Blended Retirement System « Joel Schofer's Career Planning Blog

BRS and HPSP Students & New End-of-the Month Personal Finance Summary

Posted on October 31, 2017 Updated on October 30, 2017

We’re all starting to get pinged about the mandatory Blended Retirement System (BRS) training. While I’ve created a BRS resource center on the other blog I write for, the specific case of how BRS works for medical students was recently run to ground by Dr. Jami Peterson, the Head of Student Programs at BUMED. Straight from her, the BLUF is:

Any HPSP student who signed their contract BEFORE 01 JAN 2018 will have thirty days after signing into their FIRST active duty station to declare if they want to do the legacy retirement system OR the blended retirement system. For any students who start AFTER 01 JAN 2018 will automatically be placed in the blended retirement.

I’m also going to start providing an end-of-the-month summary of the personal finance articles I’ve written. Here they are:

2018 Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Contribution Limits Announced

Invest in Stock and Bond Index Funds or ETFs

Make an Intelligent Rent vs Buy Real Estate Decision

Saving and Investing for Military Personnel by the SEC

Three Things Every Young Medical Student and Physician Needs to Know – Part 1

Three Things Every Young Medical Student and Physician Needs to Know – Part 2

This entry was posted in Blended Retirement System, HPSP, personal finance and tagged BRS, HPSP, personal finance.

Reader Poll – Continue Financial Posts or Not?

Posted on August 31, 2017

As I announced here, I am now blogging for another site focused on personal finance for people in the military called MilitaryMillions.com. For example, here is a Blended Retirement System (BRS) Resource Center I created over there.

My plan was to transition all financial content to that new site because duplicating it in two different places is tedious and it is easy to follow the financial blog if you want that content. I’m curious, though, what MCCareer.org readers want.

For example, yesterday I found another PDF of frequently asked questions on the BRS. I ask you, the readers of MCCareer.org, what you would have wanted me to do with that PDF. Use the poll below so I get an idea of what you guys want:

This entry was posted in Blended Retirement System, personal finance and tagged Blended Retirement System, personal finance.

MOAA Post – BRS Decision Should Consider the Whole Story

Posted on July 6, 2017

Here’s a link to a story from the Military Officers Association of American about the new Blended Retirement System (BRS):

BRS Decision Should Consider the Whole Story

The bottom line…

“When making the difficult decision about whether to switch to the BRS, keep in mind the conflicts of interest regarding the BRS: the government stands to save a significant amount with the BRS and, financial service firms can’t wait to guide members’ seeking investment advice into expensive investment products. Tread lightly.”

This entry was posted in Blended Retirement System and tagged Blended Retirement System.

Questions and Answers about Opting into the Blended Retirement System (BRS)

Posted on June 24, 2017

Here is the latest PDF for those facing this decision (if you will have served for fewer than 12 years on December 31, 2017):

Questions and Answers about Opting into the Blended Retirement System (BRS)

This entry was posted in Blended Retirement System and tagged Blended Retirement System.

Blended Retirement System: 6 Major Considerations Before You Choose

Posted on June 17, 2017

Here is a nice article for those debating between the current retirement system and the new Blended Retirement System or BRS:

Blended Retirement System: What Will You Do? 6 Major Considerations Before You Choose

This entry was posted in Blended Retirement System, personal finance, Retirement and tagged Blended Retirement System, personal finance, Retirement.

Military Times Article – Blended Retirement: Should I Make the Switch?

Posted on June 5, 2017

Here’s a link to another article about the new blended retirement system (BRS):

Blended Retirement: Should I Make the Switch?

This entry was posted in Blended Retirement System, personal finance, Retirement, Uncategorized and tagged Blended Retirement System, personal finance, Retirement.

Blended Retirement Opt-In Course on Joint Knowledge Online

Posted on June 1, 2017

I might be the only person who reads his entire LES every month, and I noticed this on May’s LES:

THE BLENDED RETIREMENT SYSTEM OPT-IN COURSE (2 HRS) (COURSE #J3OP-US1332) IS NOW AVAILABLE VIA JKO AT HTTPS://JKODIRECT.JTEN.MIL/ THE COURSE IS DESIGNED TO PROVIDE ELIGIBLE SERVICE MEMBERS INFORMATION FOR MAKING A DECISION ABOUT WHICH DOD RETIREMENT SYSTEM BEST MEETS THEIR NEEDS. THIS IS MANDATORY FOR ALL OPT-IN ELIGIBLE SERVICE MEMBERS.