Hi, my husband and I have an interesting question we have not found answers to.
How do we calculate our retirement goal (amount needed in savings) having both a military retirement and receiving Social Security?
Some additional info: I am a homemaker and he is retired military. If something happens to him, I don’t get his military retirement (we signed off the SBP).
Thanks so much for any wisdom.
~Mrs. Peterson
Mrs. Peterson, the first thing you and your husband need to do is develop a retirement budget. What do you expect to spend monthly in retirement? Most financial analyst will tell you that you might typically spend about 75% of the pre-retirement amount monthly, but everyone is different and it will depend on your retirement lifestyle. That information will give you the amount you will need monthly in retirement. You can compare the budget amount to the income from Military retirement and Social Security to determine whether you will have enough to live off in retirement. This will also be helpful information in determining when to take social security. Depending on health and longevity, you may want to consider delaying SS to provide a higher income. In many instances the male military service member passes before the spouse allowing the spouse to receive the service members social security if it is higher. Sounds like it will be the case in your circumstance. You are correct, you will not receive your husbands military pension upon his passing, but you might have had insurance or other income sources. I hope this is helpful. There are several veterans programs or banks that can provide financial counseling if you believe it might be helpful.
