Welcome to the Navy Reserve! Beginning with the end in mind is a best practice. So, we’ve designed this material as part of onboarding new accession members within the first 6 months of service in the Navy Reserve, to help you chart a successful Navy Reserve career. This course introduces Navy Reserve Retirement fundamentals:  Benefits of continuing service in the Navy Reserve Military Life Cycle model of a Reserve Component member Title 10 US Code and Retirement from the Armed Forces DoD Retirement Systems DoD Retirement Plans And Reserve Career Management Best Practices towards retirement

Our Navy Reserve Fighting Instructions, commonly referred to as “nerfy”, have had three lines of effort since 2020 under Chief of Navy Reserve VADM John Mustin. These included Design the Force, Train the Force, and Mobilize the Force. In May 2022, CNR Mustin announced our fourth LOE – Develop the Force. Specifically, this LOE directed tasks including Military Life Cycle education through retirement. “3.D. DEVELOP THE FORCE PURPOSE. Inculcate a culture of excellence throughout the Force to maximize warfighting readiness. Reinforce Navy core values and signature behaviors, eliminate destructive behaviors, and emphasize Sailor and family wellness and readiness. Improve methods of educating, recruiting, retaining, and promoting our Sailors. Ensure Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are fully integrated throughout all personnel processes. (Flag Champion: RADM Lacore)” “3.D.4. Action: Maximize accession on-ramps, off-ramps and retention by enabling seamless transition opportunities between reserve and active service. 3.D.4.A. End State: The Force proactively assesses and responds to force-shaping manpower requirements to maintain projected Reserve Force end strength while offering flexible opportunities to balance commitments in and out of uniform”]

If you joined the Navy Reserve Component after some active duty time, you likely attended TAP – the Transition Assistance Program. TAP does sometimes include a brief on the Reserve. This brief commented on your Military Service Obligation. It highlighted your responsibilities as a member in the Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR). It further highlighted opportunities to continue actively serving in the Selected Reserve (SELRES). The brief noted benefits of being a SELRES: potential affiliation bonus, Reserve pay, health benefits including dental option, possible education benefits, life insurance, base and MWR privileges, networking, civilian job protections, plus a generous retirement benefit including optional Thrift Savings Plan. So, What’s your Why? How would you rank these in terms of what matters most to you? You may have been in touch with a Benefits Advisor during your transition to Navy Reserve. You likely still have lots of questions about how continuing to serve in the Navy Reserve can benefit you long term in retirement.

This slide illustrates a basic model of the Military Life Cycle of a Reserve Component member. Your Navy Reserve career gets quantified in a points-based system for retirement purposes. Throughout this series of videos on Reserve Retirement, I will use this model of a Navy Reserve Sailor’s Military Life Cycle. Major milestones include: In the blue box on the left Earn Retirement Points toward achieving Eligibility for retirement by Completing 20 Qualifying Years In the green box on the right Receive Notice of Eligibility and Elect Survivor Benefits; Transfer from Participation to the Retired Reserve; and Apply for and Receive Retired Pay and eventually full Benefits once on the Retired List. Many formal and informal surveys have indicated that the future retirement benefits are a main motivator for continued service in the Navy Reserve. Yet, I’ve found that there are many misconceptions and a general lack of understanding about how it all works. In other words, it takes at least 20 years to earn retirement benefits from continued military service in the Navy Reserve. Remember, there are two major retirement milestones for members of the Reserve Component. Most reservists essentially retire twice. First, once you earn eligibility for retirement, you can request to transfer to the Retired Reserve. This is sometimes referred to as Awaiting Pay, or being in the Gray Area. This typically happens several years prior to being eligible to draw retired pay. Then, about a year prior to being eligible to draw retired pay, nominally age 60, you will also need to apply for this retired pay that you earned. On average, a Sailor retiring from the Reserve Component spends about twelve years in this Gray Area before the pension. Occasionally, a Reservist can retire directly with pay, with basically zero time in the Gray Area, though this is less common. Members that join later in life, have breaks in service, serve for over 30 years, or have served on multiple s

Eligibility for Reserve Retirement from the Navy is defined as Non-Regular Retirement in Title 10 US Code. 10 U.S.Code Chapter 1223 - RETIRED PAY FOR NON-REGULAR SERVICE Retirement from Active Duty is predicated on 20 or more total years of active service, vice 20 Qualifying Years, and is defined as Regular Retirement in Title 10. So, what is this “Qualifying Year” all about, you may be wondering. It’s based on earning Reserve Retirement POINTS, annually, within your own unique Anniversary Year timeframe. Reserve Retirement Points are the quantitative means of crediting time worked by a Reserve or Guard) member, to correlate to active duty. You must earn enough Retirement Points in a specific time period, for at least 20 years, to earn eligibility for Reserve Retirement. If you already served on Active Duty or in another Service, you likely already have accrued some years toward these twenty total qualifying years. The specific time period is known as your Anniversary Year, is unique to you, and can shift over time with on and off ramps.

This slide highlights a few other references relevant to Reserve Retirement. In general, if you’re looking for instructions regarding retirements, look for 1800 series numbered documents. Familiarizing yourself with the BUPERSINST 1001.39F will serve you well in your Reserve endeavors.

You’ll want to know under which RETIREMENT SYSTEM you are serving, as there have been changes to these since 2017. The Legacy retirement system for DoD was purely pension-based. This “Legacy” system has been superseded by the newer “Blended Retirement System”, referred to as BRS. BRS was optional for most Navy Reservists in 2017, but mandatory for anyone who joined the military on or after 1 January 2018. It essentially means that retirement financial benefits result from a blend of a pension (also referred to as a Defined Benefit by Financial Planners), and a 401K-like investment collection of funds known as the Thrift Savings Plan, to which you can contribute and even get DoD employer matching (also referred to as a Defined Contribution Plan.) Those DoD members on the Legacy retirement system may also participate in the TSP, but do not have any option for matching contributions. The Legacy retirement system has a higher pension value than the Blended System, with a 2.5% multiplier compared to 2%. The basic idea is that those members in the Blended system will ultimately collect a slightly lower pension in a retired paycheck, but would have the opportunity during their years of active service to contribute with matching to an investment which they keep regardless of reaching eligibility for retirement after 20 or more years of qualifying service. If you joined the military on or after January 1, 2018, you are in the BRS. Again, BRS has a lower service multiplier of .02 vice .025, but opportunities for TSP matching contributions, plus some TRICARE premium differences. If you are working as a civilian in the federal system, such as on the GS payscale, or considering doing so, you may have or want to execute a “Buy Back”. Federal Buy Back has no effect on your Navy retirement points or retired pay. https://militarypay.defense.gov/Portals/3/Documents/Blended%20Retirement/FINRED-LeaderCard-31Aug17-Final.pdf?ver=2017-09-07-101041-543

You’ll also want to know under which RETIREMENT PAY PLAN your pension would be calculated. This is set by your unique Date of Initial Entry to Military Service, known as DIEMS. You can find your DIEMS in various Service Record documents and systems, such as NSIPS or your OMPF. Talk to your unit leadership or your Reserve Center’s Manpower Department if you need help finding this. Final Pay refers to the Primary retirement plan for Reserve members with initial date of entry into service prior to September 8, 1980. This is unlikely for you listening to this Introductory brief on Navy Reserve Retirement now. This is likely your pay plan. High-36 - a.k.a. High-3 - applies to those with **DIEMS Date on or after September 8, 1980. This is likely your pay plan. “For those who entered military service after 7 September 1980, the base pay is calculated by adding the base pay available for the member (commensurate with their rank and longevity) for each of the 36 preceding months prior to drawing retired pay, and dividing that by 36 to get an average pay rate for the final 3 years.” What this means, is taking the base pay figures from the active duty pay charts for your highest 3 years (specifically 36 months) prior to Retirement with Pay. Typically, this is also the last 36 months to pay eligibility. In other words, Navy Reserve Retirees eligible to draw retired pay starting in October 2023 would reference the average base pay of the paygrade and years of service on the pay chart for the previous three years (ie, 9 months of 2023, 2022, 2021, and 3 months of 2020), even if they had transferred to the Retired Reserve years prior to that. Going forward in retirement, COLA would apply to the dollar value of their monthly retired pay, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI.) In order to estimate the future value of your Navy Reserve retired pay, you’d have to apply some assumptions about military base pay raises between now and that year in which you turn 60/eligible

YOUR Anniversary Year is the uniquely defined calendar year, specific to your, in which you earn Reserve Retirement Points. Point limits are per Anniversary Year. This is different from a Fiscal Year. During your Reserve career, you will need to meet requirements within various timeframes A Qualifying Year in the Reserves means that you as the service member earned a minimum of 50 Points, within your unique established Anniversary Year. Service that results in fewer than 50 Points in a given year will not count toward retirement eligibility, though these Points still tally toward the career total. Points are used for determining your years of creditable service that have applicability to the computation of reserve (non-regular) retired pay. Points directly yield retired pay, as shown in the equation for Retired Pay, Points divided by 360, times the Service Percent Multiplier (2% for Blended Retirement System, or 2.5% for Legacy Retirement System pre-2018, times Pay Base. “P” represents your actual numbers of career total Reserve Retirement Points, from your Statement of Service. “B” represents the base pay available at the time the member starts receiving retired pay at or after age 60.

Points come from both Inactive and Active sources. They are subject to various limits, such as max inactive points, max total points, and exclusionary rules which prevent simultaneous accrual of different types of points. Please note that there are several business rules and exceptions for how and when points may accrue. For example, you cannot earn FHD on the same day as IDT. You cannot earn inactive points during the same time as active points (except for JPME earned through the Naval War College.) Business rules preclude receiving IDT on the same day as funeral honors point, and vice versa.  The bottom line is 1 pt per day for funeral honors (ONLY and MAX); OR 2 points per day (MAX) for Drills. Continuing Medical Education (CME) credit is submitted to BUMED and BUMED forwards to PERS-912. Any educational seminar would have to be done when NOT otherwise in a duty status. BUMED would need to weigh in as to whether online counts; e.g., UpToDate and similar programs. But, valid points accrue together regardless of source to a total within each Anniversary Year. Over your entire career, points continue to accrue toward your Career Total Points. At the end of your career, if you’ve earned eligibility for non-regular retirement per Title 10 US Code, it’ll be your Career Total Points that goes into the computation for Retired Pay. Remember, you need at least 50 retirement points within each Anniversary Year to have that year qualify as 1 of the 20 toward retirement eligibility. Be planful with your duties in order to meet minimum requirements for both Satisfactory Participation and well as Qualifying Years. You can also be strategic in planning your duties in order to maximize your points accrued. Try not to overwork, such that you end up performing duties that can not accrue toward total points due to business rules. BEST PRACTICE: Regularly review your point record to assure accuracy, and advocate early for corrections if needed. Do not wait until you

What are some benefits of serving in the Navy Reserve? What is YOUR Why? How is Reserve Retirement defined in the law? What is your Retirement System? What is your Retirement Pay Plan? How is retired pay determined? How is your time in service credited as a Navy Reservist? [10-15 minutes; 10 content slides; 5 Knowledge Check questions.] This is likely your pay plan. Need more information? 101 & 201 course are also good for early to mid-career Navy Reservists. Looking for even more information? Check out “Navy Reserve Retirements” 301, 401, and Masters: 301 - Designed for mid- to late-career members of the Navy Reserve who are approaching their Notice of Eligibility and Survivor Benefits election milestone, with 15+ Qualifying Years toward Non-Regular Retirement eligibility, to support effective career timing and personal financial decision-making concerning retirement and benefits. (Formerly RTO’s Reserve Retirement Counseling Session.) 401 – Like a Capstone course, Designed for late-career members of the Navy Reserve with 19+ Qualifying Years toward Non-Regular Retirement eligibility, who are ready to transfer to the Retired Reserve or retire directly “With Pay”, and may have additional complexity in their transition timing and paperwork, in order to support timely and effective request or application submission for retirement through MyNavyHR and ensure they have accurate benefits information for their retirement transition. (Recommend further attendance of a Facilitated Live Event, such as MyNavyHR’s RTO program’s Retirement Awareness Workshop.) Masters – Designed for those Retired Reservists who are approaching eligibility to draw retired pay, and need to know how to proceed for successful receipt of retired pay via DFAS and benefits including TRICARE and more.

Welcome to Reserve Retirements 101, designed for newer members of the Navy Reserve, within your first few years as a drilling Reservist. This course intends to educate you about the importance of your retirement point record and how to manage it, as you work toward Non-Regular retirement eligibility. We’ll cover How points work Why points matter for retirement benefits  Qualifying versus Satisfactory Years Sources of Retirement Points Checking Your Point Record  Best Practices 

Here again is our basic model of a Navy Reserve Sailor’s Military Life Cycle: Earn Retirement Points toward achieving Eligibility for retirement by Completing 20 Qualifying Years Receive Notice of Eligibility and Elect Survivor Benefits; Transfer from Participation to the Retired Reserve; and Apply for and Receive Retired Pay and eventually full Benefits once on the Retired List. Remember, your Navy Reserve career gets quantified in a points-based system for retirement purposes under Title 10 US Code, Armed Forces, Non-Regular Retirement. Eligibility for Reserve Retirement from the Navy is defined as Non-Regular Retirement in Title 10 US Code. 10 U.S.C. Chapter 1223 - RETIRED PAY FOR NON-REGULAR SERVICE Reserve Retirement Points are the quantitative means of crediting time worked by a Reserve (or Guard) member, to correlate to active duty. You must earn enough Retirement Points in a specific time period, for at least 20 years, to earn eligibility for Reserve Retirement. If you already served on Active Duty or in another Service, you likely already have accrued some years toward these twenty total qualifying years. The specific time period is known as your Anniversary Year, is unique to you, and can shift over time with on and off ramps. Today’s Navy Reservists are mainly on the Final Pay Plan, with a mix of participation in the Legacy Retirement System and Blended Retirement System.

YOUR Anniversary Year is the uniquely defined calendar year, specific to you, in which you earn Reserve Retirement Points. Point limits are per Anniversary Year. This is different from a Fiscal Year. During your Reserve career, you will need to meet requirements within various timeframes. These include Satisfactory Participation within a Fiscal Year, Qualifying or Good Year within your Anniversary Year, and various readiness requirements like medical Physical Health Assessment, dental readiness, Government Travel Card, and more within other defined timeframes. A Qualifying Year in the Reserves means that you as the service member earned a minimum of 50 Points, within your unique established Anniversary Year. Service that results in fewer than 50 Points in a given year will not count toward retirement eligibility, though these Points still tally toward your career total. Points are used for determining your years of creditable service that have applicability to the computation of reserve (non-regular) retired pay. Points directly yield retired pay, as shown on the bottom of this slide, in the equation for Retired Pay: Points divided by 360; Times the Service Percent Multiplier (2% for Blended Retirement System, or 2.5% for Legacy Retirement System pre-2018; Times Pay Base. “P” represents your actual numbers of career total Reserve Retirement Points, from your Statement of Service. “B” represents the base pay available at the time the member starts receiving retired pay at or after age 60.

