E-8 Retiring with 24 Years of Service

This first chart depicts the estimated gross monthly retired payments under both retirement options. Taxes and participation in the SBP are not considered. The REDUX jump reflects the cost-of-living catch up adjustment and multiplier re-adjustment at age 62. In comparing your options, focus on the differences on the level of retired pay. You need to determine whether your $30,000 bonus at the 15th year will make up for these reductions.

In the following chart, the amounts shown are the accumulation of after-tax savings from electing the $30,000 bonus at year 15 compared to the accumulation from saving the after-tax difference in the High-36 (High Three Pay) retired pay over the REDUX retired pay. In this case, the savings of extra retired pay in the High-36 option surpasses the accumulated savings from the bonus when the member is 60. This cross-over would happen earlier if after tax earnings from the mutual fund/savings were much less than 8 percent and would happen later if higher than 8 percent.

These results will vary depending on your choices and the assumptions. The above example is only a simple comparison of the essential differences between electing CSB/REDUX or accepting High-36. See the Considerations section for a more in-depth discussion on factors that will affect the results depicted.