TECHNICIAN RETIREMENT AND THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL SECURITY, THE THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN, & MILITARY RETIREMENT, Have you ever bought a house or a car based solely on one aspect such as the what the outside looks like? Probably not. Just as you need more information before buying a house or a car, which will impact your finances for many years, you need more information that just FERS or CSRS. The previous retirement briefing focused primarily on the FERS or CSRS retirement. Now we will briefly cover Social Security, the Thrift Savings Plan, and the military retirement. Lastly, we will tie all four aspects together so that you have a more accurate financial picture for retirement.

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT OVERVIEW Components CSRS or FERS Retirement Social Security Thrift Savings Plan Military Retirement The four components for National Guard dual-status, Technician retirement are shown here. We have already discussed the CSRS and FERS retirement. The Social Security Administration provides an estimate of Social Security benefits, which take into account your yearly earnings, how long you work, and when you elect to receive Social Security benefits. The Thrift Savings Plan, or TSP, will add to your retirement income and is based on: Your salary how much you contribute each year How much the Agency Automatic Contributions and Agency Matching Contributions are how long your contributions are left in the TSP what the earnings are each year, and when you elect to start withdrawing money. The reserve retirement is sometimes called non-regular military retirement. For more information, please visit the US Air Force’s MyPers website or the US Army’s Human Resource Command’s website.

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT CSRS/FERS RETIREMENT ESTIMATE This is the top of the first page of a retirement estimate prepared by either HRO or ABC

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT CSRS/FERS RETIREMENT ESTIMATE Here is the Unreduced Monthly Annuity and the appropriate REDUCTIONS and the new gross monthly annuity.

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT CSRS/FERS RETIREMENT ESTIMATE From the Gross Monthly Annuity all of the deductions are taken out resulting in a net monthly annuity. This individual did not qualify for the FERS annuity supplement. A Monthly survivor annuity was elected and is shown here.

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT CSRS/FERS RETIREMENT ESTIMATE 01/01/1960 The bottom of the first page looks like this and is broken out into three primary sections: Service Credits Service included Estimate Basis

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT CSRS/FERS RETIREMENT ESTIMATE Total service shown includes 34 years, 11 months, 8 days under FERS and 1 year, 1 month, and 4 days of sick leave credit. The new total is 36 years, 00 months, 12 days. The 12 days will not be used in the computation of the retirement – only years and months.

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT CSRS/FERS RETIREMENT ESTIMATE Total military service is 8 years, 3 months, 29 days and since the deposit was paid, is already included in the FERS service on the earlier slide

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT CSRS/FERS RETIREMENT ESTIMATE 01/01/1960 Note the age at retirement. For those personnel with a military deposit, the added military time will either lower the age at retirement, and/or increase the years of service used in the computation of the annuity. Life insurance and health insurance codes are shown.

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT CSRS/FERS RETIREMENT ESTIMATE Also included in the estimate basis is the high-3 average salary and sick leave hours. The survivor annuity benefit % is shown here.

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT CSRS/FERS RETIREMENT ESTIMATE At the top of page two are the notes. The highlighted item indicates what the annual leave lump sum payment would be. If entitled to a FERS annuity supplement now or in the future, a note would indicate when it would be first received.

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT CSRS/FERS RETIREMENT ESTIMATE The estimate also provides information not only on the survivor annuity elected, but also on the partial survivor annuity.

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT CSRS/FERS RETIREMENT ESTIMATE Here the health plan premium is indicated. Remember that the annual premium for employees and retirees is the same. However, employees pay the annual premium over 26 payments where as retirees pay the annual premium over 12 payments.

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT CSRS/FERS RETIREMENT ESTIMATE The life insurance coverage taken into retirement is shown here.

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT CSRS/FERS RETIREMENT ESTIMATE This page shows the cost of taking the life insurance into retirement.

ESTIMATE REPORT For those that obtained their retirement estimate through EBIS it will look like this. Note: the system used to provide the estimate uses the leave SCD for its calculations. However, some service that is creditable for leave is not creditable for retirement. I.e. temporary time after 1/1/1989 as well as military service when no deposit has been paid. If you fall under either one and/or the other, remember to reduce the amount of the estimate. Shown here are the unreduced monthly annuity, reductions, and deductions, resulting in the net monthly annuity.

Creditable service and total service are similar to what was shown on the HRO/ABC estimate earlier.

The estimate basis is also similar to the HRO/ABC estimate.

The estimate basis is also similar to the HRO/ABC estimate.

FERS Annuity Supplement Annual leave Assumptions: No Part Time Service All deposits are paid The notes page will not include statements regarding the FERS annuity supplement or annual leave lump sum payment. The annual leave lump sum payment information is available in EBIS under My Benefits and selecting the “Others” tab. Note: the system used to provide the estimate uses the leave SCD for its calculations. However, some service that is creditable for leave is not creditable for retirement. I.e. temporary time after 1/1/1989 as well as military service when no deposit has been paid. If you fall under either one and/or the other, remember to reduce the amount of the estimate.

DEFINITIONS Here are the explanations for the terms used in the estimate.

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT IMPACT OF MRA +10 RETIREMENT Optional Retirement Here is an example of an optional retirement. Not the net monthly annuity of just under $600.

