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    Is it worth it to retire from the guard

    I have 10 years of service in the National Guard and have 500 days of Active Duty duty time. My current retirement points are 1064. I also receive 30% disability and expect to do the minimum amount of time til retirement at 20 years. I calculate a retirement pay at inder $500 and my disability is only $586. I don't believe I can receive both my pension VA disability pay which makes mr wonder of it is even worth it to stay in another 10 years. I would be 58 at retirement and unable to collect benefits til 60. What are your thoughts?

    Is it worth it to retire from the guard
    byu/Best_Foundation_7420 inMilitaryFinance



    Posted by Best_Foundation_7420

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    4 Comments

    1. NeedHelpRunning on

      Theres a couple factors that go into this. I’m not sure whether or not you can collect disability AND a pension. Admittedly neither of those factors apply to me atm.

      O vs E? What rank are you? High 3 or BRS?

      Do you expect your rating to increase? Do you expect to partake in additional active duty time? If your 500 days of active duty time were on deployment, each year you’re overseas allows you to draw your benefits a year early. (so 59 in your case?).

    2. Ok-Republic-8098 on

      It’s pretty personal and depends on a ton of factors. You can receive retirement pay and disability at the same time, just not active/drill pay with disability

      I’m at 10 years as well and planning on staying in the guard until 20. The pay is nice, but the biggest benefit to me is the health insurance. As long as I have the health insurance, I can lose my job, do contract work, or switch to part time and I keep some solid health insurance throughout, while gaining some additional retirement money.

      That being said, I never incur more time than I have to in case it becomes more of a commitment than it’s worth

    3. soward65 on

      I went through that same decision at 10 years in and stayed. At that time I stayed for the extra income. However, as I got older I really discovered where it really paid off for me. That is the ability for me to retire at 60 instead of staying later. The pension and healthcare are that extra edge that worked for me. Most of my peers have to wait for Medicare eligibility to afford healthcare in retirement.

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