Run your numbers
An estimate of the pension line only, before tax, for an active-duty (regular) retirement of 20 to 30 years. BRS retirees also have the TSP with the government's 5% and Continuation Pay; Guard and Reserve non-regular retirement uses points and starts later. VA offset, CRDP, CRSC, and taxes are not included. Nothing you enter leaves your device.
The two formulas, side by side
Retired pay is a multiplier times your high-3 average basic pay. Under the legacy High-3 system the multiplier is 2.5% for each year of service: 50% at 20 years, 75% at 30. Under BRS, for anyone who first entered service on or after January 1, 2018 or opted in, it is 2.0% per year: 40% at 20 years, 60% at 30. BRS trades the lower multiplier for the TSP automatic 1% and up to 4% match, Continuation Pay at mid-career, and a lump-sum option of 25% or 50% of the pension's discounted value in exchange for reduced monthly pay until full Social Security retirement age.
Sources: 10 U.S.C. 1409, retired pay multiplier; DoD, Blended Retirement System. Checked at the source: October 25, 2026.
What SBP costs and pays
The Survivor Benefit Plan lets a retiree keep a monthly annuity going to a spouse or other eligible beneficiary after death. Spouse coverage costs 6.5% of the base amount you elect, from a minimum up to your full gross retired pay, deducted from retired pay before tax: on $1,000 of retired pay with full coverage, $65 a month. The survivor receives 55% of the base amount monthly for life, with the same cost-of-living adjustments. Premiums stop after 30 years of payments and age 70. Since January 1, 2023 a survivor can receive full SBP and full VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation at the same time.
Sources: DFAS, SBP cost; 10 U.S.C. 1451, amount of annuity. Checked at the source: October 25, 2026.
About the COLA line
Military retired pay gets an annual cost-of-living adjustment tied to the CPI-W, the same measure behind the Social Security COLA. The Social Security Administration announced a 3.6% COLA for 2027 in October 2026; DFAS publishes the retiree figure each December. The chart uses whatever COLA assumption you type, because no one knows the next 30 years of inflation.
Source: SSA, Cost-of-Living Adjustment information. Checked at the source: October 25, 2026. Official calculators for every retirement system, including Reserve and medical retirement: DoD Military Compensation calculators.
Keep going
The pension is one leg of retirement. These free StandWatch pages cover the rest:
