By the Numbers - May 23, 2016

By the Numbers - May 23, 2016

80%

The percentage of military personnel ("members of the Uniformed Services") who "exit their service before 20 years," thus leaving with no retirement benefits, according to a recent DOD report to Congress -- Blended Retirement System: Report to Congress – Implementation Plan for Modernizing the Military Retirement System (PDF). To ameliorate this situation, the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act mandates that the Secretaries of the Uniformed Services submit to Congress "plans to implement a modernized retirement system effective January 1, 2018."

Under the new, blended retirement system, all separating members who complete at least twenty-four months (approximately 85% of the military Force) will have a portable retirement benefit that can be taken with them to a new employer or transferred into another retirement savings vehicle. 

blended military retirement system