Your retirement benefits may be changing.
Starting January 1, 2018, the Blended Retirement System (BRS) will begin. This new military retirement system blends your traditional legacy retirement pension with a Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) account.
As such, your regular retirement benefit that begins after 20 years of service, will be paired with a self-contribution plan that allows you to contribute to a TSP account with matching government contributions.
Benefits of BRS include:
- Government retirement benefit for serving at least two years, even if you don’t qualify for a full retirement;
- DoD automatic one percent contribution and up to four percent additional DoD matching beginning the first pay period after opting in (this means no waiting period and immediate entitlement to your own contributions and government matching contributions);
- TSP elections carry over (this means not having to re-elect TSP percentages every time your pay status changes, such as activating or deactivating).
BRS is the result of Congress passing the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission’s recommendation to modernize the Uniformed Services’ compensation and retirement system. BRS was part of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that was signed into law by President Barack Obama in
November 2015.
To check on your point summary, see your State Retirement Points Accounting Management NCO for your ARNG Annual Statement, Form 23A. Verify your opt-in eligibility by viewing the “Total Creditable Points” column.
Soldiers currently serving will be grandfathered into BRS; however, you must opt-in/enroll. The enrollment period is January 1–December 31, 2018. There is mandatory opt-in training that must be taken prior to enrollment.
As part of the NDAA, the DoD is required to provide financial literacy training at key phases during your career. To learn about financial management tips and financial counseling, check out MilitaryOneSource.com or the National Guard Financial Management Awareness Program.
For more details about the Blended Retirement System or to take the opt-in training, go to militarypay.defense.gov/BlendedRetirement.
By Staff Writer Ruth Ann Replogle
