Continuation Pay
Navy Releases ’24 Continuation Pay Rates
CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED// ROUTINE R 191321Z MAY 23 MID120000102769U FM CNO WASHINGTON DC TO NAVADMIN INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC BT UNCLAS NAVADMIN 118/23 PASS TO OFFICE CODES: FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1// INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1// MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N1/MAY// SUBJ/BLENDED RETIREMENT SYSTEM CALENDAR YEAR 2024 CONTINUATION PAY RATES// REF/A/DOC/NDAA/25NOV15// REF/B/DOC/NDAA/23DEC16// REF/C/MSG/CNO WASHINGTON DC/271444ZSEP16// REF/D/DOC/COMNAVPERSCOM/22FEB20// NARR/REF A IS SECTIONS 631 THROUGH 635 OF NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016, SUBTITLE D - DISABILITY PAY, RETIRED PAY, AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS. REF B IS SECTIONS 631 THROUGH 633 OF NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2017, SUBTITLE D - DISABILITY PAY, RETIRED PAY, AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS. REF C IS NAVADMIN 217/16, ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE BLENDED RETIREMENT SYSTEM FOR THE UNIFORMED SERVICES. REF D IS THE MILITARY PERSONNEL MANUAL ARTICLE 1810-081, CONTINUATION PAY FOR MEMBERS ENROLLED IN THE BLENDED RETIREMENT SYSTEM.// RMKS/1. This NAVADMIN announces the Blended Retirement System (BRS) mid- career continuation pay (CP) rates for Calendar Year 2024 (CY- 24). The CY- 24 CP rates are: a. Total CP for Active Component is two and a half times the monthly basic pay for a Service Member of that grade who has reached 12 years of service (YOS). b. Total CP for Training and Administration of the Reserves is two and a half times the monthly basic pay for a Service Member of that grade who has reached 12 YOS. c. Total CP for Selected Reserve is half the monthly basic pay for a Service Member of that grade who has reached 12 YOS. 2. In line with references (a) and (b), Service Members who want to receive the mid-career CP are reminded that they must be enrolled in BRS and request CP before 12 YOS. The CP election is made via Navy Standard Integrated Personnel System (NSIPS) which can be accessed via MyNavy Portal Quick Links. For Service Members who have provided NSIPS with an up-to-date email address, NSIPS will send an email notification of CP eligibility at 11 years 6 months YOS, 11 years 9 months YOS and a final reminder at 11 years 11 months YOS. Service Members who are unable to elect CP through NSIPS may manually elect CP through their command career counselor. CP information to include details on electing CP can be found in references (c) and (d). A copy of the CY-24 CP rate memorandum can be found at https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Support- Services/Culture-Resilience/Family-Readiness/Personal-Financial-Mgmt/. For any other CP issues, Service Members should reach out to MyNavy Career Center at 833-330-MNCC or askmncc.fct@navy.mil. 3. This NAVADMIN will remain in effect until superseded or canceled, whichever occurs first. 4. Released by Vice Admiral Richard J. Cheeseman, Jr., N1.// BT #0001 NNNN CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED//
Guest Post – How to Apply for Continuation Pay Under the Blended Retirement System
By Dustin Schuett, DO
Note: The views expressed in this chapter are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Navy, Department of Defense, or the United States Government.
For those who elected into the Blended Retirement System (BRS), there is the opportunity to receive a one-time Continuation Pay bonus in exchange for 4 additional years of obligated service.
Continuation pay can in theory be taken anytime between 8 and 12 years of active service as calculated by the Pay Entry Base Date (PEBD, which can be found in block 4 of the LES labeled “PAY DATE”). The Navy (as well as the other branches) currently only allows Continuation Pay to be taken at the 12th anniversary of the member’s PEBD. Members can currently submit for Continuation pay when they are between 11.5 and 12 years from their PEBD. Essentially if you opted into the BRS and will be serving to 16 years due to pre-existing obligations or career plans/aspirations, you can take the continuation pay at 12 years. If you plan to get out of the Navy prior to serving 16 years, you should not take Continuation Pay as currently available.
The amount of the Continuation Pay can be set between 2.5 and 13 times monthly base pay for Active Duty servicemembers. The Navy (as well as the other branches) have taken the low end setting Continuation Pay bonus at 2.5x since its inception though 2020 rates have not been officially released. This bonus can be taken as a single lump sum or as 2 or 4 annual payments paying 50% or 25% per year respectively.
Understand that this means you will need to serve 4 years after receipt of the Continuation Pay. This obligation will “run concurrently with any other service obligation, unless other service obligations incurred specifically preclude concurrent obligations” per MILPERSMAN 1810-081 Section 7.
Verify that any pre-existing obligations can be served concurrent to (at the same time as) not consecutive to (following) any pre-existing obligations (ROTC, USNA, HPSP, USUHS, FTOS Training etc). I am currently carrying obligations for FTOS GME time for Fellowship training and a Retention Bonus which I am serving concurrently to my fellowship obligation as well as resident obligations. I contacted BUMED Special Pays who confirmed that my obligations do not require consecutive payback with other obligations.
I would strongly recommend anyone taking Continuation Pay to verify with BUMED Special Pays that their current obligations do not preclude a concurrent payback of obligation for Continuation Pay. Four years is a long additional commitment in exchange for only 2.5 months of base pay.
Here are the steps to obtain Continuation Pay in PDF form as well as below:.
- Go to the NSIPS website and log in.
- Select “Employee Self-Service” on the left side in the Menu box.
- Select “Blended Retirement System” under “Retirements and Separations” on the far right side.
- On the Blended Retirement System page, confirm that you are enrolled into the BRS and that the current date is between the 1st and last day eligible to elect by looking in the 2nd Box on this page.
- Select the “Continuation Pay” tab.
- Click the link for your “Continuation Pay Notification Letter” in the 3rd box from the top
- Save/print this letter for your records.
- Select “Yes, I elect Continuation Pay and agree to serve for an additional four years of obligated service from my date of eligibility”.
- Choose the Continuation Pay Payment option you desire from the listed options.
- Single Lump Sum Payment
- Two Annual Payments (50%)
- Four Annual Payments (25%)
- Click “Save” at the bottom of the page. This locks in your selection (don’t worry, you can still change the selection and opt out if you desire).
- I recommend checking to ensure everything has saved, to do this:
- Click “Home” in the top right corner of the page.
- Follow steps 2-5 above and ensure that your selections have been saved.
- Await your payment which per MILPERSMAN 1810-081 Section 8 b. will be on the 12th year anniversary of your PEBD (Pay Entry Base Date).
References:
Guest Post – How to Get the New Blended Retirement System Continuation Pay
by Dr. Caroline Schlocker
There is very little information available on how a service member applies for continuation pay (CP) under the Blended Retirement System. MILPERSMAN 1810-081 provides some detail but does not mention the NSIPS requirement.
There are two items to complete in order to opt-in to CP:
- Fill out the appropriate section in NSIPS. Here is a go-by with PPI scrubbed screenshots.
- Through the Command Career Counselor office, have a NAVPERS 1070/613 generated and verified. It looks like this:
This needs to be sent by the Command Career Counselor Office to NAVPERSCOM (PERS-8) or the servicing PSD if access through the Navy Personnel System is unavailable.
The decision to opt-in to CP must occur between years 8-12 of military service. Once a person hits the 12 year mark, the decision is irrevocable. If you have not done the above steps by your 12 year mark, you will not be able to obtain CP. CP incurs a four year payback that is served concurrently with other service obligations.
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