How to Use the Regular Military Compensation Calculator for Retirement
The Regular Military Compensation Calculator is a little-known yet effective tool for understanding your full active duty compensation. When preparing for military retirement or transitioning from active duty, this calculator can help you compare expectations for civilian pay.
Why Use Military Compensation Calculator?
Service members and retired veterans receive a monthly leave and earnings statement showing their pay and benefits. Since these are monthly allotments and the annual military pay increases are announced monthly, most don’t think about their benefits every year.
The Military Compensation Calculator will help you do that in a few minutes to have a proper perspective on your value in the civilian world. Â
Some questions that Active Duty Military Families also ask
How much do I make in the military?
There are two easy ways to determine your military pay. You can calculate your monthly income by reading your leave and earnings statement (LES) or look at it annually using the Regular Military Pay Calculator, as shown in this video. It’s also important to consider how much your military retirement pension will be worth if you are serving a 20-year career.
What’s Missing From Your SBP vs Life Insurance Decision?
Most military families leave money on the table because they don’t know their options. Download the guide to discover the War Chest Strategy—the smarter alternative to SBP.
How does military pay compare to civilian pay?
It’s a common mistake to compare military and civilian pay because it doesn’t take into account the plethora of social services associated with a military career. When compared directly, salaries often look better on the civilian side. However, that doesn’t count paid health and dental services, extra travel, PCS compensation, etc.
How much does the military pay after 4 years?
You can easily estimate the potential increases in military compensation by looking at the 2025 Military Pay Charts.
Which military branch pays the most?
Technically, the level of income services members pay is determined by their rank and time in service, not by branch. However, some branches offer more financial opportunities than others in the form of access to schooling, permissive travel pay, and various hazard duty pay.
Can you get rich in the military?
Define rich. Is saving A LOT of money during a 20-year career possible? Yes, but most spend it before considering how to use it productively. There are plenty of stories of active duty military achieving financial independence, And this takes tremendous sacrifice. Use the Regular Military Compensation Calculator to understand how much you could save over a 20-year military career!
How do I prepare financially for post-military life?
At US VetWealth, we created a strategy called the Transition Savings Plan and wrote about it in our free eBook, which you can download here. The difference between our strategy and the traditional military financial planning model is that we aren’t focused on helping you save for retirement.
In fact, that is the trap for transitioning service members. If they have managed to save money for their future, it’s usually locked into retirement accounts that aren’t helpful when needed—at transition or military retirement. Don’t fall into this trap; learn how to calculate military retirement pay before you transition or retire!
Schedule a FREE consultation today to see if a private pension strategy is better for your future.