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT IMPACT OF MRA +10 RETIREMENT Both the Gross Annuity and Net Annuity are impacted Here’s the same person but this time the member had to retire on an MRA+10 retirement. Note the early retirement age reduction. The net monthly annuity dropped from just under $600 to $155 – a net loss of $445 per month – permanently. Net is $445 less than the optional retirement

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT IMPACT OF PAYING MILITARY DEPOSITS Military Deposit NOT Paid In this example, the military deposit was not paid resulting in a net monthly annuity of $2,472.

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT IMPACT OF PAYING MILITARY DEPOSITS Military Deposit PAID Net is $379 MORE per MONTH PERMANENTLY than without the military deposit ($45,480 over 10 years The Gross & Net Annuity and date of retirement are impacted 379*12=4548*10=45480 This is the same person with the military deposit paid. The net difference is $379 more per month permanently, or over $45,000 in 10 years.

NATIONAL GUARD RETIREMENT IMPACT OF PAY CHANGES What will impact the estimate: Type & date of retirement Years of service Future promotions Step increases General adjustments Length of service Military deposits (paid vs. unpaid) Change of duty location (i.e. San Francisco vs. Fresno) Reductions Deductions All of the items shown impact your retirement as they directly effect either your average high-3 salary or length of service.

SOCIAL SECURITY Based on years paid into Social Security Benefits impacted by age at time of application Contact Social Security Administration: www.socialsecurity.gov 1-800-772-1213 The longer you work and pay into Social Security and the higher your salary each year, the higher your benefit may become. The closer you are to retirement, the better the Social Security estimate will be. You can elect to receive normal (non-disability) Social Security benefits as early as age 62, but your benefits will be reduced compared to if you wait to receive Social Security benefits until either your full retirement age (65-67 – depending on when you were born) or age 70. Your Social Security Statement will show you what the specific amounts are for your particular situation. Everything we have discussed regarding Social Security benefits comes directly from the Social Security Statement. For more specific information on Social Security benefits and/or information regarding your particular situation, or to receive Social Security Statement, please contact the Social Security Administration.

THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN Options at retirement Calculators Partial Withdrawal Full Withdrawal Calculators When planning out how much to withdraw from the TSP, there are two basic options – A partial withdrawal or a full withdrawal. Both options were discussed in detail in the retirement briefing and your choice will impact how much you receive monthly in retirement. To assist you in deciding how much to contribute to TSP, the TSP website has a number of calculators to help you.

THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN Contact TSP: www.tsp.gov 1-TSP-YOU-FRST (1-877-968-3778) Available Monday-Friday 0700 – 2100 Eastern time For more information on the TSP and your options going into retirement, please go to the TSP website or call the TSP at the number shown.

MILITARY RETIREMENT To obtain a personal military retirement calculation, go to: Air Force: Air Force Portal/VPC-GR/Guard Retired Pay Calculator https://gum-crm.csd.disa.mil/app/processes/form/fn/rpc Army: https://www.hrc.army.mil/Calculators/RetirementCalc.aspx If you haven’t already done so, please go to the appropriate webpage to have your branch of service provide you with a military retirement estimate.

MILITARY RETIREMENT – AIR FORCE For the Air National Guard, this is what the Air Force’s Reserve Retired Pay Calculator looks like and pulls information directly from your record in VPC-GR. You can change the grade, number of points, years served, or base it on a future point value – all of which will impact your military retirement estimate. Base Retired Pay: (Estimated) $3024.46

MILITARY RETIREMENT – ARMY For the Army National Guard, this is what the Army’s Retired Pay Calculator looks like. In order for the calculator to work, you will need to know what your total points are, as this tool doesn’t automatically pull it from your electronic record. Enter the year you were born, your rank at retirement, total years of service, and lastly, your total retirement points. The calculator displays how much your monthly pay would be in today’s dollars and what the estimated pay will be at age 60.

BIG PICTURE Now we will be tying all four components together to show how much your total estimate could look like.

at Earlier Retirement: Age at Retirement at Earlier Retirement:   Full Retirement Age  50/55-57 60 62 65-67 70 FERS/CSRS (from ABC) FERS Annuity Supplement (from ABC) Social Security (From Social Security Statement) Thrift Savings Plan (From Thrift Savings Plan Statement & Calculator) Military Retirement (from military branch) Total Income $ On the spreadsheet, enter the amount from the FERS/CSRS estimate into the boxes at the top line. If you are entitled to a FERS Annuity Supplement, enter that on the second line. Note that the supplement stops automatically at age 62. Enter the amount from the Social Security Statement for each of the ages as shown on the statement. Bear in mind that if you elect benefits at 62, the other two amounts from your Social Security statement will not be used. I.e. your benefit won’t increase at your full retirement age or at age 70. Enter the amount from your TSP calculator to see what you monthly income could be. Lastly, enter the amount of your military retirement. Now total the different columns. If you retire as a Technician prior to age 60, your retirement will consist of no more than the CSRS or FERS retirement, and the FERS annuity supplement, if you are eligible. Beginning at age 60 and thereafter, calculate what percentage each of the estimated amounts will be of the total. The more you put into TSP, the smaller the percentage that the FERS annuity will be.