HPSP Time towards retirement

[Slevin]

I was reading on the MODS website

Q: Does HPSP Time Count for Retirement?
A: Yes you get one year of HPSP good for retirement for every year in the Selected Reserves. No credit given if you are in active duty.

All information points to Title 10 of the US Code Specifically subsection 2126 :

Note You need to be in the Selected Reserves.

The selected reserves is defined as (from globalsecurity.org):
The Selected Reserve [Selres] is the most readily available group of Army Reserve Soldiers. The Selected Reserve is comprised of Troop Program Units (TPUs), Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) Soldiers and Individual Mobilization Augmentees (IMAs). In the event of an emergency, all members of the Selected Reserve can be mobilized. Selected Reserve is comprised of: Reserve/Guard Units: Unit members are Guard/Reserve personnel assigned to Reserve organizations, and perform in drill periods & annual training as a minimum Individual Mobilization Augmentees (IMAs): Reserve personnel assigned to Active component organizations; perform in drill periods and annual training. Active Guard/Reserve (AGR): Reserve personnel on full-time active duty or full-time National Guard duty to provide support to the Reserve Components. All Members of the Selected Reserve are in an active status. --10 USC 10143

More info on DOD Instruction Number 1215.07

So what does it all mean: If you're an HPSP recipient, complete your initial active duty obligation, and then go into the regular reserves (TPU), IMA reserves, or national guard, you can get one HPSP year with 50 points good for retirement for each year in the SELRES.

I'm a little confused.

So does this mean that once I complete my active duty commitment and I decide to go into the reserves for every year I serve in the reserves I get a year of my HPSP time to count towards retirement?

So that:
4 years prior service
7 years AD commitment
11 years total active duty commitment

Leaving 9 years for retirement

Then I decide to go into the reserves and serve a total of 5 years in the reserves that will give me:

5 years reserves
4 years credit towards HPSP
9 years total

So that I'll only have to serve a total of 16 years to qualify for retirement benefits? Am I reading this correctly?

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[BamaMedik]

I was reading on the MODS website



I'm a little confused.

So does this mean that once I complete my active duty commitment and I decide to go into the reserves for every year I serve in the reserves I get a year of my HPSP time to count towards retirement?

So that:
4 years prior service
7 years AD commitment
11 years total active duty commitment

Leaving 9 years for retirement

Then I decide to go into the reserves and serve a total of 5 years in the reserves that will give me:

5 years reserves
4 years credit towards HPSP
9 years total

So that I'll only have to serve a total of 16 years to qualify for retirement benefits? Am I reading this correctly?

Well I think HPSP students are IRR which is inactive ready reserve. Which means IRR time does not count for retirement or points. I think the only thing that might even remotely count for retirement is the 45 days ADT we do every year and that would be just a drop in the pond. I could be wrong but I think that's how it works. I've spent a few years on active duty, as an active reservists and as an inactive reservist before. I was always told IRR time doesn't count for anything. Maybe somebody else can clarify. Hope that helps a little.


Navy HPSP
3rd Yr.

 

[Yellowstone]

Well I think HPSP students are IRR which is inactive ready reserve. Which means IRR time does not count for retirement or points. I think the only thing that might even remotely count for retirement is the 45 days ADT we do every year and that would be just a drop in the pond. I could be wrong but I think that's how it works. I've spent a few years on active duty, as an active reservists and as an inactive reservist before. I was always told IRR time doesn't count for anything. Maybe somebody else can clarify. Hope that helps a little.

You get a point per day while on ADT. I believe you need 50 points to get a 'good year' to count towards retirement, but you also get 15 points free for any type of status. So as long as your annual training as a student was at least 35 days, you should have enough points to count towards a 'good year' for retirement. Also note that each 'year' is not a calendar year or a fiscal year, but depends on when you first joined. The rules are mighty complicated, so the above may not be entirely accurate.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

I was reading on the MODS website



I'm a little confused.

So does this mean that once I complete my active duty commitment and I decide to go into the reserves for every year I serve in the reserves I get a year of my HPSP time to count towards retirement?

So that:
4 years prior service
7 years AD commitment
11 years total active duty commitment

Leaving 9 years for retirement

You would have nine years additional for the minimum service accumulated for an active-duty retirement.

Then I decide to go into the reserves and serve a total of 5 years in the reserves that will give me:

5 years reserves

Assuming these were all "good" years, you would have five years credit toward a reserve retirement, which is a much less generous retirement than is an active-duty retirement.

4 years credit towards HPSP

No.

HPSP time is counted into the total time served when calculating the retirement benefit; it does not count toward service time credit for the first 20 years needed to qualify for an active-duty retirement (mind you, it once did, before the DOPMA changes went into play almost a generation ago; then HPSP gave you credit toward the first 20.)

9 years total

So, not 9 years total. 5 years total, for a reserve retirement.

So that I'll only have to serve a total of 16 years to qualify for retirement benefits? Am I reading this correctly?

You need to understand that there is a substantial difference between an active-duty career retirement benefit and a reserve career retirement. The money is definitely not the same. (Not that a 20-year active duty retirement is enough for someone in medicine to retire on even with modest expectations, but a reserve retirement amounts to a lot less than that.)

 

[Charlie0318]

What is the difference between active duty and reserve retirement?

I have been looking around and have had trouble getting a clear picture.

 

[NavyFP]

What is the difference between active duty and reserve retirement?

I have been looking around and have had trouble getting a clear picture.

For AD you get 2.5% per year and you must serve a minimum of 20 years to be eligible for a retirement.

For a Reserve Retirement, it is a point system.

For every day spent on Active Duty - 1 point.
For every drill (4 drills in a reserve weekend) - 1 point.
For every year on the Reserve books (Active or IRR) - 15 points
Certain military classes and correspondence courses offer reserve points as well in varying numbers.

You need a certain number of points in any given calendar year to make it a "good" year, and you need 20 good years to qualify for a reserve retirement.

When you hit age 60 (ish, there are ways to reduce that number.) they add up all of the points, divide by 365 and multiply by 2.5%. This will be the percentage of base pay you receive for the rest of your life.

If you were a drilling reservist who only did your 12 weekends and 2 weeks a year for 20 years (no recalls, no deployments, no other active time) that would be 77 points/year for a total of 1540 points. Divided by 365 would give you 4.21 active equivalent and you would get 10.25% of base pay per month.

If you retired an O5 at 20 that would amount to a monthly check of about $800 per month. Not bad for meeting the minimum requirement. If you have active time, deployments, IRR time after select reserve time, all would add to the percentage you get. Most reservists get 20-30% of base pay when they retire, because many have prior active service and they will have deployments and such.

 

[Charlie0318]

Interesting. Thank you for breaking that down for me

Do both reserve and active duty get full health care (tricare) benefits for themselves and dependants then on top of the % of salary they get? Or is that also different?

 

[NavyFP]

Interesting. Thank you for breaking that down for me

Do both reserve and active duty get full health care (tricare) benefits for themselves and dependants then on top of the % of salary they get? Or is that also different?

Reservists have the same benfits as active duty retirees. They just have to wait until 60 to use them.