Retirement
You Might Need Extra Cash When You Leave the Navy
If you are leaving the Navy, you might need extra cash on hand as your separation date approaches. There are a few reasons for this, discussed below.
You May Lose Special Pays or Allowances
My 6-year retention bonus expired at the 24 year mark, so my income dropped by $59K the last year I was active duty. Something similar may happen to you. If you are reliant on this income, you may have issues if you don’t plan for it.
I was receiving extra money for being stationed in Guam, including COLA and a housing allowance for both my dependents’ location and Guam. When I went on terminal leave, I lost my Guam allowances. These were largely eaten up by Guam expenses I no longer had and therefore were a wash, but my paycheck dropped by thousands of dollars when I left Guam and went on terminal leave. Again, if you are reliant on this extra money for some reason, when it disappears you could have issues if you don’t plan for it.
Your Last Paycheck May Be Late
DFAS holds your final paycheck so they can conduct an audit to make sure you don’t have any debts to the government.
My final paycheck hit on time, but it wasn’t clear if that was going to happen until the very last day. If you are reliant on that paycheck hitting on time, you may need to have some cash to cover your bills. I know people who had their final pay delayed for weeks.
Your Job Hunt May Not Go Quickly
It is a good thing I don’t need a job, because if I did I probably wouldn’t have one! My experience with applying for jobs is that any type of federal hiring is an absolute mess and moves at a snail’s pace. The only type of person who can put up with federal hiring is those who don’t actually need the job.
When it comes to civilian jobs, I think that if I was willing to pull shifts in an ER somewhere that I could have a job an hour from now. Since I’m not interested in primarily clinical jobs, the positions I’ve applied for as a civilian executive have not gone beyond initial interviews. To be fair, I’m not trying that hard to get a civilian position, so that could be a contributing factor.
The bottom line, though, is that if you NEED a job you may want to save up some extra cash in case your job search does not move at the pace you are expecting.
Your VA Disability Payments Don’t Start for 2 Months
I retired June 1st, but my first VA disability payment won’t start until August 1st. There is a 2 month delay, and this is assuming that you get your determination on time like I did. I got mine a day or two after I retired, but I filed 6 months before my retirement date and was able to complete everything in Guam and after I returned CONUS.
If you are delayed in filing, your disability payments (if you warrant any) will be at least 2 months late, and perhaps more.
Conclusion
For all the reasons above (and perhaps others I missed), you may need to plan for extra cash when you retire or otherwise separate from the Navy.
Why I Retired
“Why did you retire? I thought you were going to…”
I get this line of inquiry a lot. Here is the explanation.
Last year I started to have conversations with the Corps Chief’s Office about a post-command tour after Guam. I was told that the flag mess wanted me to get a surface warfare pin. In order to get one, I would have to become a CATF Surgeon and go to sea.
When I asked how long they would make me stay in the CATF billet before they let me compete for a more typical post-command position, they gave me the same answer that I would have given me if I was the Detailer or Deputy Corps Chief. The answer was that they would be writing me 3 year orders and that it would be up to the Detailers when I would be allowed to leave the billet for another position, hopefully a Fleet Surgeon job.
After spending 2 years in Guam unaccompanied, I was not willing to go to sea for an undetermined amount of time with an unknown endpoint. I would have been at 25 years, with only 5 years left before I was statutory. If I was going to be looked at for promotion, it would have happened very late in my 30 year career. I’d likely be age 53 or 54 before I got a serious look at promotion, and I don’t want to be working full-time at age 60.
My financial goal has always been to be financially independent by age 50 so I could retire if I wanted to. If I was having fun, I would hang around beyond that, but if I wasn’t, I’d have the option to leave. Going to sea after 2 years unaccompanied in Guam, and 2 of my last 3 sets of orders being unaccompanied/GEOBACH, was not my definition of fun. As a result, I retired.
The bottom line is that I didn’t want to go to sea just to get a pin after being unaccompanied in Guam for 2 years. If I was not willing to do what the flag mess wanted me to do, I’d rather just get out. As a result, I retired. It is that simple.
I hope that answers people’s question. I wanted to put my thought process out there.
As of now, the plan is to continue and improve the blog, helping people in Navy Medicine for as long as my help is useful.
MOAA – How far out should I start planning my career transition when leaving service, and what are some good first steps?
This article says to start 12-18 months from your desired service date. I COMPLETELY agree. I decided at 9 months, and the only reason that is enough time for me is because I don’t need a job:
How to Confirm Credit for USU and HPSP Time Before Retirement from Active Duty
Does time at Uniformed Services University (USU) or annual training (AT) while on HPSP count toward retirement? Yes, but it is only added on once you hit 20+ years. You can’t use that time to get to 20.
How do you confirm you are getting credit for this time? Read below.
You need to check your retirement statement of service (SoS), which is usually available 90-120 days before retirement (mine was available at 124 days), and ensure time at USU or AT in HPSP is incorporated into the retirement computation. Officers should make sure their SoS is correct BEFORE they retire. This gives people only a short window to check their SoS and request any needed changes.
How to Get Your SoS
The SoS can be downloaded via NSIPS. Some instructions are listed on this site where it states:
What is a Statement of Service (SoS)? How do I view my retirement SoS?
Refer to Statement of Service. A retirement SoS is viewable via NSIPS. Log into Member Self-Service, select Employee Self-Service -> Retirements and Separations – > Check Eligibility -> Statement of Service -> Generate SoS Form (be patient at this point and select “Refresh” a few times over 30 seconds or so). A new link should appear with the word “view” in it. Select that link. A draft retirement SoS is normally available to review 90-120 days prior to retirement date.
Here is the section of my SoS where you can see the credit added with my HPSP AT time highlighted:
I will note that at the top of the SoS it says, “AFHPSP, Not Creditable For Any Purpose.” That can be a little scary, but the meaning of “not creditable for any purpose” is explained in this 2021 letter to me from the Senior Detailer at the time. He is discussing USU credit and not HPSP, but in the end they are treated the same:
They say it is “not creditable for any purpose” because it is not utilized to calculate active duty pay or eligibility toward retirement.
My Transaction Service Center also told me to refer back to my SoS, where I would find the retirement credit from HPSP, instead of my draft DD-214. This time does not appear on your DD-214.
The Bottom Line
When you are trying to confirm retirement credit for USU or HPSP, you need to check your SoS 90-120 days out from retirement by downloading it from NSIPS.
If anyone is interested, here is the original memo that explains how they credit USU time toward retirement:
Want a Free Portrait/Headshot for LinkedIn? Use Portraits for Patriots
I already wrote about my LinkedIn profile update, which required a new headshot/portrait. While I paid about $100 for mine, there is a charity that will do it for free. You can find their website here: