The White Falcon - 20.06.1986, Blaðsíða 10

Retirement: now is the time to start planning
By Donna Bolinger, AFIS
Some people spend years planning a big vacation
trip. They begin Christmas shopping months in ad-
vance and make dinner reservations weeks ahead of
a special occasion.
But it's not until they get their retirement papers
in hand that many military people start thinking
about their retirement.
"In general, the military retiree is sadly lacking
in the knowledge of how retirement is going to
affect him and his family," said Lt. Col. David
Braze, chief of the Army's retired and Veterans
Affairs Office.
Preparing for retirement, he said, requires a
full year of research and self-evaluation during
which a service member determines:
o When to retire;
o How to meet financial obligations upon retire-
ment; and
o Where to live.
"There's a tendency for retirees to look at a job
as the most important part of this decision," Braze
said. "But all three factors need to be considered
together as a package."
When to retire. For those service members who
have reached their mandatory retirement date,
there’s no decision to be made. But for those de-
ciding when to retire, personal finances and career
opportunities should be prime considerations.
When civilian workers retire, they often retire
for good. Not so in the militatry, where retirees
tend to be younger than their civilian counterparts
and often have college-age children. Few military
retirees find themselves with a choice when it
comes to beginning a second career.
Retired Army Col. Peter B. Farrell of The Retired
Officers Association said there's a common
misconception among active duty people that they
qualify for half pay after 20 years of service. In
fact, retired pay amounts to 37 to 58 percent of
their full military pay, depending on the length of
service, Braze said.
How to meet financial obligations upon re-
tirement. Before retiring, Farrell advises service
members to determine their financial resources
upon retirement. That means calculating their
military retired pay, social security and other
income, including that earned by the spouse, and
entitlement to disability income and Veterans
Administration compensation.
Financial needs must also be calculated. In
addition to current living costs, a pre-retiree must
also consider the costs of:
o Housing without the variable housing allowance;
o Civilian health care as the retiree goes from
receiving such benefits on a priority basis while on
active duty to a standby basis during retirement;
o Civilian dental care as access to military care
becomes very limited arid dependents are no longer
authorized such care;
o Commerical life insurance costs when veterans
Group Life Insurance coverage (which replaces
Servicemen's Group Life Insurance on retirement)
expires five years after leaving the service; and
o Survivor Benefit Plan participation (available
only if elected before retirement).
These calculations will help the military retiree
evaluate, and reevaluate, his financial circum-
stances during retirement.
Where to live. Frequent assignments sometimes
leave military people with no strong ties to any
particular area; so in many cases, a retiring ser-
vice member has many choices of a retirement
area.
The employment potential of an area might be a
strong drawing card, as might be the climate. But
Farrell said other factors, like housing costs,
access to and cost of education, recreational
opportunities and proximity to military facilities
also deserve careful consideration.
For some military retirees, access to military
hospitals, commissaries and exchanges are among
the strongest considerations because they offer
significant savings in living expenses.
Farrell suggests that before deciding on a
particular area, a retiree make a personal visit,
especially if he's never done so or if his decision is
based on memories of that area.
Retiree affairs counselors agree that planning is
critical to a successful retirement. The better
prepared a military person is to retire, they say,
the more positive the experience is likely to be.
SGLI Update
The maximum coverage for SGLI
(Servicemen's Group Life Insurance) went up
Jan. 1. It increased automatically unless you
submitted a written request to the contrary.
This did not change present beneficiary
designations and optional settlements. An
insured person who becomes covered by a new
amount of Insurance should submit a new
designation stating the amount each
beneficiary is to receive and how it is to be
paid. If not, benefits willbe paid in previously
designated proportions.
10
The White Falcon June 20, 1986