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This confirms the lie that the lunatic fringe of the GOP "supports our troops." They want tax cuts for millionaires. Servicemen? Well, they're little people, aren't they?
Very bad idea. I guess this is just another way to give more money to Wall Street through "private investment accounts".
The veteran needs to be able to count on the fact that the money will be there when he retires without worrying about market volatility when he is fighting overseas. It seems fair to count on the retirement when the govt. counts on them for every bs conflict they get us into.
This confirms the lie that the lunatic fringe of the GOP "supports our troops." They want tax cuts for millionaires. Servicemen? Well, they're little people, aren't they?
Interesting philosophy. Do you agree that military/federal workers get every penny they pay in federal taxes back in the form of a salary (plus some) and then through a pension? Wouldn't that be the ultimate tax cut? I'm not advocating for one way or another, but it's kind of odd to link millionaire tax cuts to a group of people whose salaries are taxpayer funded.
Watch it Shirt; I'm in the USAF and all of my deployments have been with the Army; I wouldn't hesitate to go one more time with my 'bros in green.
There are two problems with the military retirement system:
1. The "golden handcuffs" of the 20 years-or-nothing pension system. There are too many people that stay in past their usefulness and are just bidding their time. We call them ROAD: Retired On Active Duty. These are the people who are primarily responsible for all the bureaucracy, self-justifying red tape, and general mucking up that makes everything in the military slow, expensive, and inefficient.
2. There's no difference between doing your 20 years behind a desk or in a constant combat environment. Within my specialty, I've deployed numerous times while I know of guys who've cherry-picked easy 'deployments' (Al Udied anyone?) or ducked deploying altogether. In the end, 20 years is 20 years. What's even worst is many of these guys will be the first in line at the VA after they retired to claim their 'disability'.
If I could change the retirement system, this is what I'd do:
1. A person could qualify for a pension after 10 years in service. However, no one starts to collect until they turned 60.
2. Implement a 1.5x multiplier for time spent overseas, 2x for time in a combat zone, 3x for time spent recovering from combat injuries.
3. Contribution matching for TSP (that's the government's 401K program.)
4. If a person separates before they qualify for a pension, they get the government's contributions as a severance package.
Better yet, just put everyone in the military under FERS...
I disagree with cutting benefits or retirement for vets and retired military. They might not see combat but are taking on a oath to life threatening conditions and possibly engaging in war.
Trim the military but not the soldiers paycheck. Be more selective and thoughtful how we deploy them. We have American military on every continent and every area of the world, alot because of the cold war which is long over.
Within my specialty, I've deployed numerous times while I know of guys who've cherry-picked easy 'deployments' (Al Udied anyone?) or ducked deploying altogether.
Hey, don't go knocking the 'Deid! I worked my ass off there (seriously, the heat and humidity damn near made the thing drop off!)! I should have received a couple extras ribbons and awards just for being able to understand the dang Antonov schedulers when they called in for a spot to park
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So Long 20-Year Military Retirement?
