Gunny Jordan,
I went through and did the math on this myself, looking into what it would cost and what the benefit would be.
I retired as an E-7 with 25 years of service. In order for a civil service retirement to provide me the same gross cash for the same period of time, I would need to be a GS 14 Step 8 or a GS 15 Step 3 for the entire high-3 calculation (and that assumes the 1.1% per year of service, not the flat 1%). NOT LIKELY. Well, not without going to DC . . ..
Now, those last 5 years saw a significant increase in my cash compensation, so the closer you were to 20 when you retired, the lower the civilian paygrade you would need to reach in order to match the actual income. ((calculated base retirement pay*12)/(years of service/100))=base civilian salary needed for the saem retriement cash benefit (at the flat 1% - add 10% of your years of service to get the vlaue at 1.1%). That military check is a better value than you might think it is.
The way it was explained to me, if I bought my active duty time as civil service time, I would continue receiving my military retirement check (and VA disability check) UNTIL I retired from the civil service, and then the military check would stop. Cold. The VA check should continue, however.
Choosing NOT to buy my active duty time as civil service time, when I retire from the civil service I will continue to receive my full military retirement(, VA disability check, ) and add my civil service retirement check, my social security check, and my TSP pay-outs/purchased annuity checks.
The active service buy-in works well for those who left uniform without retiring. I haven't met a retiree yet who thought it was a good idea . . .. I guess somebody medically retired early on might, though. I'm not gonna play with that math.
hustonj2011-10-14 13:48:30