I hope you find this table helpful in level-setting some foundational concepts for your Navy Reserve duties. It is possible to earn a Qualifying Year while simultaneously having Unsatisfactory Participation. It’s also possible to meet participation requirements within a Fiscal Year, but miss achieving a qualifying anniversary year toward retirement. You MUST manage both timeframes as you plan and execute your assigned duties. A Sailor may have over 50 retirement points in an Anniversary Year, qualifying toward retirement, but have Unsatisfactory Participation. Not completing an AT (and not having an approved AT waiver), or having more than nine unexcused drill period absences in the Fiscal Year OR a rolling twelve-month period yield. Unsatisfactory Participation, which could lead to administrative separation from the Navy Reserve. “Unexcused absence from an annual training or from nine or more training units in a one year period often results in a discharge from the Reserve Component for failing to meet the training requirements.” In other words, the member may have 50+ retirement points in an anniversary year, yielding a Qualifying Year, but have Unsatisfactory Participation due to no AT or >8 UAs, and may be ADSEP’d as a result. Alternatively, a Sailor may take Authorized Absences or be approved for an AT Waiver within a Fiscal Year, yet fail to earn the requisite 50 Reserve Retirement Points within their unique Anniversary Year, missing eligibility.

As your years of service close out along the path toward retirement, you should be keeping an eye on your point record. Your annual record of accrued Retirement Points, also known as your Unofficial Statement of Service, is available to you with a CAC login to the Navy Standard Integrated Personnel System (NSIPS) via Employee Self-Service in the Retirements and Separations module. This is the source platform for what you may know as the Annual Statement of Service History (ASOSH), found on BUPERS Online (BOL). If you do not have a CAC, you may request a copy by contacting the My Navy Career Center (MNCC). STATEMENT OF SERVICE = NSIPS ESS RnS module (2019 update) NSIPS will reflect updates within 24 hours after a change has been completed. ARPR/ASOSH on BOL receives an update from NSIPS on Saturday morning and may not reflected until Monday morning. ARPR – (Annual Retirement Point Record) – This is the detailed view showing Reserve Retirement Points earned by a member, by day and category, within one anniversary year ASOSH – (Annual Statement of Service History)– The summary report of retirement points earned in one full year of reserve service, by anniversary date. NSIPS will reflect updates within 24 hours after a change has been completed. ARPR/ASOSH on BOL receives an update from NSIPS on Saturday morning and may not reflected until Monday morning.Here are a few terms you will need to be familiar with as you decipher your point record:Total Years of Qualifying Service (TYQS) - Number of years completed with the minimum number of points to qualify as a satisfactory year toward retirement.Pay Entry Base Date (PEBD) - Date that denotes how much of your service is creditable towards longevity for pay purposes. It can be found in field four of your last active duty Leave and Earnings Statement (LES). Length of Service (LOS) - Total number of years, months and days a member has been under contract. LOS is used to calculate PEBD and is also the measure of

These are the steps to check your Statement of Service in NSIPS. Access NSIPS (CAC) Go to Employee Self Service Select Retirements and Separations module Select Check Eligibility Select Statement of Service Select Generate New Unofficial Statement of Service Click “Open” to Generate .pdf file No CAC? IRR? Gray Area? Contact MNCC; request SoS. NSIPS and BOL both have a way to view your point capture, but for now, BOL is still easier for you as the individual Sailor to use to review recent duty and point capture accuracy. Go to BOL, ARPR/ASOSH. When that module launches, you should see at the top of the screen a table that has inactive points on the left, and active points on the right. I recommend you check following every drill weekend or IDT/ATP/RMP/non paid to see that the dates and drill periods performed do reflect individually. For example, full performance of a 10-11 December 2022 drill weekend should show as DEC 10 10 11 11, reflecting 4 total inactive drill points, in the inactive points column on the left. In the active points column on the right, successful point capture from a properly mustered ADT 9-13 January 2023 should show as 09 JAN 23 13 JAN 23 0005, where the “0005” reflects the total points posted for those 5 days on active orders. At least once every anniversary year, you should conduct a detailed review of the active and inactive points columns, validating that they appear to capture all your duties performed within that timeframe accurately. Best practice here is to review progress within the anniversary year along with all previous years, as viewable in BOL’s summary table Annual Statement of Service History. You can also view completed years by using the option on the top left of BOL’s ARPR/ASOSH module, to “Choose an Anniversary Year”, dropping down the menu to select which full Anniversary Year you’d like to review. This will load a .pdf that you can download, view, review, and save. I highly recommend you save these to

Points come from both Active and Inactive sources. Valid points accrue together regardless of source to a total within each Anniversary Year. Over your entire career, points continue to accrue toward your Career Total Points. At the end of your career, if you’ve earned eligibility for non-regular retirement per Title 10 US Code, it’ll be your Career Total Points that goes into the computation for Retired Pay. Remember, you need at least 50 retirement points within each Anniversary Year to have that year qualify as 1 of the 20 toward retirement eligibility. Be planful with your duties in order to meet minimum requirements for both Satisfactory Participation and well as Qualifying Years. Savvy Reservists plan their duties in order to maximize accrual of retirement points accrued. Be mindful to perform duties that can accrue toward total points without “overworking”. Reserve Retirement Points are subject to various limits, such as max inactive points, max total points, and exclusionary rules which prevent simultaneous accrual of different types of points. Please note that there are several business rules and exceptions for how and when points may accrue. For example, you cannot earn FHD on the same day as IDT. You cannot earn inactive points during the same time as active points (except for JPME earned through the Naval War College distance education program.) Business rules preclude receiving IDT on the same day as funeral honors point, and vice versa. The bottom line is 1 pt per day for funeral honors (ONLY and MAX); OR 2 points per day (MAX) for Drills. For Correspondence Courses, you must follow the current guidance from RESFOR N7 in order to get the points posted to and validated in your point record toward retirement eligibility and career total points. Other than JPME completed via NWC’s College of Distance Education, you cannot earn points for Correspondence Courses while in any other duty status (IDT, orders, etc.) Continuing Medical Education (CME) cr

Members with a CAC can self-serve quite a bit regarding their Reserve Retirement Point Record. Like I said, your Navy Reserve Center to which you are assigned may also be able to resolve some issues for you at their level. Some instances of missing reserve retirement points can be resolved by your NRC. Tier 0 – Member Self-Service (e.g., CAC log in to website, local NRC) But sometimes, you might need some extra help, especially if you can’t self-service. MyNavyHR including Navy Personnel Command has its very own 24/7 Sailor Support Center as part of this Tiered Service Model. The MyNavy Career Center is a 24/7 call center that BUPERS/NPC launched In September 2018 to help intake and ticket various HR and service record issues from Sailors, using a robust Service Request system Tier 1 - MyNavy Career Center (MNCC): Opened September 24 2018 Considered a service level above member self-service for all NPC functions regarding pay and personnel issues 833-330-MNCC (6622) askmncc@navy.mil If you are not able to resolve your points discrepancy through your Navy Reserve Center, you may need to contact the My Navy Career Center (MNCC). Expect the call center agent to ticket your request to PERS-912, and be contacted back by one of the members of this PERS-912 team. Make sure to provide the MNCC agent with your direct phone and email contact information. Tier 2 – Case Management via Subject Matter Experts, by assigned PERS code staff within NPC Expect an email from MNCC saying that your issue is RESOLVED once your INTAKE has been ASSIGNED to the Tier 2 level and is outside of the Career Center’s direct purview for assistance. If you’ve used MNCC, whether you’ve have a good or a bad experience, please make sure to submit your feedback in the survey on your service request ticket. MNCC leadership does review these!

1. How is eligibility for Reserve Retirement defined in the law? 2. What are different ways you can earn Reserve Retirement points? 3. How can a Drilling Reservist review their points? 4. How may you proceed to correct a discrepancy in your point record? 5. How many points does a Reservist need to retire? 6. How should your prior active service or service in another component be reflected? [10-15 minutes; 8 content slides; 6 Knowledge Check questions.] Need more information? The 201 course is also good for early to mid-career Navy Reservists. 201 - Designed for early to mid-career members of the Navy Reserve who have been earning retirement points, are past their initial Military Service Obligation or first enlisted contract, and have 1-15 Qualifying Years toward Non-Regular Retirement eligibility, to help them make informed career decisions resulting in improved retention. Looking for even more information? Check out “Navy Reserve Retirements” 301, 401, and Masters: 301 - Designed for mid- to late-career members of the Navy Reserve who are approaching their Notice of Eligibility and Survivor Benefits election milestone, with 15+ Qualifying Years toward Non-Regular Retirement eligibility, to support effective career timing and personal financial decision-making concerning retirement and benefits. (Formerly RTO’s Reserve Retirement Counseling Session.) 401 – Like a Capstone course, Designed for late-career members of the Navy Reserve with 19+ Qualifying Years toward Non-Regular Retirement eligibility, who are ready to transfer to the Retired Reserve or retire directly “With Pay”, and may have additional complexity in their transition timing and paperwork, in order to support timely and effective request or application submission for retirement through MyNavyHR and ensure they have accurate benefits information for their retirement transition. (Recommend further attendance of a Facilitated Live Event, such as MyNavyHR’s RTO program’s Retirement Awar

Welcome to Reserve Retirements 201, designed for mid-career members of the Navy Reserve, typically around 8-15 years of service. This course intends to help you better understand the potential future value of your time invested in your Navy career, to help inform your decisions in working toward Non-Regular retirement eligibility. We’ll cover Managing your Point Record How active orders may lower your Retired Pay Eligibility Date Estimating your Retired Pay Eligibility Date Estimating the amount of your Retired Pay Best Practices 

In the 101 level of this series, I shared with you how fundamentally, your Navy Reserve career gets quantified in a points-based system for retirement purposes. Here’s a refresher of the Military Life Cycle model of a Reserve Component member that I introduced in that material. We will be focusing our discussion to support those members who are still working toward 20 Qualifying Years. Many Navy Reservists are spinning multiple plates in their lives, tending to both their civilian work as well as their Navy Reserve duties and requirements, while balancing their family commitments, educational endeavors, community involvement, and hobbies and interests. If you are one of these, you may be trying to decide if you should continue serving in the Navy Reserve. Or, you may be interested to best understand how making intentional decisions in how and when you perform duties can enhance your future retirement benefits.

You might think of your career as having retirement as a goal in your sights, as if actually sighting in through left and right limits on a weapon. The Left Limit of that sight might be comprised of: Satisfying service obligations (Military Service Obligation also known as MSO, serving time obligated for education or career bonuses or education benefits under the GI Bill) Earning Qualifying Years toward retirement eligibility; Meeting Time in Grade requirements Aligning your time in to the uniform to your projected rotation date, your PRD in your billet. For enlisted: completing duration on contract as defined by your EOS, or awaiting advancement exam or chief’s board results. For officers, competing in and awaiting results from promotion or APPLY boards. For Paid Billets you may be factoring in time for transfer of education benefits, sometimes referred to as TEB; Maintaining enrollment for yourself or your family in health benefits including TRICARE Reserve Select; Financial factors involving income from reserve-related duties performed (for example, drill pay, orders like AT or ADT; or contributions as well as matching funds into your Thrift Savings Plan) Social and Emotional factors such as your identity as a Navy Sailor or the camaraderie you enjoy from your service connections

Let’s take a moment to refresh you on one aspect of the financial factors – the potential dollar value of your future retired pay from your accrued Reserve retirement points. Remember, Points are used for determining years of creditable service that have applicability to the computation of reserve (non-regular) retired pay. Points directly yield retired pay, as shown in the equation for Retired Pay, Points divided by 360, times the Service Percent Multiplier (2% for Blended Retirement System, or 2.5% for Legacy Retirement System pre-2018, times Pay Base. “P” represents Reserve Retirement Points;. “B” represents Pay Base. Retirement Points factor into both ELIGIBILITY for and the amount of RETIRED PAY Along the way, you earn reserve retirement points when you perform duty. When you earn at least 50 retirement points in each unique Anniversary Year, you receive a Qualifying Year. In order to continue working to earn Qualifying Years, you must maintain Satisfactory Participation by meeting requirements for continued service in the Navy Reserve. By Law, those requirements include both drill participation and active service within each fiscal year. Service policies include readiness requirements like medical, dental, government travel card, period general military training, and more. Be planful with your duties in order to meet minimum requirements for both Satisfactory Participation and well as Qualifying Years. You can also be strategic in planning your duties in order to maximize your points accrued. Try not to overwork, such that you end up performing duties that can not accrue toward total points due to business rules.

As your years of service close out along the path toward retirement, you should be keeping an eye on your point record. Your annual record of accrued Retirement Points, also known as your Unofficial Statement of Service, is available to you with a CAC login to the Navy Standard Integrated Personnel System (NSIPS) via Employee Self-Service in the Retirements and Separations module. This is the source platform for what you may know as the Annual Statement of Service History (ASOSH), found on BUPERS Online (BOL). If you do not have a CAC, you may request a copy by contacting the My Navy Career Center (MNCC). Points come from both Inactive and Active sources. You can accrue up to 2 inactive points per day or 1 active point per day. Valid points accrue together regardless of source to a total within each Anniversary Year. Over your entire career, points continue to accrue toward your Career Total Points. At the end of your career, if you’ve earned eligibility for non-regular retirement per Title 10 US Code, it’ll be your Career Total Points that goes into the computation for Retired Pay. Remember, you need at least 50 retirement points within each Anniversary Year to have that year qualify as 1 of the 20 toward retirement eligibility. BEST PRACTICE: Regularly review your point record to assure accuracy, and advocate early for corrections if needed. Do not wait until you are retiring with pay to get missing points added. Ideally, unit COs would conduct a point record review with their unit members during every annual Unit in the Spotlight. NRCs would be knowledgeable and effective in making corrections at that Echelon 5 level, not putting the burden of point record corrections entirely on PERS-912 for the entire Force.

