Department of Defense Retirement System for the Future

The current military retirement system has come under much scrutiny in recent years. Much off this scrutiny has been a result of the high cost of the system. Many studies have been undertaken in attempts to develop a retirement system for military personnel that would reduce the cost. Congress has acted several times in recent decades on these proposals. In all but one instance, the result has been lowering system costs by reducing retiree benefits, The goal of this study was to examine the objectives of the military retirement system for the purpose of determining if a retirement system could be developed that would lower system costs while simultaneously meeting the objectives of the current system and maintaining the retirees perceived retirement entitlements at their current level. The result of the study is a proposed multi-option retirement system for the military that is better aligned with the DoD retirement system objectives and reduces the system cost while simultaneously enhancing future retiree entitlement potential. The model costs and benefits are analyzed using a Monte Carlo type simulation model to more accurately predict future results and allow for analysis of various modifications to the proposal.Naval Postgraduate School Monterey CA is the author of 'Department of Defense Retirement System for the Future', published 2002 under ISBN 9781423509332 and ISBN 1423509331.