The Federal Thrift Retirement Investment Board conducted a cost analysis and concluded that extending TSP participation to members of the part-time Ready Reserve would be wasteful and a bad idea because the cost of administering a large number of small accounts would be extraordinarily high. The Board recommended that part-time reservists be excluded from participation. The Office of the Secretary of Defense (Reserve Affairs and Compensation, jointly) requested that the analysts working as part of the 9th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation (QRMC) study this issue. This briefing summarizes our analysis in response to that request. The analysis was conducted within a short time-frame and uses available data sources to estimate the number of part-time reserve participants and their annual expected account contribution. The briefing concludes by offering several policy options.

"Prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense."

An introduction to the DoD's new BRS, with helpful information for servicemembers about whether to opt-in.

As the burden of defense borne by reserve forces has increased, more attention has been paid to differences between the compensation systems for the reserve and active components. One particular emphasis is on the retirement systems, a key difference being that reserve members who complete 20 years must wait until age 60 to draw benefits whereas active members can draw benefits immediately upon discharge. This monograph compares the reserve and active retirement systems, discusses the importance of structuring compensation to enable flexibility in managing active and reserve manpower, describes how the debate over reserve retirement reform has differed from active component retirement reform debate, and considers obstacles to reform and how they might be overcome. It also provides a quantitative assessment of several past congressional proposals to change the reserve retirement system in terms of their effects on reserve participation and personnel costs, concluding that proposals to reduce the age at which eligible members may begin receiving retirement benefits are not cost-effective means of sustaining or increasing reserve component retention. It also concludes that a menu of member options can be a powerful tool to maintain morale and overcome obstacles to reform. Current members could be given the choice of staying in the current retirement system or joining the new one, and the choice might be offered over a period of time, say five years. New entrants and reentrants with few years of service might be placed under the new system.

You don't have to pursue another career in government or the corporate world once you leave the military. Indeed, if you understand your key military benefits as well as fine-tune your finances, you should be able to chart a new arid exciting post-military life! That's the central message running throughout this revealing book for servicemembers, veterans, and their families who want to become financially independent prior to committing themselves to full-time retirement and plan accordingly. Semi-retired at age 41 and enjoying life with his family on the beaches of Hawaii, the author outlines how military personnel can become happily semi-retired regardless of their age. Emphasizing the importance of family, lifestyle, and bridge careers, Doug Nordman goes a long Way in providing answers to one of today's most important questions for transitioning military - ôWhat do you want to do with the rest of your life?ö Dispelling numerous myths about military transition, finances, and retirement. He focuses on the two most important inflation-protected benefits military retirees and their families receive and can build upon for creating a financially independent and semi-retired lifestyle: military pension TRICARE health system He shows how to build a sound financial house based upon: military benefits investment portfolios part-time work savings bridge careers frugal living Filled with examples checklists, recommended websites, and a rich collection of appendices that deal with inflation, multiple income streams, and the value of a military, pension, this ground-breaking book is essential reading for anyone contemplating retiring from the military or jump-starting their post-military career in the direction of semi-retirement and/or full-time retirement Book jacket.