Military Retirement — Special Six-Part Series — Part 5 — Spouse Benefits

Posted by RP
August 8, 2006

Previous articles are here:

Introduction

In return for years of service, the military offers an array of benefits for retirees, including a pension adjusted every year for inflation, money for college, health-care coverage and more. These days the options for military retirement are even more complex than most any civilian plan. While some benefits are tiny, others are huge, and not everything happens automatically. If you’re retired, retiring or you have a client affected by these issues; RetirdPay.com will be running a special six part series this week. Tune in often.

20-year retirement

Eligibility: Twenty years on active duty — or equivalent time spent in what is known as “qualifying service” as a reservist — is the basic eligibility requirement for military retirement. Every service member who reaches the requirement can receive retired pay that increases each year through a cost-of-living adjustment. Runs on Tuesday, 1 August:

Death benefits

Many benefits are provided for a retiring veteran, retired or not retired. All veterans and their families should know about them, and attorneys may need to know when it involves a client. Many divorce disagreements revolves around the smallest of issues. Scheduled to run 2 August

Disability benefits

An individual does not have to be retired from the military to receive disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Scheduled to run 3 August

Combat related special compensation

The 2003 National Defense Authorization Act authorized the Combat Related Special Compensation payments (CRSC Program). This is brand new to many of us older “retreads, but very important.

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Spouse benefits

Military spouses are eligible for, and encouraged to take advantage of, many transition services available to their active-duty military partners. This is of especial importance to couples who may be divorcing where one or both partners are military members. In general, both military members and their spouses are entitled to:

A few of the many services available to retirees. Here’s a representative sampling of some of these services for the Military branches: A few highlights are here but you really need to view the comprehensive site and see the details for various programs.

Retired Pay and Health Benefits

Additionally, some former military spouses are entitled to portions of retirement pay and health benefits. I could write many posts on this subject and still not cover all the ground that a true expert does, concisely, here:

Disclaimer

As always remember that this site, although written by a retiree with substantial experience in the school of hard knocks, it is for personal, lay opinions and informational purposes only. If you have a legal question you should seek help from a legal professional. If you have questions involving current or future values of pensions you need an actuary or competent pension valuation expert. If your questions are tax-related, seek a competent tax advisor. In other cases, I recommend the base chaplain.

Related posts:

  1. Military Retirement — Special Six-Part Series
  2. Military Retirement — Special Six-Part Series
  3. Military Retirement — Special Six-Part Series — Part 4 — Combat related Special Compensation
  4. Military Retirement — Special Six-Part Series — Part 2 — Death Benefits
  5. Military Retirement — Special Six-Part Series — Part 2 — Death Benefits

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Divorce, Retirement Planning

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