Military retirees: your pay, TRICARE, and who to call

Retired pay is due on the first of the month. When the first lands on a weekend or holiday, DFAS pays retirees on the last business day of the month before, and annuitants on the first business day after. With a complete package, your first payment should be processed 60 days after your retirement date.

myPay is where you handle the account: DFAS says address and bank changes made there post in three to seven business days. Your Retiree Account Statement is there by the first of each month and shows what to expect on the next pay date. Your 1099-R shows up in myPay ahead of the mail (December 16 last year).

Retired pay rose 2.8% for 2026, effective December 1, 2025. Social Security announced 3.6% for 2027 on October 14, 2026, but DFAS had not posted the retired pay figure when we checked on October 31, so we are not printing one.

Coast Guard, NOAA, and Public Health Service retirees are served by the Coast Guard's Pay and Personnel Center, not DFAS, so check these dates with them.

Connected to: SBP (the cost comes out of this check) and VA compensation (it can reduce this check, below).

Retiring ends TRICARE Prime. You have 90 days from your retirement date to enroll in Prime or Select with no break in coverage. Miss that and TRICARE lets you ask for retroactive enrollment up to 12 months after you retire, with fees back to your retirement date. After 12 months it takes Open Season or a Qualifying Life Event, and until then you only get care at a military hospital or clinic if space is available.

Fees depend on your group. Group A means your sponsor's first enlistment or appointment was before January 1, 2018; Group B is on or after that date.

Connected to: dental and vision, which run through FEDVIP on the federal calendar (November 9 to December 14, 2026), and FEHB if you work a federal job.

If you have Medicare Part A, in most cases you must also have Part B to keep TRICARE. With both, TRICARE For Life is automatic: no enrollment and no card. Your Medicare card and your ID card are your proof of coverage. At 65 with Medicare you cannot enroll in other TRICARE plans.

TRICARE says to sign up a few months before you turn 65 to avoid a break in coverage. Part B is $202.90 a month in 2026, or more depending on income. Miss your window and the premium can go up 10% for each full 12 months you could have had it, and you wait for Medicare's general enrollment period, January 1 to March 31.

Medicare pays first and TFL pays second, and in most cases your provider files the claim. Generally you owe nothing for care both cover, and you pay for care neither covers. Medicare only covers you in the U.S. and its territories.

Two things catch people. Since August 31, 2025, the TRICARE pharmacy benefit does not cover weight-loss drugs for TFL beneficiaries when obesity is the primary diagnosis, though Medicare Part D has covered certain ones under a bridge program since July 1, 2026. And with a Medicare Advantage plan you may need to file your own claims to get copays back from TRICARE.

On Medicare early because of a disability? The same Part A and Part B rule applies, and you can enroll in a Prime option or use TFL.

Connected to: your ID card and DEERS, and family members under 65, who can change plans within 90 days of your Medicare effective date.

The law makes you give up retired pay, dollar for dollar, for the VA disability compensation you receive. DFAS calls it the VA waiver. Two programs pay some or all of it back, and you can have only one at a time.

If you qualify for both, DFAS applies the one with the larger gross amount in your first year. After that you choose during the CRDP and CRSC Open Season, usually in January. StandWatch does not file claims or act for anyone; a free accredited representative can help with a rating or a claim.

SBP is an annuity: a monthly payment for the beneficiary's life, up to 55% of the base amount you elected. It costs up to 6.5% of your gross retired pay. You generally elect it at retirement on DD Form 2656. If no valid election reaches DFAS, coverage starts automatically, and declining or taking less than full spouse coverage needs your spouse's notarized signature.

SBP does not cover your final pay. Arrears of Pay is a separate designation, so check that yours says what you want.

DIC is the VA's benefit and it is separate: a $1,699.36 monthly base rate in 2026, tax free. Since the February 2023 payments, eligible surviving spouses receive both SBP and DIC in full.

Connected to: your retired pay, where the cost comes out each month.

You and your family need new ID cards when you retire. RAPIDS ID Card Office Online finds an office and books the appointment, and it says card validity has doubled to 8 years for applicable cardholders. DEERS is what TRICARE reads, so keep it current on milConnect.

Since January 1, 2020, commissary shopping has also covered veterans with a service-connected disability, Purple Heart recipients, former POWs, and eligible caregivers. The Commissary Agency's page has the steps.

Retirees fly Space-A in Category VI with a DD Form 2 retired ID, and family members with a valid ID when traveling with the sponsor. Air Mobility Command's self-signup tool has been live at all its locations since March 26, 2026.

If you have stopped drilling and are waiting on retired pay, DFAS calls you a gray area retiree. A Future Retiree myPay account keeps your contact information current, so DFAS and your branch can send you news and remind you when the window to apply opens. Retired pay is normally at 60, and the application goes through your branch.

TRICARE Retired Reserve is there for a monthly premium until 60, when Prime or Select opens to you and your family. Reserve Component SBP is its own election, and gray-area reservists can buy FEDVIP dental.

Two choices come up. Buying back military time for a FERS pension generally means waiving your retired pay, unless it is for a combat-related disability or a Reserve retirement. And TRICARE can sit beside FEHB: you can carry both, or suspend FEHB to use TRICARE and come back in an Open Season. Cancelling FEHB as an annuitant is permanent, suspending is not.

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