National Guard and Reserves Retirement Guide

Members of the Reserve Component (RC), including the Reserves and National Guard, have different retirement eligibility standards than active-duty service members. This difference exists because Reserve and Guard members usually serve part-time and may have civilian careers alongside their military service; as a result, they earn time toward their pension differently. 

We’ve created this guide to showcase the differences between active-duty retirement and RC retirement, including eligibility requirements, how pay is calculated, healthcare options, and more. 

When can you retire from the National Guard/Reserve?

In general, there are two qualifications you must meet to be eligible for Reserve Component retirement benefits:

• Reach age 60
• Serve at least 20 years of qualifying service 

While you can qualify to retire early from the Guard or Reserves by earning qualifying active duty time, turning 60 is generally an important milestone for Guard and Reserve retirees. 

Reaching Age 60

The biggest difference between active duty retirement and Reserve Component retirement is when you can file. Active duty service members can file when their military career ends and they have accumulated 20 years of service. 

Technically, this means someone who enlists at age 18 could start drawing retirement as early as age 38. By contrast, a reservist can only file for retirement at age 60, with a few exceptions, such as qualifying for early retirement.

Before age 60, retired Guard and Reserve members are eligible only for certain retirement benefits, including base access and shopping at the Commissary and Exchanges. If an RC member has 20 qualifying years of service but retires before 60, they are often referred to as a “gray area” retiree. We’ll touch on this more later in the article. 

20 Years of Qualifying Service

For RC members, 20 years of qualifying service usually combines your time on active duty with Good Years in the Guard or Reserves. 

A Good Year is a satisfactory year in the Guard or Reserves that qualifies toward military retirement. Currently, RC members need to earn 50 or more points within an anniversary year to complete a Good Year, although the rules vary depending on when you served.

How many points do you need to retire from the Guard/Reserve?

While there is technically no set number of points you need to retire from the Guard or Reserves, you can use these benchmarks to track your progress.

As previously mentioned, RC members need 50 Points in a year to earn a Good Year toward retirement.

In any given year, an RC member can expect to earn around 75 points or more, depending on drill and annual training participation, whether you were activated, and other factors. While there is no such thing as a “normal year” in the Guard or Reserves, a “base” year might look something like this:

• 15 Points – Annual Participation
• 48 Points – 12 Monthly Drills (4 Drill Periods per month)
• 15 Points – Annual Training (varies based on your unit)
• Additional Points such as training, correspondence courses, Honor Guard, mobilizations, etc.

Your parent service maintains all your points, which count toward calculating your pension. 

Point Tracking 

You can request a copy of your points statement online at any time for free. However, where you retrieve your point statement differs by branch.

Where to Get Point Statements by Branch
Reserve Component Branch	Instructions
Army National Guard	Go to IPPS-A Landing Page (army.mil). Select “HR Professional, then select “View Retirement Points.”
Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard	Go to my.af.mil. Navigate to the Virtual Military Personnel Flight (vMPF), select “Self-Service Actions,” select “Personal Data,” and click “ANG/USAFR Point Credit Summary Inquiry (PCFARS).”
Army Reserve	Review your “Chronicle Retirement Point Statement DA 5016” at www.hrc.army.mil. Select the “My Record” tab to review. Note: CAC card required.
Marine Corps Reserve	Review your “Career Retirement Credit Report” through the Marine Corps’ MOL Portal
Navy Reserve	Review your “Annual Retirement Point Record” (ARPR) at https://www.bol.navy.mil/ARPR/.
Coast Guard Reserve	Go to https://portal.direct-access.us. Click on “My Reserve Points Statement” under the “Employee View” menu.

Let’s look at the types of military pension plans and other factors used in your retirement calculations.

Reserve Component Pension and Retirement Benefits

Like active duty retirement, a Reserve Component retirement includes a monthly pension payment, access to a Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), affordable healthcare, and more. 

Pension and Thrift Savings Plan

Outside of medical military retirement, your retirement plan depends on when you entered service. The most common plans are the Blended Retirement System (BRS), the High 3 (also called High 36), and the REDUX/CSB. 

• Medical Military Retirement (Chapter 61) – For members with 20 qualifying years who have a service-connected disability that prevents them from performing their military duties.
• Blended Retirement System (BRS) – For all current servicemembers and members who opted in before December 31, 2017. 
• High 3 – For servicemembers who entered the military after Sep. 8, 1980. Not available for servicemembers who didn’t opt-in before December 31, 2017. 

• REDUX/CSB – For servicemembers who entered the military after August 1, 1986 but before January 1, 2003 AND who elected to receive the Career Status Bonus (CSB). Not available for servicemembers who didn’t opt in before December 31, 2017. 
  

Servicemembers also have the ability to contribute to a Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), which is similar to a 401(k). Servicemembers who opted into the High 3 and REDUX plans can contribute to their TSPs, but there are no government matching contributions. However, under the Blended Retirement System, the TSP has government matching contributions. Eligible service members can have up to 5% of their contributions matched, creating a great opportunity to build a post-retirement nest egg.

How to Calculate a Reserve Pension

While active-duty retirement is based on years of service, reservist retirement is based on accumulated points, which are then converted to years of service. To convert points to active-service equivalent, divide your total points by 360. 

Calculating an RC retirement can be complex and depends on your points, your retirement plan, and your rank at retirement. To get a general idea, you can use this equation: 

Monthly Retirement Pay = (Total Retirement Points / 360) × Applicable Multiplier × (12 Retired Pay Base) 

Your retired pay base and multiplier depend on the military retirement plan you qualify for. For example, an RC member under the High 3 plan uses the highest 36 months of pay as the retired pay base and a 2.5% multiplier. 

If you have more questions, this guide covers all military retirement plan requirements and their pay equations. 

Like active duty retirement, Reserve Component retirement does not differ by branch; however, commissioned officers may have time in grade requirements that vary by branch. 

Healthcare

While still serving in the National Guard and Reserves, members are eligible for TRICARE Reserve Select (TRS), a premium-based health insurance program. However, you lose TRS eligibility when you retire or otherwise leave the Guard or Reserves. 

Guard and Reserve Retiree Health Care Options
Age	Healthcare Plans
Under 60	TRICARE Retired Reserve
60 to 64	TRICARE PrimeTRICARE Select
65+	TRICARE For Life

When you retire, your military healthcare options depend on your age, where you live, among other factors.

Until age 60, retired Guard and Reserve members must provide their own dental coverage. They can do this through their civilian employer, by purchasing a private insurance plan, or by self-insuring. At age 60, members become eligible for military retiree dental coverage through the FEDVIP.

Other Retirement Benefits

In addition to retaining access to base facilities, RC retirees also have access to: 

• Commissary
• Base Exchanges
• Gyms
• Hobby activities where available, such as the Auto Hobby Shop, Woodworking Shop, MWR facilities, movie theater, etc.
• Space-A Travel
  

These base activities can be a great way to save money, pursue hobbies, and stay connected to the military community.

Benefits for your dependents, including your spouse and children, are similar to when you were on active duty. Spouses and Dependents maintain base access and access to the Commissary, Exchanges, MWR facilities, and other base activities.

You Can Retire Awaiting Pay or Resign

RC members can retire in two ways, and each involves a certain amount of risk. The first option is to “retire awaiting pay.” Over 99.99% of Guard/Reserve retirees choose this option. When you retire awaiting pay, you’re not required to perform duties or maintain readiness in the “gray area” between retirement and the start of your retired pay, but you still risk being recalled to duty in the event of full mobilization.

A full mobilization requires the President and Congress to declare a war that’s bad enough to require the entire armed forces, and it’s more severe than the Presidential mobilization that was declared after 9/11.

Most Guard/Reserve retirees are willing to take this risk because the Department of Defense pays for it. If you retire awaiting pay, your seniority within your rank continues to accumulate, and when you reach your pension start date (generally age 60), your retirement pay is drawn at the active-duty pay table in effect that year. In other words, DoD covers you on both seniority and inflation.

If you’re not willing to accept the risk of a full mobilization, then the only way to avoid it is to resign. You still receive your pension on your pension start date, but at the seniority you had in that rank when you resigned and the pay scale in effect when you resigned.

This may not be much of a difference if you resign at age 59, but if you resign at age 37, you’ll face over two decades of inflation erosion before your pension starts.

What is the average reserve retirement pay?

As stated above, many factors affect retirement, particularly under the Blended Retirement System. The Thrift Savings Plan plays a major role, and estimating the average contribution is difficult. That being said, we’ll walk you through some examples using the average RC member rank at retirement.

According to a 2021 Department of Defense study, most veterans retired at E-7. 

Enlisted 

Using 2026 pay charts under the Blended Retirement System, we can find an average monthly pension for an E-7 RC member with 7,200 points or 20 years of service: 

(Points / 360) converts points to years	x  BRS multiplier	x 2024 E-7 base pay	= Average monthly pension
(7,200 / 360)	x 2.0%	x $6,245.70	= $2,498.28

Therefore, the estimated monthly retirement pay for a Guard/Reserve member with 7,200 points under the BRS would be approximately $2,303.20. Of course, this doesn’t account for the TSP, which, at the point of retirement, hopefully, would have decades of accumulated investment funds. 

Officer

Using the same method, we can estimate an average RC retirement for officers. According to the 2021 study, the most popular military rank at retirement was O-5. 

Using 2024 pay charts, here’s an average monthly pension for an O-5 RC member with 7,200 points or 20 years of service: 

(Points / 360) converts points to years	x  BRS multiplier	x 2024 O-5 base pay	= Average monthly pension
(7,200 / 360)	x 2.0%	x $12,032.70	= $4,813.08

So, not including the TSP amount, estimated monthly retirement pay for an O-5 Guard/Reserve under the Blended Retirement System would be about $4,437.20.

Is a National Guard/Reserve retirement worth it?

Considering all of its benefits, a Guard/Reserve retirement is extremely valuable and could easily be valued at over a million dollars. Serving as a reservist or Guardsman allows you to earn retirement benefits while potentially maintaining a civilian career. There’s even the possibility to earn dual credit, which is the ability to count active duty time toward a military and civilian pension.

Your commitment also lets you serve your country, receive training, and gain invaluable experience.

Ultimately, the decision to pursue a Reserve or Guard retirement should be based on careful consideration of your personal relationships and your current and future personal and professional goals. For those who find value in service and can manage the dual demands of military and civilian life, a Reserve or National Guard retirement can be a profoundly rewarding and worthwhile pursuit.