Early retirement is an option that's available not only to civilians, but to those serving the country in the military as well. In the private sector, retirement is often reserved for those that are somewhere between about 55 and 65; for those serving in the armed forces, an early military retirement can be obtained much earlier than this. There are some advantages to this that a retired military member can make use of. As said before, early military retirement can be obtained at a young age. Starting at 20 years of service, a member can retire from the military with benefits equal to 50% of his pay in service. These benefits increase each year, until the 30-year mark, where the maximum benefit of 75% of pay can be reached. However, taking advantage of early military retirement when it first becomes available means that a military member can retire even before reaching 40, comparatively young compared to other retirees.
Use Your Knowledge
With more than two decades before the traditional retirement age, someone taking advantage of early military retirement has many options they can take advantage of in their life. With their military experience and whatever training they've received, a job in the private sector should be easy to obtain, or even a job in the civil service if they would like to continue to work for the government. They have another 25 years to work on savings for their final retirement, but they also have the advantage of extra income to live more comfortably or to be able to devote more cash towards savings. Thanks to early military retirement, jobs that would merely be considered okay to support a family will allow them to live comfortably.
No More Moving
Military families are famous for moving a lot, but taking advantage of early military retirement allows a family to settle down in one place. Given that when a person reaches his 40s, his children are likely to be around high school age, and this means the kids can finish their education in one area and enjoy the benefits of socializing without moving away from friends after a year or two. Given the military pension a person would receive, finding a home should be easy, and planning for purchase of that home is a snap since a military retiree will have regular income. The extra money from the pension, as with the working world, will be the key to the person who chooses early military retirement, an advantage that is hard to pass up whether it's for a change in lifestyle or just to settle down.
