Projecting your Army Reserve retirement income

By Maj. Alishia Mahatoo, Army Retirement Services, U.S. Army Reserve        April 2026

As you prepare for retirement whether as a Troop Program Unit (TPU) or Active Guard Reserve (AGR) Soldier, understanding how your military retirement pay is calculated is essential. There are four retired pay plans: Final Basic Pay, High-36 or High-3, High-36 or REDUX, and the Blended Retirement System (BRS). Your Date of Initial Entry into Military Service (DIEMS) determines which retirement pay plan applies to you. This is the date you officially entered the military, for a reserve member, DIEMS may differ from your Basic Active Service Date (BASD) and is usually earlier than your Pay Entry Basic Date (PEBD) and never changes.

First, you must complete 20 qualifying years of service, then determine creditable service for percentage purposes which may include credit for active-duty service, inactive duty points, and certain specialty officer schools. Once creditable service is determined, your DIEMS identifies the formula used to calculate retired pay. For non-regular retirement, Years Of Service (YOS) is calculated by your total creditable points divided by 360.

The Retirement Pay Plans:

  1. Final Pay – DIEMS before Sept. 8, 1980. Formula: (Years of calculated service x 2.5%) x final basic pay = retired pay.
  2. High-36 – DIEMS on or after Sept. 8, 1980, and before

July 31, 1986. Formula: (Years of calculated service x 2.5%) x average highest 36 months of basic pay = retired pay.

  1. High-36 or REDUX – DIEMS on or after Aug. 1, 1986 -

Dec. 31, 2017. Soldiers with a DIEMS during this period were automatically covered under the High-36 retired pay plan. Retired pay for Soldiers who elected and received the 30,000 Career Status Bonus (CSB) are calculated under the REDUX formula. Formula: ([Years of creditable service x 2.5%] minus 1% for each year under 30 years) x the average of the highest 36 months of basic pay = retired pay.

  1. Blended Retirement System (BRS) - DIEMS on or after

Jan. 1, 2018 and those who opted into BRS. Formula: (Years of creditable service x 2%) x average of highest 36 months of basic pay = retired pay.

Medical Retirement:

Soldiers in the Medical Evaluation Board (MEB)/Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) process may be medically retired. There are two ways of calculating retirement pay, with the Soldier receiving the higher amount. Length of service formula (Final Pay, High-36, or BRS) or it’s based on their disability percentage.

Additionally, Soldiers on the Temporary Disability Retired List (TDRL) will not receive less than 50% of their 36-month average basic pay; however, when the Soldier is placed on the Permanent Disability Retired List (PDRL), the minimum percentage is 30%. Soldiers who received CSB do not repay it and their pay is calculated under High-36. Also, to receive Concurrent Receipt (CR) you must have 20 qualifying years and a VA disability rating of 50% or greater to receive both your retired pay and VA disability compensation without offset, based on your length of service retired pay.

The Army’s updated retirement calculator which provides personalized estimates based on DIEMS, retirement points, rank, and projected service can be accessed via the link below.

MyArmyBenefits Retirement Calculator:

https://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/NEW-Benefit- Calculators/Retirement-Calculator.

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