JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
The Blended Retirement System, the new uniformed services’ military retirement plan now in its second year, will be the focus of a class at 1:30 p.m. March 8 at the Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Military & Family Readiness Center.
The class – titled “Blended Retirement System: Now What?” – will allow service members who attend the session to learn more about what the system means for their financial future.
“It all comes down to retirement planning that starts during military service,” said Don Lenmark, JBSA-Randolph M&FRC personal financial counselor. “The earlier you start, the more money you’ll have set aside when the time comes to retire.”
The BRS is a retirement plan available to service members who entered the military Jan. 1, 2018, or later. It was also available to eligible service members who entered the military prior to that date, but that opt-in period ended Dec. 31, 2018.
Features of the plan include a defined benefit – monthly retired pay for life – after a minimum of at least 20 years of service, a defined benefit consisting of government automatic and matching contributions to a member’s Thrift Savings Plan account, a bonus called continuation pay and a new lump sum option at retirement.
Lenmark said he will concentrate on the basics of the BRS, including an overview of the TSP, which is a cornerstone of the system, and its five fund options; the government match; and the maximum contribution amount per year.
“With the BRS, there’s a matching component based on the service member’s contribution amount,” he said.
The government will match service members’ contributions to the TSP up to 5 percent of their base pay, but members may also contribute up to $19,000 per year if they’re under the age of 50 and up to $25,000 if they are 50 and older. The government will also match amounts under 5 percent, starting with 1 percent even if a member does not make a contribution.
Lenmark, who called the TSP “an integral part of the BRS, said he will talk about all the funds in the TSP.
TSP investors can choose from five basic funds, ranging from the very low-risk G Fund, or government securities fund, to the moderate- to high-risk I Fund, international stocks of developed countries.
“Investors can choose any one fund or any combination of the funds,” Lenmark said. “But I won’t make any specific recommendations; I will teach the details of each fund so service members can be empowered to make their own choices.”
Lenmark will also teach attendees at the class how to access information and videos about the BRS, and will offer them one-on-one no-cost consultations at his office located in the M&FRC.
The BRS offers service members another big advantage: A majority of them will leave the military with a retirement nest egg even if they do not stay in the service for 20 years. That was not the case in the past.
“Only 19 percent of all service members actually served 20 years to qualify for the previous military pension, so it was all or nothing,” Lenmark said. “Now 85 percent will get retirement benefits with BRS.”
To register for the class, call 210-652-5321.