5 Things different about Military Retirement (vs. civilian)

5 Things About Military Retirement that are Different 

from "real" (civilian) Retirement

1. The vast majority of military retirees will absolutely NEED to find a civilian job ASAP.  Many of them are young--in their 40s or even late 30s if they enlisted right out of high school!  Most will still have dependent children when they retire (though they may be high school or college students at that point).  Military pensions are a beautiful thing, especially in that they start immediately upon retiring, but they are not anywhere near enough to support a family!  (Also a large number of military retirees face huge pay cuts switching to a civilian career, so that pension is really a form of government assistance for our vets, to help them transition to civilian life and keep their heads above water!)

2. Most military people are not even close to owning their home (mortgage free), so they won't have that investment to rely upon as part of their retirement savings (when they retire for real).  Many civilians still settle in ONE place, staying in the same home for 20-30 years, or until it is completely paid off, as financial advisors recommend in preparation for retirement.  Military moving around means most of us are starting from scratch when we "retire" from the military, often just buying a home in a new area where the retiree was able to find a civilian job, instead of celebrating the mortgage payoff.

3.  Civilian retirement means embracing free time, hours and days of NOT working!  Military retirement means moving from a job with generous holidays plus 30 days off per year, to a standard civilian job, typically 2 weeks off at most per year and few holidays.  The civilian job may possibly even structured as hourly wages, with clock watchers, instead of the very different military structure--sometimes working 12-hour days, sometimes 24-hour days, and occasionally even an 8-hour day or a 4-hour day, but never anyone worrying about exactly how many hours you are working each week, because it's always a lot and it's the job.

4.  Civilian retirement is often celebrated as freedom from "the rat race," and a celebration of living out the rest of your life stress free!  Military Retirement is STRESS in spades.

5. Civilian people may miss working, or feel a bit of loyalty to their old employer, but military retirees have red, white, and blue blood for life.  :)