In our 101 course video, we talked about how to check your Statement of Service in NSIPS. Here’s a refresher of those steps from NSIPS. Go the the RnS module, to Generate your Statement of Service. Contact MNCC; to request yours, if you don’t have a CAC. Like we mentioned in the 101 level Points course, NSIPS and BOL both have a way to view your point capture. But as of early FY23, BOL is still easier for you as the individual Sailor to use to review recent duty and point capture accuracy. On the right of this slide are some images from parts of a point record as viewable in BOL’s ARPR/ASOSH. You can also view completed years by using the option on the top left of BOL’s ARPR/ASOSH module, to “Choose an Anniversary Year”, dropping down the menu to select which full Anniversary Year you’d like to review. This will load a .pdf that you can download, view, review, and save. When the ARPR/ASOSH module launches, you should see at the top of the screen a table that has inactive points on the left, and active points on the right. I recommend you check following every drill weekend or IDT/ATP/RMP/non paid to see that the dates and drill periods performed do reflect individually. For example, full performance of a 10-11 December 2022 drill weekend should show as DEC 10 10 11 11, reflecting 4 total inactive drill points, in the inactive points column on the left. In the active points column on the right, successful point capture from a properly mustered ADT 12 to 23 December 2022 shows as 12 DEC 22 23 DEC 22 0012, where the “0012” reflects the total points posted for those 12 days on active orders. At least once every anniversary year, you should conduct a detailed review of the active and inactive points columns, validating that they appear to capture all your duties performed within that timeframe accurately. The example on the slide shows a few rows around the 2011-2014 timeframe, including drills, correspondence course, and membership inactive points; plus active duty

You may be wondering when you would be eligible to draw your retired pay. The earliest retired pay would be age 50 by law; and the TRICARE benefit eligibility remains at age 60. The National Defense Authorization Act is the name for each of a series of United States federal laws specifying the annual budget and expenditures of the U.S. Department of Defense. NDAA 2008 enacted Annual Inactive Points Limit Modification and Early Retirement Service Eligibility. NDAA 2015 enacted Early Retirement Service Eligibility across Fiscal Years after September 30, 2014. Both are now incorporated into Title 10 U.S.C. (10 U.S. Code § 12731.Age and service requirements) Effective starting January 29, 2008 each 90-day aggregate of active duty completed in a [single] fiscal year will allow a member to begin receiving retired pay three months earlier than age 60 Only counts within same fiscal year; Applies to orders from January 29, 2008 to September 30, 2014 Note this this change to title 10 US Code ALSO Increased maximum inactive points from 90 to 130 per anniversary year Effective starting October 1, 2014 90-day aggregates could be completed over any two consecutive fiscal years. However this was not retroactive to 2008 or earlier; Only from October 1, 2014 and forward Going on Active Orders (ADT, ADOS, Mobilization) during your career could mean that you are earning more retirement points, assuring Qualifying Years, and simultaneously lowering the age at which you could start drawing retired pay. You can also maximize contributions to your Thrift Savings Plan, plus matching contributions if you are in the BRS, save on health benefits premiums by being on TRICARE, transfer or even complete your service obligations for transferring your Post 911 GI Bill benefits to your dependents, and more!

This is a spreadsheet tool that the clerks in PERS-912 use to determine your Retired Pay Eligibility Date. However, they only do this unofficially when you request retirement, after you have earned eligibility; and then officially when you apply for retired pay. Your retired pay eligibility date is not automatically calculated by any bot, or tracked or visible in any Navy HR system still today, in early FY23. Knowing how the math works might help you in your mid career decisions involving continuing to serve or how to serve such as on what kinds of duty and when. Note that the spreadsheet tabulates DD214 dates as well as ADT time in each fiscal year (FY). This is a very manual calculation. Enter your personal information especially your Date of Birth and 60th Birthday Date. You can see the Age at Time of Retirement and Early Retirement Date change as you enter your orders information for DD214 dates and ADT. I recommend that you start your personal estimate analysis with your point record. Identify periods after 29 Jan 2008 that appear to have more than just AT orders served, by assessing the Active Points section one row at a time. Next, you’ll need your ADT orders history. Assuming your have NROWS access, login and filter your orders history by time (starting from FY08) and on order type (ADT). You’ll want to have your own system of identifying and tabulating ADT orders dates from that history. Correlate those orders dates and days to your active points on your point record. Calculate the total number of ADT days for each FY record. Assuming you have BOL access, login and go to your OMPF to download your DD-214(s). Enter the start and end dates of each of the DD214 events per FY record on the first tab of the spreadsheet. Enter the ADT Time information and DD-214 Dates for each FY. The final result should be a reasonable estimate of your early retirement date, also referred to in these courses and your retired pay eligibility date.

The DFAS ‘Retired with Pay’ formula provides an accessible, quick calculation, to provide a rough estimation, only. Substitute .02 for .025 if you opted into or fall under Blended Retirement System (BRS).. Retired Pay is considered a DEFINED BENEFIT. TSP is considered a DEFINED CONTRIBUTION. The example on the slide assumes a member in the Legacy System, on the Final Pay plan. Note that for purposes of entering the pay tables, a member’s longevity starts with the pay entry base date (PEBD) and continues to accrue as long as the member holds Retired status until the member starts to draw retired pay. The 36 months for High 3 start from the pay chart (future MO/YR) when eligible for Retired Pay. Because of this standard, most reserve members will max out on the longevity scales by the time they reach age 60. Also note that should a member request and receive a discharge, instead of transferring to Retired Reserve status, at an age of less than 60 years, longevity would no longer acrue and base pay would be calculated on pay scales available at the discharge date.

High Three – A.k.a. - High 36 - Applies to those with **DIEMS Date on or after 8 September 1980 “For those who entered military service after 7 September 1980, the base pay is calculated by adding the base pay available for the member (commensurate with their rank and longevity) for each of the 36 preceding months prior to drawing retired pay and dividing that by 36 to get an average pay rate for the final 3 years.” What this means, is taking the pay charts from the 3 years prior to Retirement with Pay. So, for Retirees With Pay in 2019 would reference the average base pay of the paygrade and years of service on the pay chart for the previous three years (ie, 2019, 2018, 2017). (using pay scales for the High Three years when you become eligible for Retired Pay; you’ll have to apply some assumptions about military base pay raises between now and that year in which you turn 60/eligible to receive pay. ) [Entered service prior to 7 Sept 1980 - Final Pay] To best understand how the High-3 Retired Pay Plan works, you can run the mathematical average of base pay from the future date on which you retire with pay, backwards 36 months, including factors of time in grade to determine paygrade in those years plus base pay year charts in effect. You could simplify that math by just averaging the high 3 years, vice 36 months. You could further simplify your estimate by using a single base pay figure from the third year back, prior to retirement with pay. To get a reasonable idea of the future value, just use today’s base chart and consider the resultant gross retired pay compared with your costs of living today. Please note that DFAS calculates retired pay, with release of pay. MyNavy HR systems including PERS do not ever provide an estimate of the dollar value of retired pay. You can do that using your Career Total Points, as well as your Retired Paygrade reflecting requirements met for Time In Grade,

The Navy Reserve is an all-volunteer Force, requiring a high degree of commitment from its members. Now is a great time in your career to re-assess or re-affirm your Why you chose to serve, and Why it makes sense for you to continue to serve. If you watched our Introduction to Reserve Retirements video, you may recall a similar list. Perhaps you relate to many of these decision criteria. You might even feel inclined to add to this list, or take time to assign a priority order to each of these for yourself. You may also want to consider how other financial factors balance against your time commitments in your personal and professional life pursuits. Continued service for you could mean being able to effectively transfer your Post 9/11 GI Bill education benefits to your dependents. Your Thrift Savings Plan could continue to grow due to continuing contributions from your Reserve pay. Employer matching contributions for those participating in the Blended Retirement System could mean even faster account balance accrual and future investment growth potential. You may have income from a VA Disability rating or potential for a claim, which is offset by drill pay or orders. In addition to the future potential pension dollar value and timing, you and your family may also want to factor in the value of potential Survivor Benefits as an annuity. Survivor Benefits apply from the time you earn eligibility for non-regular retirement if you have qualifying dependents such as a spouse. This is the only way to preserve as a portion of your retired pay in the form of an annuity for your survivors You’ll want to play our 301 course video – Notice of Eligibility and Survivor Benefits - for more information.

I trust that we’ve covered a multitude of criteria to help inform your mid-career decisions for your Navy Reserve career. Set your intention for your career, and align your actions to your intentions. If your intention is to eventually realize retirement, then you must actively manage your career with deliberate actions. Make your career decisions in an intentional and informed way by understanding the laws and policies related to your retirement. Meet your participation requirements; and earn your qualifying years. Make sure you know how. 1. How do you manage your Point Record? 2. How might active orders lower your Retired Pay Eligibility Date? 3. How can you estimate your Retired Pay Eligibility Date? 4. How can you estimate the amount of your Retired Pay? 5. Why and how should you proceed to correct a discrepancy in your point record?

Welcome to Reserve Retirements 301, designed for mid- to late-career members of the Navy Reserve who are approaching their Notice of Eligibility and Survivor Benefits election milestone, with 15+ Qualifying Years toward Non-Regular Retirement eligibility. This course intends to support effective career timing and personal financial decision-making concerning retirement and survivor benefits. We’ll cover Notice of Eligibility Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan Best Practices 

In the 201 level of this series, I shared with you some factors to consider for choosing to continue service in our Navy Reserve. You probably know what to do now to achieve eligibility for retirement, and may even already be on Glide Slope for your 20th Qualifying Year. As your years of service close out along the path toward retirement, you should be keeping an eye on your point record. In this 301 level course, we will be focusing our discussion to support those members who are closer to those 20 Qualifying Years. Many Navy Reservists are spinning multiple plates in their lives, tending to both their civilian work as well as their Navy Reserve duties and requirements, while balancing their family commitments, educational endeavors, community involvement, and hobbies and interests. Along the way, your families especially your spouse and/or children if you are so blessed likely also sacrificed. What would remain for them from your Navy Reserve career, should you pre-decease them? This is where the Survivor Benefit Program comes in. Survivor Benefits apply from the time you earn that eligibility for non-regular retirement if you have qualifying dependents such as a spouse. This is how you preserve a portion of your retired pay in the form of an annuity for your survivors. Coverage for most Navy Reservists would first be under the Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan, from earning eligibility for non-regular retirement all the way until drawing Retired Pay; and coverage under the Survivor Benefit Plan similar to active duty retirees once you are drawing Retired Pay later in life.

So, you are approaching your 20th qualifying year. This will be your first Major Milestone toward ultimately drawing a pension. But: your retired pay will not be continued after your death: only you may draw the retired pay that you earned. This is where Survivor Benefits comes into play. By law, within a year following your 20th qualifying year posting to your point record, the service must notify you that you have achieved valid eligibility for non-regular retirement. In other words, the Navy must conduct a validation of your point record. If you do have 20 valid qualifying years, they must send you a Notice of Eligibility letter. This is also called the NOE (November Oscar Echo). Referred to as the NOE milestone, you must take action promptly – within 90 days – of receipt of that letter in your mail, regardless of how much longer you plan to serve or when you intend to retire. The action required is to make an election for Survivor Benefits under the RC-SBP. An election submitted outside of that 90 day timeframe is not a valid election. The Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan (RC-SBP) is designed to provide you, as a retirement-qualified Reserve Component member, an opportunity to provide a guaranteed lifetime annuity for your survivor(s) in the event of your death. The annuity is based upon the retired pay earned by you. You need to know about the RC-SBP BEFORE your 20th Qualifying Year accrues to your point record. This is a VERY personal financial decision, made shortly after accruing those 20 Qualifying Years, with premiums to be deducted from your future retired pay. We HIGHLY recommend discussing the available election options far in advance of accruing 20 qualifying years of service, with your spouse, AND with a financial industry professional such as a Personal Financial Counselor supporting your Reserve Center, or your personal Certified Financial Planner. Again, without participating in the SBP or RC-SBP, your Retired pay stops when

By Law, you receive your Notice of Eligibility (NOE) letter within 365 days after attaining 20 qualifying years. Read your NOE letter! PERS-912 will mail all members who have attained 20 qualifying years a NOE letter to their address on file in Navy personnel systems. There is no need to submit a request to receive the initial NOE. PERS-912 issues the NOE after the 20th qualifying year posts to NSIPS Statement of Service. This timeline will be affected for members on active orders, as the member must be a RC member, with associated Duty Status Code 200 in Navy Personnel systems (NSIPS in 2023), for Reserve Retirement Points to update on the point record. Being on extended active duty removes you from the Reserve systems and may result in a delay of your NOE issuance. If you are approaching 20 years, we recommend having your NOE in hand before you retire. If you desire to retire as soon as possible, close to completing your 20th Qualifying Year, submit your request and watch for your NOE. If you currently have 19 qualifying years showing on your point record (such as your ASOSH), and want to retire at 20 years or shortly thereafter, then submitting a retirement request will prompt PERS-912 to conduct that point record validation for the purpose of your NOE issuance and retirement. If you are drilling still within 6 months of age 60 AND simultaneously approaching eligibility for non-regular retirement: You will NOT receive an NOE You may NOT make an RC-SBP election; With your application, you WILL make an SBP election Directly apply for your retired pay and benefits The NOE does not in any way imply retired pay will be delivered to you, automatically. You must submit an application for retired pay and benefits.

Your NOE will automatically be issued by PERS-912 within 1 year after your NSIPS Statement of Service (aka Annual Statement of Service History / ASOSH) indicates the completion of 20 qualifying years of service.  This timeline will be affected for members on active orders, as the member must be a RC member, with associated DSC code in NSIPS, for Reserve Retirement Points to update on the point record. A member currently on Active Duty, i.e., with a DSC Code in NSIPS of 100 or 211 vice 200, will not accrue qualifying years UNTIL regained by the Reserve Component, i.e., DSC Code changes back to 200. This WILL delay the administrative process of mailing out your NOE packet. You still MUST complete and return your election certificate within 90 days of receipt of your NOE letter. If you are drilling still within 6 months of age 60: You will NOT receive an NOE You may NOT make an RC-SBP election; With your application, you WILL make an SBP election Directly apply for your retired pay and benefits If you are concerned that you should have received your NOE but still have not, contact MNCC.

The Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan (RC-SBP) is an entitlement that comes with non-regular retirement eligibility. It’s a financial vehicle, known as an annuity. The annuity preserves up to 55% of your gross retired pay for your survivors. Without it, your retired pay would die with you. Once eligible for retirement, you may elect, defer, or decline coverage for qualifying beneficiaries. Premiums would be paid later in life once you are drawing your retired pay. The Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan (RC-SBP) is quite similar to the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) that covers non-reserve components of the armed services. However, there are several differences in eligibility, coverage and cost that reflect the unique nature of reserve service. RC-SBP refers to the Plan from 20 qualifying years until eligible for Retired Pay. SBP refers to the Plan once you are eligible for Retired Pay and is the same as the Active Component retiree. Under RC-SBP, the election is in force without payment until the member starts receiving retired pay. The amount of the monthly payment is a percentage of your retired pay, and that percentage depends upon the election you make when you sign up for RC-SBP. This election is made via the election certificate (DD Form 2656-5). You legally still have the RC-SBP default Immediate Annuity with 20 qualifying years, even if you have not yet received your NOE. (It’s very rare that a member passes away in this short period of time.) Please Note: You must FIRST receive your NOE, then make your RC-SBP elections. There is no need to submit a request to receive the initial NOE. PERS-912 issues the NOE after the 20th qualifying year posts to NSIPS Statement of Service. This timeline will be affected for members on active orders, as the member must be a RC member, with associated Duty Status Code 200 in Navy Personnel systems (NSIPS in 2023), for Reserve Retirement Points to update on the point record. Being on extended active duty

This Survivor Benefit annuity is a monthly payment to your survivor. It can be as much as 55 percent of what would be your gross retired pay, and could be effective from as soon as the day after your death. Actuarial-based premiums get paid from your pay while you are alive and drawing retired pay. Beneficiaries could include surviving spouse, dependent children, and “insurable interest”. Since January 1st 2001, RC Members receiving an NOE are considered automatically enrolled in the RC-SBP under Option C (Immediate Annuity). Authority: Title 10 U.S.C Chapters 73, subchapters II and III; DOD instruction 1332.42, Survivor Annuity Program Administration; DOD Financial management Regulation, Volume 7B, Chapter 54 and E.O. 9397 (SSN) (https://www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/provide/rcsbp.html)

This is a template sample of what a Notice of Eligibility (NOE) Letter looks like. Note the specific language about the RC-SBP, and the 90 days requirement directing you to complete and return the Election Certificate, DD Form 2656-5. This applies to all reserve members upon receipt of the NOE, whether or not you currently have dependents, and whether or not you intend to retire right away. This letter is NOTICE that NPC PERS-912 Reserve Retirements sees that your record in fact reflects 20 qualifying years. Return the RC-SBP election certificate within the 90 day deadline, by mail: CommanderNavy Personnel Command (PERS-912E)5720 Integrity DriveMillington, TN 38055 Election Forms should never be submitted to a NRC, PSD, or Reserve Unit. Elections under the RC-SBP including default are IRREVOCABLE from the time of your NOE. Interestingly, NDAA FY2023 included a Survivor Benefits OPEN SEASON, during which members could change previous elections or default coverage without a qualifying life event. Details as to how to effect these changes are still to come from DFAS. Auto/Default will create additional administrative time delays when it comes time for your pension. When you apply, PERS must research if there were any elections made; then send and confirm receipt of the Default Letter. Bottom line for those of you that are approaching your NOE milestone: You must WAIT to receive your NOE prior make RC-SBP elections. Receive your NOE; MAKE YOUR RC-SBP ELECTION!

Options C, B, and A are your THREE OPTIONS: immediate, deferred, or declined coverage. The actual elections are far more detailed, but generally fall into one of these three main options. Immediate literally means that the Annuity would be payable effective the day after your death, if eligible for non-regular retirement. Deferred means that you are deferring the effective date of the annuity; it effectively would not be payable to your survivor(s) until the future date on which you would have been drawing retired pay, if you predecease them. You save on premiums with this option, while still having some annuity payable in essentially the age 60+ retirement years. Make your election within 90 days REGARDLESS of if you want the Plan or do NOT want the Plan. The default coverage – i.e.. Option C Immediate Spouse coverage based on Full Retired Pay – will be imposed on the 91st day! If you have NO dependents at the time of your NOE, and you do NOT make an election, then you would default to Option A (Decline Election due to No Election Option). Only those that declined RC-SBP – and those that defaulted into Option A - will be given the opportunity to make an election under SBP when eligible for Retired Pay. But, even if you still have no dependents by the time you are eligible for retired pay, you MUST make an election under SBP. In other words, MAKE SURE you elect to DECLINE COVERAGE again under SBP. Otherwise it will DEFAULT, and DFAS will automatically charge you for spouse-only coverage. Please look carefully at DD Form 2656-5, RC-SBP Election Certificate, when making your elections. and SBP section on DD Form 2656 Mar 2022.

What dependents do you or will you have when you will receive your NOE? Coverage can be Spouse only, Spouse and Children, Child or children only, Former Spouse, Former Spouse and Children, or a Natural Interest Person also known as Insurable Interest (though this is rare due premiums). Basis of the payment can be based on Full Retired Pay, or a Reduced Amount, which would translate to slightly lower premiums taken from your retired pay.

Return the RC-SBP Election Certificate DD 2656-5 within the 90 day deadline, by mail: CommanderNavy Personnel Command (PERS-912E)5720 Integrity DriveMillington, TN 38055 Election Forms should never be submitted to a NRC, PSD, or Reserve Unit. MAKE YOUR ELECTION! But, just in case - You legally still have the RC-SBP default Immediate Annuity with 20 qualifying years, even if you have not yet received your NOE. (It’s very rare that a member passes away in this short period of time.) Note: You must WAIT to receive your NOE prior make RC-SBP elections The DD form 2656-5 have to be dated after the NOE letter date. Some members have been submitting the DD 2656-5 prior to receiving their NOE letters. PERS-912 has to return them invalid.  Again: Wait until receipt of your NOE letter from Pers 912 prior to submitting your elections (DD Form 2656-5). 

The 2656 is actually an entire family of forms, which all relate to Survivor Benefits. We’re talking now about the 2656-5, Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan Election Certificate. They are officially hosted on the DoD Forms Library by Washington Headquarters Services online. You should receive a hard copy of the DD 2656-5 with your NOE in the mail. Once you have your NOE in hand, you can alternatively download and complete the fillable pdf version, print that out, and mail it in to PERS. https://www.esd.whs.mil/Directives/forms/dd2500_2999/ DD2656 Data for Payment of Retired Personnel 3/17/2022 NoP&R DD2656-1 Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) Election Statement for Former Spouse Coverage 4/1/2009NoP&R DD2656-2 Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) Termination Request 4/1/2009NoP&R DD2656-5 Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan (RC-SBP) Election Certificate 8/1/2011NoP&R DD2656-6 Survivor Benefit Plan Election Change Certificate 4/1/2009NoP&R DD2656-7 Verification for Survivor Annuity4/1/2009NoP&R

This is what the DD2656-5 Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan (RC-SBP) Election Certificate looks like. This form is THREE PAGES. YOU MUST COMPLETE and RETURN this form within 90 DAYS OF RECEIPT OF YOUR NOE. Or your election will DEFAULT. The staff in PERS-912 has noted an improvement in the NON-COMPLETION / NON-RETURN RATE for this form, from initial 2019-2020 estimates of approximately 90% non-return from the NOEs sent. Help keep that trend going, and return your election certificate, even if what you intend in the same coverage as the default. Let me say that again, louder and with a slightly different message, for the people in the back. Once you have received the NOE with your RC-SBP/DD Form 2656-5 return the RC-SBP election within 90 days regardless of intention to retire imminently or not. If you’re married or you have a dependent child when you receive your notice of eligibility for retirement, you will be automatically enrolled in RC-SBP -- unless you choose not to participate within 90 days of the date of notification.  Your spouse’s notarized signature will be required if you are married and are electing anything other than the immediate annuity option. If you choose not to participate in RC-SBP, you remain eligible to participate at retirement (with pay) age. When you enroll, you must decide when you want your designated beneficiary’s benefit payments to begin.  This option is called an immediate or deferred election. Decline / Deferred / Immediate. Spouse only. Spouse and Child. Child only.

But what happens if your dependents change? You may change your Survivor Benefits within one year following that qualifying life event. These qualifying life events include marital status changes and dependent children changes other than age. To change your survivor benefits elections, you’ll need to submit substantiating legal documentation, along with your completed DD 2656-6 Survivor Benefits Election Change Certificate. Do not assume status changes reported to DEERS are reported to Navy Personnel Command.

You MUST report any dependency status changes to PERS and to DEERS within 1 year of that qualifying life event. To make a change to your Survivor Benefits based on a qualifying life event, you must gather and submit by mail to PERS within 1 year of that qualifying life event your DD 2656-6, Election Change Certificate, and the legal documents for that event. Substantiating documents include Marriage and death Certificates for spouses; Divorce decrees with Judge’s signature and date of divorce; Settlement Agreements; Qualified Domestic Relation Orders (QDRO), or Military Pay Orders. Drafts are not accepted. For children, birth and death certificates or adoptions papers are required. Note that you do not need to report children aging out of the plan at 18 or 22. If you have a qualifying life event after you start drawing retired pay, you would submit this election change directly to DFAS.

This is what the DD2656-6 Survivor Benefit Plan Election Change Certificate looks like. This is the form you would need to complete and return, ultimately to DFAS, should you have a qualifying life event to effect a change to your SBP elections. Marriage, Divorce, Re-Marriage, Death (of spouse or dependent child), Birth of a child would be examples of qualifying life events. YOU MUST RETURN THIS FORM WITH SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION.

Now that you know about the Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan, what your options are, and the limited timeframe in which you must make this important decision, you are probably wondering, “Well, how much is it going to cost me?” The answer is “It depends.” It depends on your election choices for option, type of coverage, and basis. But it also depends on actuarial tables, that account for your beneficiaries’ ages, the amount of your retired pay and when you starting drawing it; and the time that will elapse from when you received your NOE to when you draw retired pay and start paying premiums for the coverage. The DoD Office of the Actuary provides and SBP Premium Financial Analysis tool on their website. Start by following this 3 step process to get an estimate of your SBP Premiums. Step 1: Estimate your Retired Pay Eligibility Date, if less than age 60 Step 2: Estimate your Retired Pay Step 3: Estimate your SBP Premiums, which will be deducted from your retired pay. You’ll need to download the spreadsheet estimator tool from their website. We will use the SBP Premium Financial Analysis tool from http://actuary.defense.gov Note that the tool is only available for current year premiums. But it will give you a relative estimate in today’s dollars with today’s premiums in play.

Step 1: Estimate your Retired Pay Eligibility Date, if less than age 60 (aka “NDAA time”) Step 2: Estimate your Retired Pay Use the active duty pay chart starting from CY (and month) you will retire with pay. This is the 2022 pay chart, highlighting E7 with over 30 years of service at pay eligibility. We will leverage this as a case study, assuming Final Pay for simplicity.

The DoD Office of the Actuary has a current year spreadsheet tool available on their website to estimate SBP Premiums. Click SBP Premiums to download the spreadsheet. Note that the tool uses the term Monthly Base Amount in lieu of Gross Retired Pay.

Here on Tab 1 of the spreadsheet you select several key items: Coverage level (eg, spouse, spouse and child), type of retirement Estimated Retired Pay (dollar amount) Your date of birth, spouse’s date of birth, youngest child’s date of birth. Populate the tool with your information.

Select your type of coverage (Immediate or Deferred.) Enter the date you received your 20 Year Letter, also known as your NOE. Enter the date you expect to start receiving retired pay.

SBP Premium

What is this RC-SBP Add-on, you ask? As a Reservist, you will pay the standard SBP cost like your active duty shipmates, plus an additional Reserve Component (RC) cost. This is because your RC-SBP election is in force without payment until the member starts receiving retired pay. The RC-SBP Add-on Premium is a small upcharge that you pay out of your retired pay, for the coverage that you already had under the RC-SBP before you were drawing any retired pay from which to collect premiums.

What if you want to decline the coverage under the RC-SBP, but later elect coverage under the SBP when you apply for your retired pay? How does that change the premium?

Having declined participation in the RC-SBP, you will not have any RC-SBP Add-On Premium. Notice there is nothing in that RC-SBP Premium Costs box on the SBP Premiums Financial Analysis tool. Your premium would be purely for the SBP. Remember, in this scenario you are declining coverage under the RC-SBP. In other words, you are electing Option A via your DD 2656-5 within 90 days of receipt of your NOE. This does require your spouse’s notarized signature acknowledging concurrence. This Option provides you with NO Survivor Benefits from the time of your NOE for perpetuity and NO premium costs, unless you make an election under the SBP later in life when you are applying for your retired pay. This later SBP election would be done via the root form DD 2656, and would cost you in SBP Premiums, without the RC-SBP Premium Add-On.

Reminder, you can make a change to your Survivor Benefits within one year of a Qualifying Life Event, by submitting the DD 2656-6 Election Change Certificate with your substantiating legal documentation. But, let’s assume you do not have a QLE, and you do NOT decline the RC-SBP. Let’s assume you do elect the Immediate or Deferred option, or default to having coverage under the RC-SBP. What other options do you have to change your coverage? You may change your elections in the future, but you will still have to pay the annuity premium for the coverage (minimum 2 years,1 month.) This is called Discontinuing participation in the plan. Public Law 105-85 provides a one-time option for you to discontinue participation in the SBP, between the 2nd and 3rd anniversary of retired pay. You will have a one-year period to discontinue participation in the RC-SBP beginning on the second anniversary of receipt of retired pay (Age 62) and ending on the third anniversary (Age 63). Once participation discontinues under this provisions, the following applies: there will be no refund of premiums; no benefits will be paid in conjunction with your previous participation; and you may not resume participation for any category of beneficiary. Also, Eligible Retirees can Withdraw from SBP Due to Qualifying VA Disability A retiree may withdraw from SBP participation if: 1. The retiree has a service-connected disability rated by the VA as totally disabling for 10 or more continuous years; or 2. The retiree has had a total disability rating from the VA for at least 5 continuous years immediately following the last date of active duty. https://actuary.defense.gov/Survivor-Benefit-Plans/ https://www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/provide/rcsbp/benefitcost/ https://www.arpc.afrc.af.mil/Portals/4/Documents/RC-SBP%20Information%20package.pdf?ver=2019-09-04-165016-847

I’m going to reiterate the importance of the 90 day timeline from the date on your NOE, in case you missed it before. Failure to complete RC-SBP within 90 day window means that by law, you will end up with automatic Option C coverage based on your full retired pay for your eligible dependents effective on the date of the NOE. For Married Members: (Option C) Spouse/Child(s) coverage will be imposed. For Single members: (Option C) w/Child(s) will be imposed until child(s) reach age 22. For Single members: (Option A) no coverage will be imposed until age 60. This is considered the Automatic or Default coverage. Again: Effective 1 Jan 2001, if an election is not received within the 90-day time frame, a member’s spouse will be automatically covered under an immediate annuity (Option C) based on the full amount of retirement pay, and be in Auto/Default spouse coverage. What you see on the slide is the Auto/Default that PERS-912 must send out to you later in life when you apply for retired pay, and submit to DFAS with your retired pay package, if you did default your RC-SBP elections. A real challenge is KNOWING that you defaulted. Currently, no system displays the elections or default under RC-SBP, until the member starts drawing retired pay. Researching this is a manual systems effort. But, this does NOT get sent out until the member has applied for retired pay! Again, you can’t see this default coverage status in any HR or personnel system today. There is no document in your OMPF other than your NOE for this. Defaulting will create additional administrative time it takes PERS to process your retired pay application later in life, as PERS staff must research your election or default and document this to you and DFAS.

Reminder, if you defaulted, once you are drawing retired pay, you may change your elections by discontinuing coverage. But you will still have to pay the annuity premium for the coverage for a minimum of 2 years,1 month, or 25 months. You will be notified by DFAS via SmartDoc communication of this limited time window to discontinue participation. On the slide is a sample of the communication that currently comes from DFAS for this discontinue option, to those drawing retired pay. I’m repeating the details here in case you missed it before or need to hear it again. The implications of discontinuing are critical, and different from a Qualifying Life Event. You will have a one-year period to discontinue participation in the RC-SBP beginning on the second anniversary of receipt of retired pay, and ending on the third anniversary. Should you choose to discontinue participation in the Survivor Benefit Plan, there will be no refund of premiums; no benefits will be paid in conjunction with your previous participation; and you may not resume participation for any category of beneficiary.

Please make a note of how your survivor would initiate a claim for the benefit. I encourage you to include information on this with your important personal papers such as Last Will and Testament, Estate documents, DD214s, and similar. You may have a fire safe box and/or a cloud file system that you share with your spouse, beneficiaries, or executor of your estate. The basic process involves of course a DD form, in the 2656 Family of Forms, and specifically DD 2656-7 Verification for Survivor Annuity. But, in reality, getting this claim started for survivors of a Navy Reservist can vary depending on the member’s status at time of death. If you are still SELRES, VTU, or IRR, your death must be reported through Navy Casualty. Your chain of command can help with this. But if you are a Retired Reservist, in the Gray Area, your survivor should contact the MyNavy Career Center to initiate the claim for coverage under the RC-SBP, and be prepared to mail a written request for benefits with an original death certificate to PERS. Once you are drawing retired pay, the claim would go through DFAS. Ultimately, the claimant would become an annuitant with a DFAS Annuitant account. Please note that by law your survivor has 6 years from the date of your death to apply for the annuity. Married members electing spouse coverage and then divorced and remarried, but did not submit a change election with documentation within 1 year deadline, the current spouse will be automatically covered. (Married Members: (Option C) Spouse/Child(s) coverage will be imposed.) FORMER SPOUSES MUST FILE A DEEMED ELECTION WITH THE DEFENSE FINANCE ACCOUNTING SERVICE, CLEVELAND CENTER, AND THIS COMMAND WITHIN 1 YEAR OF THE DATE OF THE FINALIZED DIVORCE. SUCH ELECTION MUST BE MADE USING DD FORM 2656-10 AND INCLUDE A COMPLETE COPY OF THE FINAL DIVORCE DECREE.

Bottom line: Make your RC-SBP election within prescribed time. Submit DD Form 2656-5 RC-SBP Election Certificate to PERS-912 by mail within 90 days of receipt of Notice of Eligibility (NOE).

If at all possible, we highly recommend delaying your requested effective date of Transfer to the Retired Reserve until after you would reasonably receive your NOE. In other words, if you can continue to drill past your 20th Qualifying Year, depending on High Year Tenure or Statutory Limits, you will greatly increase your chances of success in terms of confirming eligibility for non-regular retirement in writing in advance, and successful election of Survivor Benefits. This allows you to assure and verify receipt by PERS and incorporation to your Official Military Personnel File of these critical retirement benefit documents. You should check your OMPF for these documents, and download a record copy. A few weeks after mailing your election certificate, check your OMPF to confirm receipt and entry. It's possible to download your entire OMPF from BOL by simply clicking a link. The NOE and the RC-SBP election certificate are typically entered with a document name related to Retirement and Separation. Sorting by date of the document entered into your record can also be very helpful in finding the right record. If not there, or you can’t access BOL and your OMPF with a CAC: contact MNCC. Don’t wait until it’s too late to make your election.

Best Practices. I recommend that you create a file of all your DD-214s, your previous endorsed ADT orders, and your point record (NSIPS Statement of Service or BOL ASOSH) if you haven’t yet. These could become relevant in the manual calculation required to determine your retirement effective date. Later, you’ll want to add to this file your Notice of Eligibility letter, and your completed Survivor Benefits elections form (DD2656-5). Just because you’ve received your NOE doesn’t mean you must retire. You may have the opportunity and want to continue serving. In the previous video, we talked about decision criteria you may want to consider in your career journey. In addition to the future potential pension dollar value and timing, continuing to serve also means that the future value of potential Survivor Benefits as an annuity would increase proportional to your potential future retired pay, which is based on points and pay base. After you retire from the Navy Reserve, you may also be issued a new form, the DD214-1, as a Career Capstone Document. See more information on this in a new DD214 DODI, released in February 2022. This new 214-1 could be useful for you or your family members in working with organizations like Veterans Affairs for other benefits from your service, like filing a VA Disability claim later in life, or for burial benefits. The DODI calls out a 3 year implementation timeline required by all services, so you have a reasonable expectation of this for retiring Navy Reservists by 2025. It’s unlikely to be issued retroactively once implemented.

1. What action must I take once I receive the NOE? You make RC-SBP elections within 90 days of receiving your NOE letter from PERS. 2. What are the 3 main Survivor Benefits options? Immediate or Deferred Annuity, or Decline Election 3. How and when may I change my elections? You must report within 1 year any qualifying dependent status change life events with election change certificate and supporting documents; You will have a window to discontinue participation in the Survivor Benefit Plan between the 2nd and the 3rd anniversary of receipt of retired pay. 4. How much will I pay for the coverage and when? 5. How would my survivor(s) initiate a claim for Survivor Benefits? We understand making decisions about Survivor Benefits is an extremely personal decision, with unique circumstances for every Sailor and their loved ones. Seek out other resources like a Personal Financial Counselor, financial industry professionals, or even books and online discussion forums to broaden your understanding of Survivor Benefits so that you and your family can make the most informed decision. [45 minutes; 32 content slides; 5 Knowledge Check questions.] Next Up: Retirement. The 401 course is like a Capstone course. It is designed for late-career members of the Navy Reserve with 19+ Qualifying Years toward Non-Regular Retirement eligibility, who are ready to retire. This may include transfer to the Retired Reserve or retiring directly “With Pay”. The Masters course is designed for those Retired Reservists who are approaching eligibility to draw retired pay, needing to know how to proceed for successful receipt of retired pay via DFAS and benefits such as TRICARE. For those of you who expect to retire directly with pay, vice to the Gray Area, you may have additional complexity in your transition timing and paperwork. If this describes you, we recommend further attendance of a Facilitated Live Event, such as MyNavyHR’s RTO program’s Retirement Awareness Workshop) in o

Welcome to Reserve Retirements 401, designed for late-career members of the Navy Reserve with 19+ Qualifying Years toward Non-Regular Retirement eligibility, who are ready to retire. This may include transfer to the Retired Reserve or retiring directly “With Pay”. The Masters course is designed for those Retired Reservists who are approaching eligibility to draw retired pay, needing to know how to proceed for successful receipt of retired pay via DFAS and benefits such as TRICARE. For those of you who expect to retire directly with pay, vice to the Gray Area, you will want to view both this video and the Masters level, Applying for Retired Pay and Benefits. However, you may have additional complexity in your transition timing and paperwork. For you, we also recommend further attendance of a Facilitated Live Event, such as MyNavyHR’s RTO program’s Retirement Awareness Workshop) in order to support timely and effective request or application submission for retirement through MyNavyHR and ensure they have accurate benefits information for their retirement transition. We’ll review Notice of Eligibility and the Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan Requesting Transfer to the Retired Reserve An Overview of Member Responsibilities and Benefits available while in the Gray Area Best Practices

In the 301 level of this series, we got deep into the details of your Notice of Eligibility milestone and your fast-following election window for Survivor Benefits under the RC-SBP. Make sure you review that video if you need a refresher. This course assumes that you have a solid grasp on those concepts, and are feeling ready to submit your request to transfer to the Retired Reserve. Remember: Navy Reserve Retirement generally includes first Retirement Awaiting Pay, and later in time Retirement With Pay (nominally age 60.)  Members MUST initiate both, first requesting to transfer to the retired reserve, and later applying for retired pay, unless able to directly Retire With Pay. Being in the Retired Reserve is also referred to as the Gray area, shown in our life cycle model here as the Gray milestone. It is the period of time in which you are retired but not yet eligible to draw retired pay; in other words, Retired Awaiting Pay.

Reserve Retirement is defined as Non-Regular Retirement in Title 10 US Code. 10 U.S.C. Chapter 1223 - RETIRED PAY FOR NON-REGULAR SERVICE Eligibility for Reserve Retirement from the Navy requires 20 Qualifying Years of service, based on a minimum of 50 Reserve Retirement Points per each of 20 Anniversary Years. The law also requires that the service notify the member in writing when they have achieved eligibility. You now know that this is called the Notice of Eligibility letter. You may have already received yours. Reservists ALWAYS effectively retire on the FIRST of the MONTH, when retiring awaiting pay, to the Gray Area. Reservists ALWAYS effectively retire with pay on their 60th birthday, or as reduced in 90 day aggregates by periods of qualifying service, provided for via the law in NDAA FY2008 and FY2015, now incorporated to Title 10 US Code.

We covered this in the 301 level video of this series on Reserve Retirements. Check your OMPF for your NOE and RC-SBP Election Certificate, and download a record copy if they are in your file. But, you may not have yet received your NOE. If at all possible, we highly recommend delaying your requested effective date of Transfer to the Retired Reserve until after you would reasonably receive your NOE.

HOT NEWS: SBP Open Season per FY23 NDAA Any Retiree: that was enrolled in SBP as of December 22, 2022 can discontinue coverage FY23 SBP Open Season ends * January 1, 2024*

We’ve covered how points matter plus some key eligibility factors. Take a moment to re-examine for yourself some of the Right Limits for your retirement sights: For Enlisted: High Year Tenure (HYT) For Officer: Statutory Limits (Age, Years of Commissioned Service) Continuation / Retention Civilian career time and progression demands Family focus and time demands Financial factors (value of future retired pay; TRR) Social & Emotional factors

If you are an enlisted Sailor, you should be factoring in your contract end date (Expiration of Obligated Service), any re-enlistment or extension considerations or possibilities, as well as your High Year Tenure limit to your service. Expiration of Obligated Service (EOS) - The expiration date on an enlistment contract Specifically, the last day of service a Sailor must serve to complete an enlistment contract. You may hear reference to Hard and Soft EOS. Hard EOS – The final date through which a Sailor must serve to complete his or her enlistment contract (includes extensions that have been made operative). Soft EOS As Extended (SEOS) – The final date through which a Sailor must serve to complete their active obligated service including any executed extension, whether or not the extension is currently operative. HYT The High Year Tenure (HYT) program is a vital and effective force shaping tool to properly size and shape the Navy, in order to ensure a dynamic force with appropriate advancement opportunity for enlisted personnel. It establishes standardized length of service (LOS) gates by paygrade balanced with a waiver process that allows the Navy to retain high performing sailors with needed skill sets.  For HYT gates, visit the PERS-913 HYT FAQ page. The AS2 MAS Code indicates that the member is within six months of High Year Tenure (HYT) or statutory attrition. If the member transfers to the VTU, transfers to the IRR, or retires, remove this MAS code.

Separation at age 62: The maximum age for all officers (O6 and below) is 62, effective 17 October 2006.  Age Waiver: If an officer is eligible for retirement on his/her 60th birthday, the officer must be approved for retention to remain in the Navy Reserve until age 62. Officers granted age 62 waivers must be separated no later than their 68th birthday. Note: PERS-911 will notify all affected officers and provide information for requesting retention. Retention / Continuation – this is only relevant after becoming qualified for retired pay; Each year SECNAV's Retention and Continuation Plan authorizes the continuation or retention of a small number of certain officers to meet mobilization requirements and special skill needs. Captains: in an active status (USNR-R or USNR-S1) who are not on the promotion list to the next higher pay-grade will be transferred to the Retired Reserve, if qualified and requested, or be honorably discharged from the Navy Reserve not later than the first day of the month following the month in which the officer completes 30 years of commissioned service. Note: Women and Nurse Corps officers who were commissioned in the Navy Reserve and were in an active status on 30 September 1996, are exempt from the above listed attrition policy and may remain in an active status, if otherwise qualified, until they become subject to the age restrictions of 10 USC 12308 or 10 USC 14509. Not Continued: MAS code ACB By law, an LDO must complete 10 years of commissioned service to retire as an officer or complete the initial four year obligation after accepting appointment if requesting reversion to separate from active service. CWOs must serve the initial six year obligation after accepting appointment before being eligible for voluntary retirement. Reversion 1100-060 - Submission of Applications for Voluntary Termination of Temporary Appointment and Reversion of LDOs

Time in grade requirements differ by pay grade for both enlisted and officers. Enlisted E6 and below may retire at their current paygrade as long as they have satisfactorily served at least one day in that paygrade. Satisfactorily served generally refers to the member not having been found guilty of a UCMJ violation. For Chiefs and above, they must serve 24 months in their current paygrade in an active status (drilling reserve, VTU) in order to retire at that paygrade.  They may request a TIG waiver from PERS if they are retiring through no fault of their own.  TIG waivers are processed through the NSIPS RnS module as part of the retirement request submission. Unless entitled to a higher retired grade under some other provision of law, a warrant officer shall be retired in the highest regular or reserve warrant officer grade in which the warrant officer served satisfactorily, as determined by the Secretary concerned. For officers in the paygrades of O-1 to O-4, there is a 6 month TIG requirement to retire at their current paygrade.  For officers in the paygrades of O-5 and O-6 TIG requirements are broken down into two catagories:  Voluntary Retirement and Statutory, or In-Voluntary, Retirement.  For Voluntary Retirement, an officer must serve three years TIG.  The officer can request a reduction to two years TIG from PERS.  For those O-5/O-6 officers retiring due to statutory requirements, such as age or years of service, only six months TIG is required to retire at their current paygrade. There is no waiver to this six month TIG requirement. For all paygrades, if TIG is not met or a waiver is denied, the member will retire at the next lower pay grade. Source Documents: Enlisted TIG requirements: OPNAVINST 1820.1B Officer TIG requirements: OPNAVINST 1820.1B and Title 10 Section 1320

CAUTION: Include in YOUR retirement timing plan your Post 9/11 GI Bill Service Obligation, along with any other contract or MSO (Military Service Obligation.) Verify you have completely satisfied your Post 9/11 GI Bill Transfer of Education Benefits Service Obligation! Understand the financial recoupment risk of not satisfying this obligation prior to retirement. Login with CAC or DS Logon to MilConnect website to see your specific information. (This is also where you check to ensure that it HAS transferred properly!) PERS-912 now does check retirement requests for this Post 9/11 GI Bill benefit transfer service obligation. Expanded Transferability of Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to family members: The 2018 version of DoDI 134113 line in/out changes covers people forced to retire, non select HYT and medical separated. GovDelivery from COMNAVRESFOR  21 August 2020 amplified the guidance, including changes to the DoDI 1341.13. Confirmed through PERS-91. https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/134113p.pdf?ver=2018-07-12-084756-290) For detailed instructions and to apply (TEB = Transfer of Education Benefits) - Visit milConnect (https://milconnect-pki.dmdc.osd.mil/milconnect/public/faq/Education_Benefits-How_to_Transfer_Benefits)

Members often wonder how/when to drill as they approach retirement. You might wonder: when do I stop drilling? What you need to know is that if you pull drills forward from after your effective date of retirement, you should expect to have those points reverted from your record, AND BE SUBJECT TO RECOUPMENT. An easy way to keep track of this is in NSIPS by rescheduled date.  Another easy way to think about it is drill burn rate, ie # months * 4 drills/month / 48.  If you perform more than the allocated drill periods by the time you retire, you will be subject to recoupment. This means that DFAS will likely send you a letter of indebtedness for that drill pay. Reschedule and submit all drill periods in EDM (on pace with burn rate) If you are the kind of Reservists who will retire directly to a Pay Status, this will be critical for you. PERS must first close out your point record in order to move ahead with processing your application for Retired Pay. If you continue to drill and accrue points, you will essentially delay to processing your own retirement. Your effective date will still be relevant; in other words, you will eventually receive the back pay to this effective date of retirement, (limited to 6 years per the Barring Act) but you should expect a delay in receipt of your first retired pay from DFAS due to this.

