U.S. Military (Ret.): Now’s the time for retirees to make benefits changes - Military Retirement - Navy Times

U.S. Military (Ret.): Now’s the time for retirees to make benefits changes

The start of a new year is a good time for military retirees to review their pay and benefit entitlements and get up to speed on major initiatives in the works that may have an impact on their benefits in the near future.

Call it an annual “military benefits checkup.”

Based on my e-mail traffic, a lot of retirees find it difficult to understand what changes to our military retirement system are planned or underway, and how they might affect us.

The issues in play can range from the broad to the narrow. For example, at the narrower end is the effort to provide concurrent receipt of full military retirement pay and disability compensation for Chapter 61 retirees, those medically retired with less than 20 years of service.

President Obama has tried twice to get that initiative through Congress, but this past year it stalled under strict House rules that require new spending to be balanced by cuts in other programs.

A much broader area for retirees to keep an eye on is the inflation rate that forms the basis of annual cost-of-living allowances. This will be the second consecutive year without a COLA increase, the first time that has happened.

The issues we should all keep track of don’t necessarily involve major legislation, either.

Studies show most Americans aren’t planning and saving enough for retirement. When was the last time you reviewed your life insurance policy to see whether your coverage and premiums are still a good fit for your life situation? Have you reviewed your will or your medical power of attorney lately?

Have you taken the simple step of reviewing your annual retired account statement?

Doing a quick check of your Survivor Benefit Plan costs, Tricare, life insurance payments and other related issues ensures control over where your money is going.

I regularly browse the Defense Finance and Accounting Service website for updates on program and policy changes. Spending 10 or 15 minutes on the site every few weeks is worth it.

The main page is www.dfas.mil. You can get to the retiree page by going to www.dfas.mil/rapay/planretirement/ras.html.

Two other sources of solid information are the Military Officers Association of America and The Retired Enlisted Association. Their websites are packed with news of interest to retirees, including updates on what’s happening in Congress.

Visit their sites at www.moaa.org and www.trea.org.

Knowledge is power. Make staying informed one of your resolutions for the new year.

Retired Command Master Chief Alex Keenan served 28 years in the Coast Guard. E-mail him at retired@militarytimes.com.