Another BRS Question

[LurkingQuietly]

It is really slow on this forum, so I'm going to ask a question there's probably been a lot of chatter about, but there is still confusion for me. My DS is a first class, and I told him to commission under the legacy retirement plan. He said that Command notified the class (2019) that everyone would be in the new BRS with no option to be on the legacy. I showed him the BRS FAQ's page, which states
Cadets and midshipmen attending a service academy as of December 31, 2017, will be grandfathered under the legacy retirement system and will have the option to opt into BRS upon commissioning. (Link to the BRS below.) He really had no comment. Anyhow.....what is happening with cadets?

https://militarypay.defense.gov/Por...tions 6.12.2017.pdf?ver=2017-06-13-121623-383

 

[Alaskan]

It is really slow on this forum, so I'm going to ask a question there's probably been a lot of chatter about, but there is still confusion for me. My DS is a first class, and I told him to commission under the legacy retirement plan. He said that Command notified the class (2019) that everyone would be in the new BRS with no option to be on the legacy. I showed him the BRS FAQ's page, which states
Cadets and midshipmen attending a service academy as of December 31, 2017, will be grandfathered under the legacy retirement system and will have the option to opt into BRS upon commissioning. (Link to the BRS below.) He really had no comment. Anyhow.....what is happening with cadets?

https://militarypay.defense.gov/Portals/3/Documents/BlendedRetirementDocuments/BRS Frequently Asked Questions 6.12.2017.pdf?ver=2017-06-13-121623-383

My DS was attending a prep school last year with CGAS and I was of the understanding that he qualified to have the choice of retirement plans as it actually counted as a year towards retirement. Semper Gumby.

 

[Capt MJ]

It is really slow on this forum, so I'm going to ask a question there's probably been a lot of chatter about, but there is still confusion for me. My DS is a first class, and I told him to commission under the legacy retirement plan. He said that Command notified the class (2019) that everyone would be in the new BRS with no option to be on the legacy. I showed him the BRS FAQ's page, which states
Cadets and midshipmen attending a service academy as of December 31, 2017, will be grandfathered under the legacy retirement system and will have the option to opt into BRS upon commissioning. (Link to the BRS below.) He really had no comment. Anyhow.....what is happening with cadets?

https://militarypay.defense.gov/Por...tions 6.12.2017.pdf?ver=2017-06-13-121623-383

https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Portals/10/CG-1/cg111/docs/BRS-Fact-Sheet.docx?ver=2017-05-24-154100-39

Here’s a USCG fact sheet. If your DS is USCGA ‘19, his DIEMs is summer 2015. I assume he would have signed his service obligation papers at the start of his 2/c year, in fall 2017.

I think a message was garbled in either transmission or receipt. He can likely confirm it at the cadet pay office. SA cadets and mids are in a special category. It’s an important decision to make at this stage of life. There are lots of analyses out there from reputable financial firms and associations who serve the military.

One of the more thoughtful articles is this one from MOAA, a non-profit professional association, the Military Officers of America.
http://www.moaa.org/Content/Publica...Decision-Should-Consider-the-Whole-Story.aspx

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for everyone. Much depends on the individual’s personal financial behavior. If a cadet or mid is already disciplined, spends less than they make, has a budget of some kind, watches their credit card usage and debt, has started long-term investing in IRAs and other instruments, plans to do TSP upon graduation, has an emergency fund started - these young adults will likely be fine no matter their choice because they’ve laid down a solid foundation early. With the power of compounding, that head start will make a massive difference 20, 40 and 60 years down the road. Not many at that age get that they will have about 40 years in the workforce to not only pay current expenses but finance up to 40 years of not being in the workplace.

Q1.5 provides details on option election deadlines for cadets and mids.
https://militarypay.defense.gov/Por...tions 5.01.2017.pdf?ver=2017-05-02-095830-163