefits that private corporations… Read more »
Service Members Now Have More Options to Invest in TSP The Thrift Savings Plan will retire one fund and add six new funds on July 1st. The six new TSP options consist of L Funds or lifecycle funds which are crafted to allow investors to balance returns and risk on their TSP portfolio of holdings…. Read more »