U.S. Military (Ret.): Know your RAS: Statement can answer questions - Military Retirement - Navy Times

U.S. Military (Ret.): Know your RAS: Statement can answer questions

As we close out the year, retirees should be receiving their annual tax statements from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service — the 1099-R that reflects any taxable military retired pay earned during 2010.

If you’re not familiar with the Retiree Account Statement, or RAS, it’s a two-page document issued by DFAS to retirees that summarizes your pay, benefits and deductions each month.

I receive inquiries from readers who are unsure how their retired pay is calculated and how to make changes to their retired pay, especially payments that involve supplemental health care plans and survivor benefit contributions. The RAS will help you track and update those kinds of issues.

For a financial document, the RAS is comparatively simple. It shows gross pay — the total amount of retired pay you have earned — plus miscellaneous credits such as refunds or underpayments and any disability compensation waivers.

If you’re in the Survivor Benefit Plan, your RAS will show what you are paying and the annuity amount your beneficiary would receive upon your death.

Also on the form is your total taxable income and number of allowances you have claimed, state and federal tax paid or exemptions, allotments and court-ordered payments.

Lastly, it has a message section that may contain specific information or action items. For example, the December RAS will notify all retirees that they will not receive a cost-of-living adjustment in 2011.

If you have a myPay electronic account through DFAS, you can access your RAS online.

MyPay accounts give you a lot of flexibility in managing your retirement pay, deductions and allotments, but if for some reason you don’t want a myPay account or want to opt out of one, you can request to receive a hard copy of your RAS each year.

Information on how to do that and more details on the RAS can be found on the DFAS website. Click “Retired Pay” on the bar near the top of the page, then click “Tax and 1099 Information.”

You can also call the Retired and Annuitant Pay Contact Center at 800-321-1080 to request a copy of your most recent RAS.

Here’s a quick question that a reader recently sent me …

Q. Can honorably discharged veterans be buried in their military uniforms?

Absolutely. Moreover, veterans are eligible for a variety of death benefits through the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments. Go online and scroll down to “Other benefits: Death benefits” for details.

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Retired Command Master Chief Alex Keenan served 28 years in the Coast Guard. E-mail him.