Active duty AND Reservist veterans are able to submit disability claims with the VA. Highly recommend seeking assistance from a qualified VSO (Veteran Service Organization). A retired friend of mine who retired off active duty said “My one piece of advice is that you get your VA physical done BEFORE you officially retire.  You’re at the bottom of the list once you’re a retiree.” How does a retiring Navy Reservist go about this? As a reservist, do I need a VA physical at any point through this whole process?   For potential VA assessment purposes, I recommend getting a copy of your medical record, and a complete physical from a civilian provider prior to your effective retirement date. Note that medical records now can and will uploaded electronically into the VA systems. Retirement/separation physical is not for VA benefits and has no impact on VA rating.  VA does a separate evaluation based on medical history provided by the member. After ADOS/ADSW/Mobilization/Recall, you may have done a separation physical to return from AC to RC. At these visits, providers are tasked with ensuring you do not have "Unfit" conditions that will limit your continued service in the Navy and entitle you for medical disability pay. When you are retiring, even if you are not entitled to a separation physical by the military, you should seek a comprehensive physical from your civilian provider if you potentially will submit a claim for VA disability. Consider getting these: NEXUS letters and/or physicals performed by dual-credentialized providers to best advocate/ support / green light claims.

Ok, you’ve decided it IS time to retire. So, how do you go about it? First, you need to determine if you will have time in the Gray Area before you are eligible for retired pay. Assuming the answer to that is yes, you are in the right place. We are about to cover HOW you submit your request to Transfer to the Retired Reserve. This is also known as the Gray Area, or Retired Awaiting Pay. Some critical admin to verify as you prepare to retire: You are a member of the Reserve Component, with a Duty Status Code of 200 showing in NSIPS Your Statement of Service shows at least 19 Qualifying Years Reschedule and submit all drill periods in EDM (on pace with burn rate) Verify all drills have been mustered and adjudicated in EDM Submit all NROWS orders for pay processing Sign and submit all DTS vouchers for pay processing Verify zero balance on GTCC Please Note: you cannot RETIRE from the RC if you are not a member of the RC! If you are on Active Duty, i.e., with a DSC Code in NSIPS of 211 vice 200, your points and qualifying years will not accrue till regained RC. And, you will NOT be able to submit a request to retire via NSIPS, as your access within the Retirement and Separations module will show as a member of the Active Component. You will not be able to submit a request for non-regular retirement. Your options will be to either complete your active orders and return to reserve component status then submit your request via NSIPS, or submit a letter request.

NPC PERS-912 processes Navy Reserve Retirements Awaiting Pay based on the effective date of retirement via NSIPS, or via paper request for IRR members and other less common situations (such as members on long term active duty orders, especially while approaching HYT or statutory limits).  This effective date for Retirement Awaiting Pay will always be the first of a given month, per Title 10 USC.  These requests typically remain as “Pending PERS-912” in NSIPS or in-house tracking for paper requests until shortly before the effective date. You should expect to receive via regular USPS mail from NPC PERS-912 the Retirement Orders letter, “Retirement Order and Transfer Authorization to Retired Reserve Status”. Check the status of your request in the History tab in NSIPS RnS. If you do not have an NSIPS RnS account, contact MNCC regarding your request status. You should receive your “Transfer to Retired Reserve Status” Orders letter via mail after the Effective Date, once your request is fully processed. Contact MNCC by phone at 1-833-330-MNCC (1-833-330-6622), or email at askmncc@navy.mil if: You have specific inquiries on your request to retire, especially where your Personally Identifiable Information would be required to answer your question. For any reason you are unsure if PERS-912 has your correct name and address, including that you did not provide it in your submitted retirement package documents, or have changed your contact information recently. You do not have a CAC and cannot view your request status **NEW: All documents received and entered into the PERS-9 database now generate an automatic email notification from the MyNavy Career Center to the service member acknowledging receipt.  If you are unsure if the MNCC has your correct name and address, and it is not in your submitted documents, you may contact them by phone at 1-833-330-MNCC (1-833-330-6622) or email at askmncc@navy.mil. **

Contact and work with your NRC Career Counselor to help guide you through the Retirement Request submittal process. They may have insights as to the timelines, processes, or your unique situation. Reservists ALWAYS effectively retire on the FIRST of the MONTH, when retiring awaiting pay, to the Gray Area. Reservists ALWAYS effectively retire with pay on their 60th birthday, or as reduced in 90 day aggregates by periods of qualifying service, provided for via the law in NDAA FY2008 and FY2015, now incorporated to Title 10 US Code. The MAS Code ARR should show for you in NRRM once your NRC has recommended approval and forwarded your retirement request. This MAS code means Retirement request submitted to NRA and pending approval from PERS-9, or retirement request approved by PERS-9. Reference MILPERSMAN 1810-020. (365 days)

Let’s briefly discuss some of the typical mistakes and errors that cause delays in processing your retirement, whether to the Gray Area (Awaiting Pay) or directly to or eventually to With Pay. Calculating reduced pay eligibility age take a minimum of 3 hours per member, under the current manual process due to disparate systems; these issues significantly increase that retirement request processing time. These keep your request in status PENDING within PERS-912. THESE ARE WHAT HOLD UP YOUR RETIRMENT, especially PAY. In other words, they cause delays in processing your retirement request, due to the time required to manually fix or resolve, increasing cycle time and potentially adding to the backlog Reduced Pay Eligibility Age calculation (aka NDAA 08 and 15) For more information, please visit: https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Career-Management/Reserve-Personnel-Mgmt/NDAA/ That link also has a calculator spreadsheet tool for Retired Pay Eligibility Date, per the authority in the 2008 and 2015 NDAAs from 2008 and 2015.

Process for Command Separation Specialist to Check the Status of a Request for a user in their command: 1. Go to the NSIPS web page: https://nsipsprod.nmci.navy.mil/nsipsclo/jsp/index.jsp 2. Click [OK] to acknowledge DOD NOTICE AND CONSENT BANNER 3. Select Self Service Account and click the [LOGON] button. 4. Click [Accept] button on the PRIVACY ACT STATEMENT 5. Navigate as follows: Main Menu> Retirements and Separations>Command Request Home 6. If any requests are pending action of the Command Separation Specialist, they will appear in the Inbound/Assigned Requests section (Inbox). If requests are still in routing they will appear in the All Pending Requests section. Approved requests will appear in the Approved Requests section. Disapproved Requests will appear in the Disapproved Requests section. 7. To see the details of a specific request Click on View Request hyper-link for that request. 8. The Request will open and a warning message will popup stating that the user does not have access to modify this request in its current status (if the request is not currently routed to them for action). Click [OK]. 9. Click on the History hyper-link that exists in the top row of hyper-link buttons below the 'Retirements and Separations - Request' page heading and above the Service Member's Name. 10. A Request History pop-up will appear showing details of all routing steps the request has gone through so far including, Action Date/Time, User Name, Users Role, Resulting Status, Routed To and Role Routed to.

NOTE: the NRC Career Counselor is the staff member assigned responsibility to create the user roles and assign the hierarchy within that NRC, for both the NRC staff (CO, XO, SEL, CC), and any unit-specific roles (unit CO, other critical reviewer as arranged with each unit and by each NRC, unit CC).

Career Counselors can access the User Productivity Kits from the hyperlink within NSIPS for more training and other information. NOTE: There is NO receipt acknowledgement, or self-service way to check status of a letter request (IRR). You must contact MNCC to find out your request status, if you are concerned. For NSIPS RnS requests: You also MUST inform your chain of command if you desire to change your retirement plans. Who CAN cancel the request will depend on where in the approval steps your request is sitting. Check the History tab on your NSIPS RnS request. Contact your Career Counselor; you may need to ticket a SR with MNCC if your request has already been sent to NPC for approval (i.e., past the NRC or ECH III/IV level). You WILL need your request to be canceled from within NSIPS RnS in order to change your retirement plan and your pending request for any reason, including to modify the effective date. If you desire to change the effective date, you need to submit a new retirement request.

Once PERS has completed your retirement request and sent to the next step (i.e., approved you for transfer to the retired reserve, and/or sent your Application for Retired Pay forward to DFAS), you should receive from PERS in your mail your Retirement Orders. PERS-912 will perform NDAA calculations on all RWAP requests. After you receive your Retirement Orders, we recommend you CALL MNCC and create a Service Request to find out what PERS-912 calculated your REDUCED PAY ELIGIBILITY DATE to be, based on your qualifying periods of active duty. You will WANT TO MAKE A GOOD and SAFE RECORD OF THIS DATE, as the date will NOT be noted in your RETIREMENT ORDERS letter for Retirement Awaiting Pay (to the Gray Area). These are template samples of what your Retirement Orders Letters may look like. With these, you will need to begin the process and appointment scheduling to obtain a new ID Card, as you will no longer have a CAC once you retire. (RAPIDS/ ID Card Office appointment scheduler online.) When you complete your "good" twenty years (or longer) for retirement, part of your out-processing MUST be obtaining a NEW military ID card reflecting your new status. In some cases, individuals, for various reasons, have missed their out-processing or transition assistance program appointments and not obtained this card. They may not worry about it because they incorrectly believe they have no benefits until age 60. This is not only incorrect, but if DEERS doesn't have their information in their system, it may run afoul when it comes time to apply for your retirement pay. This may be the only place where they (NPC, PERS-912) may have your address! Remember, from the Gray Area, you do NOT have a DFAS Retiree Account, and you may not be in NSIPS. You may not be eligible to purchase TRICARE Retired Reserve health plan (premium based) or TRICARE Young Adult healthcare if you are not enrolled in DEERS.

What is the Gray Area? According to Oxford Languages: “An ill-defined situation or field not readily conforming to a category or to an existing set of rules.” Sounds right. “An area intermediate between two mutually exclusive states or categories, where the border between the two is fuzzy. It exists in a grey area between legal and illegal”. –Wiktionary. Makes sense. As a Retired Reserve service member who has received a 20-year letter but has not received retirement pay, you may be eligible to receive gray area benefits. Gray Area retirees have many but not all of the benefits of those on the Retired List. Beyond pay, important differences include Health Care benefits and life insurance.

Once you effectively transfer to the Retired Reserve, part of your out-processing MUST be obtaining a NEW military ID card reflecting your new status. They may not worry about it because they incorrectly believe they have no benefits until age 60. This is not only incorrect, but if DEERS doesn't have their information in their system, it may run afoul when it comes time to apply for your retirement pay. This may be the only place where they (NPC, PERS-912) may have your address! You may not be eligible to purchase TRICARE Retired Reserve health plan (premium based) or TRICARE Young Adult healthcare if you are not enrolled in DEERS. While you are in the Gray Area, Maintain your contact information up to date in DEERS, with PERS, and even with DFAS in your Gray Area Retiree Basic Shell Account. Of 5510 Reserve Component members eligible for retired pay within 2 years (by September 2022): About 30% - over 1500 of about 5500 - did not have a working email address on file with PERS! When the Retirement Transition Outreach program started trying to call these people on the phone, they discovered that almost half were uncontactable. And these contact efforts were to advise them of how to proceed in order to receive their retired pay and benefits that they earned years prior! Remember to make Survivor Benefits election changes if appropriate within 1 year of those Qualifying Life Events. And submit your application for your retired pay at least 6 months in advance of your retired pay eligibility date in order to best assure on time receipt of pay and benefits. 45%Phone failed 35% Voicemail 10% No phone on file 3% No Answer, no voicemail 3% Applied 0% Paid

Remember when we started today and we said the BIG TAKEAWAY is that Reservists basically retire TWICE? You MUST apply for Retirement with Pay. It is NOT automatic. Approximately 10 months prior to age 60 or your previously calculated reduced pay eligibility date, PERS will mail a courtesy reminder letter to your address on record. 1. What are some of the timing factors to consider for your effective date of retirement? 2. What are some specific enlisted Sailor considerations? 3. What are some Officer specific considerations? 4. How do you submit a request to retire? What is the request type? What should be the effective date? In what system? What if you don’t have access to that system? 5. How do you know you were effectively retired on your requested date? Now that you know what to do and what to expect, submit your request! [30 minutes; 21 content slides; 5 Knowledge Check questions.] That concludes our 401 course. You can now rest easy in your retirement years, no longer having drill weekends or duties away from your families or civilian career or personal pursuits. The Masters course is designed for those Retired Reservists who are approaching eligibility to draw retired pay, needing to know how to proceed for successful receipt of retired pay via DFAS and benefits such as TRICARE. For those of you who expect to retire directly with pay, vice to the Gray Area, you may have additional complexity in your transition timing and paperwork. If this describes you, we recommend further attendance of a Facilitated Live Event, such as MyNavyHR’s RTO program’s Retirement Awareness Workshop) in order to support timely and effective request or application submission for retirement through MyNavyHR and ensure they have accurate benefits information for their retirement transition.

Welcome to the Masters level video course of the Reserve Retirements series. This course is designed for those Retired Reservists who are approaching eligibility to draw retired pay, needing to know how to proceed for successful receipt of retired pay via DFAS and benefits such as TRICARE. We’ll review Reserve Retirement Points and Retired Pay Survivor Benefits Preparing your Application for Retired Pay and Benefits DD Forms 108 and 2656 Additional Retirement Concerns Best Practices  NOT in scope for this video course are tax or social security or medicare benefit implications for military retirees, or detailed coverage of health benefits such as TRICARE options.

