006: What's your Monthly Barrel of Wine worth? (Case Study: O5 retiring at 20 years)

Jen Amos turns our winery analogy into real dollars by doing an in-depth walkthrough of calculating the Estimated Retired Pay for Lt. Colonel Rick Howard - an O5 retiring at 20 years with the High-3 Calculator. If you haven't written down your numbers yet, this is the perfect opportunity to calculate the following:

• Annual Retired Pay
• Monthly Retired Pay (i.e. your Monthly Barrel of Wine)
• Total Retirement Benefit (i.e. what your winery 'could' look like)
• Present Value (i.e. what your winery looks like 'today' and the lump sum amount civilians require in order to receive your Monthly Barrel of Wine)

In the next episode, we will play out what happens to an O5 retiring at 20 years should they keep or opt out of the Survivor Benefit Plan.

Additional Notes

• Lt. Colonel Rick Howard is a fictional name to protect the client's privacy
• "Today's Dollars" display what the projected benefits would be worth in today's dollars.
• "Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA)" - The High-3 Calculator uses future Military Retirement System COLA rates as projected by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the immediate five calendar years. COLAs beyond the most immediate five years will use the DoD Board of Actuaries annual inflation assumption of 2.75 % per year.
• "Future Dollars" reflect the estimated amounts you can expect to receive or spend when you retire. These amounts include projected pay increases.

Resources

• Paid-up Survivor Benefits Program https://militarypay.defense.gov/Benefits/Survivor-Benefit-Program/Paid-Up-SBP/
• The Leadership Void Interview ft. Jen Amos https://youtu.be/n6f278MgwPI
• 049: Mentorship, leadership and family with Enrique Acosta Gonzalez https://www.holdingdownthefortpodcast.com/episode/49
• What do I really need to understand in navigating my military retirement pay and making a decision about the Survivor Benefit Plan? Download US VetWealth's free white papers (no email opt-in necessary) to find out: https://usvetwealth.com/retirementpay/
• High-3 Calculator https://militarypay.defense.gov/Calculators/High-3-Calculator/

Video Explanations

• Coming soon!

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ANNOUNCEMENT: As of summer 2023, The Spouse Benefit Plan by US VetWealth podcast will be on hiatus. For a continuation of the Survivor Benefit Plan discussion, we invite you to join US VetWealth's FREE resource hub, Military Retirement Blueprint, which also includes a FREE digital copy of Scott R. Tucker's latest book, Don't Forget Your War Chest. Join today by visiting https://usvetwealth.com/war-chest-learning-center-access-the-military-retirement-blueprint/

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Check out our growing list of resources at our website thespousebenefitplan.com or contact Jen at jen@usvetwealth.com

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