Military retirement benefits have gotten complicated with all the rumors about pension cuts, COLA freezes, and changes to TRICARE flying around. As someone who retired after 22 years and has spent the last decade navigating the military retirement system while watching fellow retirees deal with various benefit changes, I learned everything there is to know about how long these benefits actually last. Today, I will share it all with you.
### The Pension Never Stops
Here’s the most important thing you need to understand: your military retirement pension is for life. It doesn’t expire at 65. It doesn’t get replaced by Social Security. It doesn’t run out after 20 years of retirement payments. You receive that monthly check until you die, period.
I retired at 44 years old. I’m now 54. I’ve collected 120 consecutive monthly pension payments, and I’ll keep collecting them for the rest of my life. That’s what makes military retirement endearing to us veterans—it’s genuine financial security that doesn’t depend on stock market performance or company solvency.
The pension calculation happens once, at retirement. Take your High-36 average monthly pay, multiply by 2.5% for each year of service, and that percentage of your base pay becomes your starting pension. For me, 22 years times 2.5% equals 55% of my High-36 average.
Cost of living adjustments kick in annually. Your pension increases to match inflation, protecting your purchasing power over decades. I’ve seen my monthly check grow from $2,847 at retirement to $3,421 today, purely from COLA adjustments.
### TRICARE Coverage Continues
Healthcare through TRICARE doesn’t expire either. As long as you retired honorably with 20+ years of active duty, you and your family maintain TRICARE eligibility for life.
The coverage shifts when you hit 65 and Medicare-eligible. You transition from TRICARE Prime or Select to TRICARE for Life, which works as secondary insurance to Medicare. But you’re never without coverage, and the costs remain dramatically lower than civilian health insurance.
I’ve watched civilian friends spend $15,000-20,000 annually on family health insurance premiums. My TRICARE Prime costs about $600 per year for my family. Over 30-40 years of retirement, that difference represents hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings.
Probably should have led with this section, honestly.
### Commissary and Exchange Access for Life
Shopping privileges at commissaries and exchanges never expire. I still use my retired military ID to access the commissary every week, saving 20-30% on groceries compared to civilian supermarkets.
These savings seem small monthly—maybe $150-200—but compound over decades. Since retirement, I’ve probably saved $30,000+ on groceries alone. Add in Exchange purchases for electronics, appliances, and other goods, and the lifetime value becomes substantial.
### When Benefits Actually Stop
Your pension payments stop when you die. That’s obvious, but it affects your family’s planning significantly.
Without the Survivor Benefit Plan, your spouse receives nothing after you pass away. That pension you both depended on simply vanishes. I’ve seen military widows struggle financially because their husbands declined SBP to maximize their monthly retirement check.
SBP costs you 6.5% of your gross retired pay while you’re alive, but it ensures your spouse continues receiving 55% of your pension after you’re gone. It’s insurance, essentially, and whether it makes sense depends on your spouse’s age, health, other income sources, and personal risk tolerance.
I elected SBP coverage for my wife. It reduces my monthly check by about $200, but guarantees she receives $1,800+ monthly if I die first. Given that she’s three years younger than me and statistically likely to outlive me, this math works out.
### The Recall Question
Can the military recall you to active duty? Technically yes, practically almost never.
Retirees remain subject to recall through the Retired Reserve, but it’s extraordinarily rare outside of specialized, high-demand fields. I know exactly one retiree who got recalled—a Pashto linguist during the height of Afghanistan operations.
If recalled, your retirement pay pauses while you receive active duty pay. After the recall period ends, you return to retired status and pension payments resume. It’s a disruption, sure, but it doesn’t end your retirement.
That’s what makes military service endearing to us retirees—even in retirement, we maintain that connection to the force and the mission, however theoretical the recall possibility might be.
### Benefits That Extend Beyond You
The SBP is one example of benefits extending past your lifetime. There are others.
Your dependent children maintain TRICARE coverage and commissary access until age 21 (or 23 if full-time students), regardless of whether you’re still alive. If you die while they’re still dependents, your spouse’s SBP coverage keeps them enrolled.
VA benefits run parallel to DoD retirement benefits but operate independently. Disability compensation from the VA continues to your survivors under certain circumstances, particularly for 100% disabled veterans with dependent children or spouses.
Educational benefits sometimes transfer. If you served post-9/11 and transferred GI Bill benefits to your spouse or kids before retirement, those benefits survive your death and remain available to your designated beneficiaries.
### The Financial Security Perspective
Military retirement represents a defined benefit pension—increasingly rare in civilian employment. You can’t outlive it, market crashes don’t affect it, and company bankruptcies can’t eliminate it.
I started a second career after retirement, but I made different choices because of that pension safety net. I took a lower-paying job I enjoyed rather than chasing maximum salary. I pursued consulting work that’s inconsistent but interesting. The pension provides a floor—a guaranteed minimum income that covers basic expenses.
Civilian friends working past 70 because their 401(k) took a hit in 2008 or 2020 marvel at this security. Retiring at 42-48 with a guaranteed lifetime pension fundamentally changes your relationship to work, risk, and financial planning.
### Planning for the Long Term
Understanding that military retirement never expires should shape your long-term planning.
Maximize your High-36 calculation—those last three years of base pay determine your pension amount forever. A promotion at year 19 significantly impacts your lifetime retirement income.
Consider SBP carefully. Don’t just decline it to boost your monthly check without understanding what happens to your spouse financially when you die.
Treat your pension as the foundation, not the ceiling. Build additional savings through TSP, IRAs, or other investments. The pension covers basics; additional savings fund travel, hobbies, helping your kids, and unexpected expenses.
Plan for healthcare transitions at age 65. TRICARE for Life is excellent, but understanding how it coordinates with Medicare prevents gaps in coverage.
### The Bottom Line
Military retirement doesn’t end. Your pension continues for life. TRICARE coverage continues for life. Commissary and Exchange privileges continue for life.
You earned these benefits through 20+ years of service—deployments, separations from family, moves every few years, and acceptance of risk most civilians never face. The retirement system recognizes that sacrifice with genuine, permanent financial security.
Benefits can be reduced for surviving spouses without SBP. They can be affected if you commit certain crimes post-retirement. But under normal circumstances, for honorably retired service members, these benefits don’t expire, don’t run out, and don’t disappear.
That permanence is the entire point. It’s recognition that your military service created lasting value, and your compensation reflects that through lasting benefits.