Remember: Navy Reserve Retirement generally includes first Retirement Awaiting Pay, and later in time Retirement With Pay (nominally age 60.)  Members MUST initiate both, first requesting to transfer to the retired reserve, and later applying for retired pay, unless able to directly Retire With Pay. In the 401 level of this series, we discussed how you effectively transfer to the Retired Reserve. Being in the Retired Reserve is also referred to as the Gray area, shown in our life cycle model here as the Gray milestone. It is the period of time in which you are retired but not yet eligible to draw retired pay; in other words, Retired Awaiting Pay. Now that you are in the Gray Area, or if you are eligible to directly Retire With Pay, you must apply. We are going to discuss how to prepare and submit that application for retired pay, what actions you need to take for your benefits, and what to expect in the process.

Reserve Retirement is defined as Non-Regular Retirement in Title 10 US Code. 10 U.S.C. Chapter 1223 - RETIRED PAY FOR NON-REGULAR SERVICE Eligibility for Reserve Retirement from the Navy requires 20 Qualifying Years of service, based on a minimum of 50 Reserve Retirement Points per each of 20 Anniversary Years. The law also requires that the service notify the member in writing when they have achieved eligibility. You now know that this is called the Notice of Eligibility letter. You may have received yours as many years ago. If you are an enlisted Sailor who joined the Navy at 18 years old, and served 20 years, you may have received your NOE over 20 years ago! Or, perhaps you are a different kind of Navy Reservist, who joined the service later in life; you may be achieving eligibility for non-regular retirement just in time prior to reaching age limits of service, and not yet have your NOE in hand. Or perhaps you served on qualifying active orders since January 29 2008 as a Reservist, and are eligible for retired pay prior to age 60. On average, Navy Reservists spend about 12 years in the Gray Area.

Reserve Retirement Points are used for determining years of creditable service that have applicability to the computation of reserve (non-regular) retired pay. Points directly yield retired pay, as shown in the equation for Retired Pay, Points divided by 360, times the Service Percent Multiplier (2% for Blended Retirement System, or 2.5% for Legacy Retirement System pre-2018, times Pay Base. “P” represents your actual numbers of career total Reserve Retirement Points, from your Statement of Service. “B” represents the base pay available at the time the member starts receiving retired pay at or after age 60.

If you do not have a CAC, you may request a copy of your point record by contacting the My Navy Career Center (MNCC) by phone or email, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. NOTE: You do not actually need a copy of your point record to apply for your retired pay. But, reviewing your point record for accuracy, and knowing your career total points are best practices.

Retired Pay is considered a DEFINED BENEFIT. TSP is considered a DEFINED CONTRIBUTION. The amount of your retired pay is determined using a mathematical formula. The timing of your retired pay depends on your age and if you performed qualifying active orders to reduce your eligibility below age 60 to as low as age 50. Some members will continue to actively serve past age 60, meaning they won’t be eligible to draw retired pay until they do actually retire, though this is much less common and requires approval for continuation/retention. Remember that your Retired Pay Base will be either 1 single base pay figure (FINAL PAY) or a more complex mathematical average of the highest 36 months of base pay figures prior to effective retirement (HIGH-3).

For a frame of reference, we’ve worked up this simply example estimate of a Navy Chief’s retired pay. Note that this Chief had 5000 career total points, was on the Legacy retirement system, and in the Final Pay plan based on Date of Initial Entry to Military Service prior to September 8 1980. Knowing your parameters can make using the DFAS ‘Retired with Pay’ formula the easiest way to get yourself a reasonable back of the napkin or on your phone’s calculator rough estimation of your retired pay. Of course, you’d substitute .02 for .025 if you opted into or fall under Blended Retirement System (BRS). And to increase the accuracy of your estimate, you may need to use the pay tables in play for your retired pay eligibility timing, your paygrade and total years of service, and perform the High-3 calculation for pay base. The 36 months for High 3 start from the pay chart (future MO/YR) when eligible for Retired Pay, and work backwards in time for 36 actual months. You may need to also factor in any changes in base pay due to paygrade or years of service over those 36 months, though this is less common. Note that for purposes of entering the pay tables, a member’s longevity starts with the pay entry base date (PEBD) and continues to accrue as long as the member holds Retired status until the member starts to draw retired pay. Because of this standard, most reserve members will max out on the longevity scales by the time they reach age 60. Also note that should a member request and receive a discharge, instead of transferring to Retired Reserve status, at an age of less than 60 years, longevity would no longer accrue and base pay would be calculated on pay scales available at the discharge date.

HOT NEWS: SBP Open Season per FY23 NDAA Any Retiree: that was enrolled in SBP as of December 22, 2022 can discontinue coverage FY23 SBP Open Season ends * January 1, 2024*

This is where it all comes together, helping you successfully receive your Retirement Pay. The first step for PERS-912 in processing your Application for Retired Pay is to close out the point record. This is a critical point to understand for those of you thinking you will retire directly from participation to Retired With Pay. The most common question here is when should you stop drilling. The answer mainly depends on how soon you expect to receive your first Retired Pay. If you keep drilling right up to your effective date of retirement, you will not receive your retirement orders on time, and your Retired Pay from DFAS will be delayed. You’ll recoup that pay as back pay (up to 6 years, per the Barring Act). But, this could be different than you might expect. You’ll want to ensure you have a sizeable fund available for 6-9 months of living expenses during that delay. This is because it typically takes PERS 6 months to process a Retirement With Pay, starting with closing out the point record. Then, DFAS must set up your pay account. The current average duration for this account setup and activation with DFAS is 27 days (as of August 2020.) Remember, you cannot RETIRE from the RC if you are not a member of the RC! If you plan to be serving on that one last set of orders, like a Sunset Tour, and retiring directly from that to Retired With Pay, then you’ll need to add some buffer time to your financial expectations. You’ll need enough time to complete your orders, including leave days, and be re-gained as a member to the Reserve Component, and those final points to post to your point record. You may want to plan ahead for some delay in receipt of retired pay with as much as 6 months of financial means to cover your living expenses, beyond your typical emergency fund.

Best Practices. I recommend that you pull your “Retirement Binder” that you created way back when off the shelf, or create it now. This would be a filing system of all your DD-214s, your previous endorsed ADT orders, and your point record (NSIPS Statement of Service or BOL ASOSH). These could become relevant in the manual calculation required to determine your retirement effective date. Also in this file should be your Notice of Eligibility letter, and your completed Survivor Benefits elections form (DD 2656-5). Of these, most impactful for your application for retired pay and benefits will be knowing what you elected for your Survivor Benefits. That information is relevant to completion of the DD 2656, though there are some workarounds. Best Practice: Retirement Binder, in a Fire Safe Box and/or Cloud file system or similar Critical items for your retirement records NOE RC-SBP Election Certificate Copy of Statement of Service and/or ASOSH (point record) Your estimate of your retired pay aka monthly gross amount Your estimate of your retired pay eligibility date Your estimate of your Survivor Benefit premiums Copy of DD 2656-7 and guidance DD214s & Endorsed Orders VA Disability Approval Letter, dated with assessed percent

Submit your application for your retired pay at least 6 months in advance of your retired pay eligibility date in order to best assure on time receipt of pay and benefits. You can submit this up to a year in advance! We recommend starting this early. Do not wait for an invitation to apply. Your retired pay is not automatic, and there is no requirement for the service to notify you of this timeline at this point. The onus is on you to take action for your retired pay and benefits.

That being said, you may receive a courtesy “10 month letter” in your mail, but don’t count on or wait for it! Application requires submission BY MAIL to PERS-912 in Millington Tennessee two completed DD Forms: DD 2656 and DD 108. This paperwork task can seem daunting at first, but in reality can take as little as 30 minutes to complete if you are prepared and organized. Again, get out or have access to your Retirement Binder! DD Form 2656 is a full family of forms. DD 108 is a short form. They are officially hosted online in the DoD Forms Library via Washington Headquarters Services, and organized by form number. As I mentioned, getting out your retirement binder items may help you a lot here in completing your forms efficiently and with confidence. Besides applying up to a year in advance, what else can a Reserve member do to ensure retirement pay begins on effective retirement? Maintain contact information up to date: DEERS and NPC especially PERS-912 Name, address, phone number Email address Dependent information Provide to PERS-912 any further missing documentation Points documentation to add to the point record Endorsed orders DD-214s Respond promptly to any PERS-912 inquiries for additional information Finalize the process through activation of the member’s Retiree Pay Account with DFAS.

This current DD 2656 is dated March 2022, and includes the CUI markings per current DOD requirements for privacy of your personal information once completed. It’s a LONG form - 5 pages with 3 pages of instructions. The staff in PERS-912 receiving these retirement requests has noted a HIGH ERROR RATE in completing this form. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY and COMPLETELY. https://www.esd.whs.mil/Directives/forms/dd2500_2999/ DD2656 Data for Payment of Retired Personnel 3/17/2022NoP&R DD2656-1 Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) Election Statement for Former Spouse Coverage 4/1/2009NoP&R DD2656-2 Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) Termination Request 4/1/2009NoP&R DD2656-5 Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan (RC-SBP) Election Certificate 8/1/2011NoP&R DD2656-6 Survivor Benefit Plan Election Change Certificate 4/1/2009NoP&R DD2656-7 Verification for Survivor Annuity4/1/2009NoP&R

DD Form 108 – Application for Retired Pay Benefits JUL 2002. This should be the easiest form you complete! 108 is the simplest form. Send it in 60 days prior to retirement date. Pop quiz: At which point do you need to fill out the Form 108? [answer: about 6 months to a year prior to your RETIREMENT WITH PAY eligibility date!] For DD Form 108, NPC does NOT need you to replicate your career participation summary, i.e. a Statement of Service, assuming your point record is already up to date. The following Instructions apply to the DD Form 108, items 9 through 17:  Detailed completion of these items is not required.  However, if these are not completed, you must write, across the corresponding spaces, a statement to the effect that you will accept records of service as maintained by the Department of the Navy.  Use of such a statement does NOT preclude your right to have records corrected, if necessary.” NOTE: This should have been done over the course of your career, by maintaining your point capture. PERS-91 will review a member's record and establish a retired-pay eligibility date at the time the member is transferred to the Retired Reserve. Because recent periods of active duty may not be reflected in point totals at the time a member requests transfer to the Retired Reserve, members requesting transfer to the Retired Reserve should be proactive in bringing extended periods of qualifying active duty (performed after 28 January 2008) to the attention of PERS-912. This can be done as an attachment to the retirement request.

Simply make a diagonal line across all the data in the middle and write something to the effect of "I will accept records on file with the Department of the Navy“, and sign and date.  Enclose documentation to correct any errors on your point record. The team in PERS-912 can make the updates in line with processing your application for retired pay. Alternatively, if you have a copy of your point record (ASOSH) or Statement of Service, you can just attach/enclose that with your packet and take a similar approach as above, writing something to the effect of "See attached/enclosed."  Or you can sign it with "See attached point record which is inaccurate, and enclosed supporting documentation to update it" or something to that effect.  You can also start the point record correction in advance of submitting the application but given your timing there is no real advantage to that at this point.  YOU DO NOT NEED TO REITERATE YOUR POINT RECORD YEAR BY YEAR.

Include in your application packet: DD Form 108 DD Form 2656 Any legal documentation of dependent changes (marriage license, divorce decree, adoption papers, etc.) Any documentation of missing points (correspondence courses, funeral honors, old paper muster sheets, endorsed orders, DD214s) Your letter request to retire if directly eligible to retire with pay from participation Your unit/NRC command endorsement on your letter request as above

Let’s briefly discuss some of the typical mistakes and errors that cause delays in processing your retirement, whether to the Gray Area (Awaiting Pay) or directly to or eventually to With Pay. Calculating reduced pay eligibility age take a minimum of 3 hours per member, under the current manual process due to disparate systems; these issues significantly increase that retirement request processing time. These keep your request in status PENDING within PERS-912. THESE ARE WHAT HOLD UP YOUR RETIRMENT, especially PAY. In other words, they cause delays in processing your retirement request, due to the time required to manually fix or resolve, increasing cycle time and potentially adding to the backlog. REMINDER: PERS-912 developed a spreadsheet tool to calculate the Retired Pay Eligibility Date, per the authority in the 2008 and 2015 NDAAs from 2008 and 2015. You MAY run your own unofficial calculation using the same spreadsheet. You MAY ALSO request PERS-912 Tier 2 perform a COURTESY CALCULATION. (Contact MNCC to request this.) PERS-912 will CALCULATE your DATE OF EARLY RETIREMENT SERVICE ELIGIBILITY UNDER 10 U.S. Code § 12731, from data in your Statement of Service point record, eClient (DD214s), NROWS (orders type and dates), and endorsed orders they may request you provide. (Unofficially – Retirement Awaiting Pay; Officially and in writing- Retirement With Pay).

Once PERS has completed your retirement request and sent to the next step (i.e., approved you for transfer to the retired reserve, and/or sent your Application for Retired Pay forward to DFAS), you should receive from PERS in your mail your Retirement Orders. These are template samples of what your Retirement Orders Letters may look like. With these, you will need to begin the process and appointment scheduling to obtain a new ID Card, as you will no longer have a CAC once you retire. (RAPIDS/ ID Card Office appointment scheduler online.)

Some “What they wish they’d known sooner”, concerns expressed by our shipmates during previous events include: Figuring out what the implications now are of the RC-SBP default or elections made at NOE SELRES; VTU; IRR options and implications Getting updates on retirement requests, whether NSIPS but especially “Paper” i.e., letter requests Getting point record updated, esp. missing from mobilizations, but also missing Funeral Honors or drills Attrition: HYT; Statutory Limits; Age Waivers; Retention; Continuation; Reversion High Year Tenure (enlisted); Statutory Limits (officers) Continued service after becoming qualified for retired pay; Survivor Benefits from NOE forward Continuation/Retention beyond age 60; LDOs: must complete 10 years of commissioned service to retire as an officer or complete the initial four year obligation after accepting appointment if requesting reversion to separate from active service. CWOs: must serve the initial 6 year obligation after accepting appointment before being eligible for voluntary retirement. Reversion comes into play in situations of voluntary retirement if obligations not met.

You may or may not want to have a retirement ceremony. You may want to have a formal ceremony. You may want to have an informal celebration. You may also reserve or decide to have a retirement ceremony later, when you retire with pay, transferring to the Retired List.

​PERS submits the request to the White House liaison directly for the Presidential Letter of Appreciation. No action is needed on the member’s part. Timing of your retirement compared to a retirement ceremony may mean delayed receipt of your letter. Turnover of administration can create delay in issuance due to staff changes, but again, no action is required. You *may* want to plan a later ceremony date, to assure receipt of the letter, if you are interested to receive and display this.

Life happens, and we can’t always plan things out every step of the way. Should you have a change in dependents, be sure you understand how that change impacts your benefits and the programs in which you’re participating. We discussed the 1-year requirement for making RC-SBP election changes due to a qualifying life event, however there are many other entities that should also be notified as well. In the case of divorces, understand both your rights as the service members, and your former spouses' rights as the former spouse of a service member. There is an entire section of code in title 10 protecting the rights of former spouses. The Uniformed Services Former Spouses'’ Protection Act (USFSPA), 10 USC 1408. The USFSPA accomplishes two primary things: 1. It recognizes the right of state courts to distribute military retired pay to a former spouse and 2. It provides a method of enforcing these orders through the Department of Defense. MILCONNECT: It was super helpful when you mentioned the MilCONNECT login vice using a CAC card.  I already had figured that out and created a ‘sign-in’ without a CAC Card.  But if you can imagine, a Reservist that does NOT do this before they retire is completely disconnected from their record and any information about how to apply for TRICARE or access their VA benefits electronically.   i.e. Gray area retirees likely have NO access to information in the 15-20 years they are awaiting retirement.  This Retirement brief information is desperately needed in the VTUs.  I have seen this while assigned to the VTU and my team saved 6-10 retirements.  Some thought they were retired, but had never applied for it and were being administratively separated by the NRC.  They didn’t know of the ADMIN SEP because address was incorrect and NRC didn’t call the phone numbers.  Other examples include 2ND class petty officers that were shy of 20 years (most fell into this category) needed to apply for service beyond HYT.

Traditional & Roth employer plans can be transferred to TSP. Traditional IRA funds can be transferred to TSP (Not Roth IRA). If you don’t have your account information, you may be able to retrieve it online or request that we mail it to you again. If you’re unable to make your request online, you can call the ThriftLine and speak to a TSP representative for help. TSP-99 form to do a IRA and Roth Rollover If you have both a civilian account and a uniformed services account, you may withdraw from the TSP account related to separation. Once you’ve separated, you may combine your two accounts into one; however, you can only combine the account related to your separation into your other TSP account. NOTE: the Navy (DFAS, actually) needs to notify TSP that a member has retired; you can not access TSP funds until this action has been completed. This should be automatic, by DFAS, with closure of your military member pay account. TSP cannot process your withdrawal request unless your agency or service notifies them that you’ve separated from service and provides the date of your separation. It usually takes up to 30 days after the actual date of your separation to receive this information. Contact DFAS military pay customer support for assistance, if needed. This is a DFAS pay account issue, and is NOT done by PERS-912.

Severance pay: Members who separated from the military before they were eligible for retirement may have received separation or severance pay. If you were discharged from active duty and received Special Separation Benefit or Voluntary Separation Incentive, read about VSI/SSB Recoupment  before you consider applying for retirement. You will be required to repay the full gross VSI/SSB paid to date. Special Separation Benefit: If you received Special Separation Benefit (SSB) and later qualify for retired or retainer pay, you will be required to repay the full gross SSB paid to date. If after receiving SSB you spend enough time in the reserves to qualify for retirement pay, you reenlist, or you are recalled to active duty and qualify for retirement pay, you may choose to retire. However, you will be required to repay the full gross amount of SSB you received. Repayment will be via a recoupment from your monthly retired pay check. Voluntary Separation Incentive If you took a Voluntary Separation Incentive (VSI) you must remain in a Reserve Component for the entire time you are receiving VSI payments unless you are involuntarily transferred to another status (Standby Reserve or Retired Reserve). VSI payments will stop if you do not maintain reserve status. If you spend enough time in the reserves to qualify for retirement pay, you reenlist, or you are recalled to active duty and qualify for retirement pay, you may choose to retire. You will still receive VSI payments annually in addition to your monthly retired pay, unless you choose to stop all future VSI payments. However, you will be required to repay the full gross amount of VSI you have received. Repayment will be via a recoupment from your monthly retired pay check. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) does not recoup VSI, although if a veteran is awarded VA compensation, it will be deducted from the VSI payments.

The 15 year retirement is at 10 USC 12731b. The title of the statute is misleading as the law applies to both LOD and non-LOD cases.If a member is being separated for a medical reason - and that would mean via MRR or DES, LOD or non-LOD - and they have 15 good years - then the 20year requirement for regular reserve retirement is dropped to 15. In all other respects it is the same retirement as for a member with 20 good years(wait to age 60-ish for pay, buy reserve retired Tricare, IDs, etc). The only exception is they are disqualified from getting Combat Related SpecialCompensation. (a rare scenario for these members). At age 60-ish, they are entitled to Concurrent Receipt if otherwise qualified (50% VA).This frequently comes up in the scenario where a member with 13+ years is put in MRR and non-drill. It is imperative that the member continue makinggood years as the 15 year retirement may be the only thing that keeps them from losing their investment in the Reserves.The option to request 15 year retirement should be on the election of options form presented the member when they are found NPQ NRR by Pers 95.It is highly recommend that members entering MRR, or at the least those receiving NPQ NRR, consult DES counsel for individual advise on their propercourse of action.

CONCURRENT RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY PAY - CRDP is a restoration of retired pay for retirees with service-connected disabilities that was lost due to the VA compensation offset. CRDP is taxed in the same manner as your retired pay, and it is normally considered taxable income. No application is required. Eligible retirees receive CRDP automatically. Qualified military retirees may receive both full military retirement pay and full VA disability compensation. Retirees with 20 or more years of service and a 50 percent to 90 percent VA-rated nonservice-connected disability no longer will have their military retirement pay reduced by the amount of their VA disability compensation. Eligible individuals will have their retirement pay increased by approximately 10 percent each year until the phase-in is completed in 2014. For those rated 100 percent disabled, the offset has been eliminated, with no phase-in period. Those eligible include National Guard and reserve members with 20 or more years of service, including medical retirees. CRDP is taxable. COMBAT-RELATED SPECIAL COMPENSATION - CRSC is a special compensation for combat-related disabilities. It is non-taxable, and retirees must apply to their Branch of Service to receive it. Qualified military retirees with any VA-rated disabilities of 10 percent or higher that are the result of combat or combat-like training are eligible for this monthly payment, which replaces their retirement pay offset and, in effect, gives them concurrent receipt of their full retirement and disability payments. Unlike Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (see previous section), CRSC is open to all Chapter 61 retirees, even those medically retired by the military with fewer than 20 years of service. Those retirees still must meet the other qualifying criteria.

Here are some of the benefit eligibility differences between Retired Awaiting Pay (Gray Area) and Retired With Pay, aside from receiving pay. Biggest difference, and one over which you have little control: TRICARE. The second biggest difference – and you’ll have some decisions to make among the available choices – is your Survivor Benefits. We’ll give you a preview of the TRICARE differences, but defer to a TRICARE rep to answer your specific questions and concerns. During this briefing, we’ll cover your available choices for the Survivor Benefit Plan. As a drilling reservist, you may have been eligible for and opted to purchase coverage under TRICARE Reserve Select. For health care benefits / TRICARE, the bottom line is that Benefits for retired Reserve members are different depending on the sponsor's age. [TRR = TRICARE Retired Reserves] If under age 60, when you retire AWAITING PAY, you may qualify to purchase TRICARE Retired Reserve. Retired With Pay - Remember, TRICARE coverage begins at age 60, regardless of NDAA age-reductions for receiving retired pay. At age 60, you and your family are eligible for the same benefits as all other retired service members (https://www.tricare.mil/Plans/Eligibility/RSMandFamilies) - TRICARE Health Care. [Dual Military: TRICARE seems to recommend that you enroll the older member aka first to age 60, OR the retiree from ACTIVE DUTY.] Finally, at age 65 all military retirees, whether from the Active Duty, Guard or Reserve, are eligible to use Medicare as their primary healthcare and TRICARE for Life (TFL) as their secondary. You may be eligible for dental coverage through the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP).

So, What must YOU do to ensure your retirement pay begins on time? We’ve built what we think is a pretty comprehensive checklist that you can use. Here’s the short version: Submit a complete, error free application about 1 year prior to your Retired Pay Eligibility Date (think age 59 for 60th birthday) Respond promptly to any PERS-912 inquiries for additional information Maintain contact information up to date: DEERS and NPC especially PERS-912 Name, address, phone number Email address Dependent information Provide to PERS-912 any missing documentation Points documentation to add to the point record Endorsed orders DD-214s Activate your Account with DFAS. While not an “official” checklist, it’s the closest to it. There’ve been many efforts toward a checklist, often thought of as gouge files. Ours was built in direct support of PERS-91, who processes your retirement requests including sending applications for retired pay to DFAS, with input and validation from that team. We hope you find it useful. You can find it in the Files > Handouts of this Team, or in your email inbox, attached to our final coordinating instructions email for this event, if you registered directly. Human Considerations “Now I just have to get used to not having the Navy as part of my routine!  After so many years, it might take a while!  I'll certainly miss it!!” https://worditout.com/word-cloud/create

This is where it all comes together, helping you successfully receive your Retirement Pay. The first step for PERS-912 in processing your Application for Retired Pay is to close out the point record. This is a critical point to understand for those of you thinking you will retire directly from participation to Retired With Pay. The most common question here is when should you stop drilling. The answer mainly depends on how soon you expect to receive your first Retired Pay. If you keep drilling right up to your effective date of retirement, you will not receive your retirement orders on time, and your Retired Pay from DFAS will be delayed. You’ll recoup that pay as back pay (up to 6 years, per the Barring Act). But, this could be different than you might expect. You’ll want to ensure you have a sizeable fund available for 6-9 months of living expenses during that delay. This is because it typically takes PERS 6 months to process a Retirement With Pay, starting with closing out the point record. Then, DFAS must set up your pay account. The current average duration for this account setup and activation with DFAS is 27 days (as of August 2020.) Remember, you cannot RETIRE from the RC if you are not a member of the RC! If you plan to be serving on that one last set of orders, like a Sunset Tour, and retiring directly from that to Retired With Pay, then you’ll need to add some buffer time to your financial expectations. You’ll need enough time to complete your orders, including leave days, and be re-gained as a member to the Reserve Component, and those final points to post to your point record. Current DSC: 200 = Reserve Component

We’d like to share with you some of the bigger picture efforts happening, besides our RTO efforts to improve the means and extent of Retirement Counseling across the force. DFAS Gray Area retiree “Basic Account” project, to improve communications with members: 1-Process for adding members already in the gray area but not in current population 2-Process for Gray Area Retiree name changes 3-Messaging to Gray Area Retirees nearing 60 about starting the Retired Pay application process 4-Process for Gray Area Retiree life change notices/paperwork DD 214-1: DODI 1336.01 CERTIFICATE OF UNIFORMED SERVICE (DD FORM 214/5 SERIES) Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness February 17, 2022. 3 year Service implementation timeline. (ASD Manpower and Reserve Affairs (MNRA) CATMS Task (UPR006865-19)  SBP and DIC: FY23 Legislative Proposal VA deduct SBP premiums from VA Disability Compensation when retired pay and/or CRSC are not sufficient to cover the cost of the premiums.  VA would then transfer these premiums back to DoD for deposit in the Military Retirement Fund. https://www.va.gov/records/get-veteran-id-cards/vic/ A Veteran ID Card (VIC) is a form of photo ID you can use to get discounts offered to Veterans at many restaurants, hotels, stores, and other businesses. Find out if you’re eligible for a Veteran ID Card—and how to apply. Try signing in with your DS Logon, My HealtheVet, or ID.me account. If you don’t have any of those accounts, you can create one. Both of these must be true. You: Served on active duty, in the Reserves, or in the National Guard (including the Coast Guard), and Received an honorable or general discharge (under honorable conditions)

Laws, directives, processes, and guidance, and even systems and forms CAN and DO change over time! Read the fine print and do your own due diligence on the laws and instructions, especially as you approach your own time milestones! Remember, it’s YOUR retirement! 10 U.S.C. Chapter 1223 - RETIRED PAY FOR NON-REGULAR SERVICE Cornell Law School – https://www.law.cornell.edu/ -Legal Information Institute (LII): SECNAVINST 5420 BUPERSINST 1001.39F MILPERSMAN RESPERSMAN https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Career-Management/Reserve-Personnel-Mgmt/Reserve-Retirements/ U.S. Navy Retired Activities Branch (under OPNAV 170C) The mission of Retired Activities Branch under OPNAV N170C is to ensure the retired community is kept apprised of their benefits, entitlements, rights, privileges, changes in retirement law, and provide customer services to our retirees, families, annuitants and survivors.  https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Support-Services/21st-Century-Sailor/Retired-Activities/ NP2 (navy.mil) https://nsipsprod-sdni.nmci.navy.mil/nsipsclo/jsp/index.jsp https://www.esd.whs.mil/ DD Form 2656 (Family of Forms) DD Form 108 DD Form 2 – Retired ID Card DD Form 363N – CERTIFICATE OF RETIREMENT

You should now be empowered with information to help you successfully receive your retired pay and benefits on time. 1. What are the 2 forms that must be submitted to apply for your retired pay? 2. What Reserve Retirement Benefits may a member be eligible to receive? 3. What actions are members responsible for concerning their retirement preparation? 4. Who needs to submit a letter request to retire? 5. Why do we want you to mail an application for retired pay if I am still actively serving, still have a CAC, and can access NSIPS? Plan ahead financially for any potential time gaps and personal budgetary needs. It has not been uncommon for Reservists retiring “Direct to Pay” to need ~6 month expenses in savings.

Use the active duty pay chart starting from the year in which you become eligible for retired pay. This is the 2022 pay chart for O7-O10, with at least 20 years of service.

BACKUP SLIDE Service members apply for retired pay using 2 forms: DD 108 and DD 2656. NOTE: DD Form 2656 (OCT 2018) was just replaced due to law changes – released 17 March 2022 – previous editions obsolete We’ll have a robust section on Survivor Benefits, Sometimes, our attendees ask about how Academy time counts toward retirement. Short answer: no points, no qualifying years. But your I-Day sets your DIEMS date – that’s your Date of Initial Entry to Military Service. This determines your Retirement Pay Plan. For example, my I-Day was July 1, 1993, with the great class of Navy ‘97. Like you, my DIEMS date was after September 7, 1980; so, we are on the High-36 pay plan. Here’s what our attendees have told us they most want to take away based on Pre-Event Surveys: - General overview, RC-SBP, ethics, protocol - Proper and correct calculations of how much retirement pay will be (e.g. points, amount, and when it starts). - Most effective time for retirement pay and benefits. We’ll spend less time on the areas you indicated attendees could generally define (4.0/5 point scale) And more time on the areas scored scored as lowest collective knowledge: Navy Reserve retirement process, including applying for Pay and enrolling in TRICARE (2.67/5) DD Forms 2656 and 108 (1.67/5)