(This article by Latayne C. Scott originally appeared in the September 2025 issue of Military Officer, a magazine available to all MOAA Premium and Life members, who can log in to access our digital version and archive. Basic members can save on a membership upgrade and access the magazine.)

People often speak of future retirement as a time when you cash out as a winner because you’ve played your cards right. And significantly, military officers’ benefits deal them a strong hand.

“I think military health care is an ace in the hole for would-be early retirees,” according to Lila Quintiliani, MOAA’s program director for financial and benefits education/counseling. “It’s an advantage that no one in the civilian world has.”

But, she warned, even this advantage has potential pitfalls.

“I have encountered a handful of retirees who resisted enrolling in Medicare because they thought they would get care at the VA or they were grandfathered into the US Family Health Plan. Then later, they moved or changed their mind and were socked with a permanent penalty on their Part B premium,” said Quintiliani, who is a chartered financial consultant and an accredited financial counselor (AFC).

“I talked to one gentleman who was getting married at 70 and moving out of the boundaries of the US Family Health Plan because his bride lived in another state. He was going to be paying a lifetime 50% penalty on his Medicare Part B premium,” she added.

[RELATED: Medicare Trustees Report Estimates Next 9 Years of Part B Premiums]

Health care is one of the most crucial financial elements in retirement, and there are several factors to consider. Quintiliani detailed some of those:

• Approximately 70% of people turning 65 will need long-term care services during their lifetime, but neither Medicare nor TRICARE For Life (TFL) covers long-term care.
  
  
• Many retired servicemembers don’t realize their entitlement to TRICARE ends at midnight on the last day of the month before they turn 65. To qualify for TFL, they must enroll in Medicare parts A and B.
  
  
• A distribution from a traditional retirement account is counted as taxable income.
  
  
• Retired pay is also taxable income.
  
  
• While TFL is free, Medicare does have a monthly premium, and high earners face a potential surcharge known as the income-related monthly adjustment amount. That figure is based off the modified adjusted gross income from one’s last recorded tax return, which is two years prior.
  
  
• Some retirees might be eligible for care through the VA, but that care is unavailable for spouses. In addition, VA nursing homes often have limited space.
  
  

[PREMIUM/LIFE MEMBER EXCLUSIVE: Transitioning Into Medicare and TRICARE For Life]

Careful planning can pay off, Quintiliani said.

“A military retiree who has planned well and can live off their military pension plus VA disability pay plus investments could easily retire in their 40s because they don’t have to worry about health care, other than covering TRICARE premiums, deductibles, and copays, which are a fraction of what they would be in a civilian insurance plan.”

Choose Your Lifestyle

To retire completely, you must consider what your income and expenses will be. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this, but you should consider these two questions: At what age do you want to retire? And what kind of lifestyle — frugal, as-is, or bucket-list — do you envision?

“Most people need between 55% and 80% of their preretirement income to maintain their current lifestyle,” said Capt. Paul J. Frost, AFC, USN (Ret), MOAA’s program director for financial and benefits education/counseling/veterans services.

[RELATED: Guard and Reserve Retirement: What to Do at Age 60]

But to achieve that range, military retirement pay and Social Security won’t be enough without supplemental income.

To maintain the same standard of living upon retirement, Frost recommended having a minimum financial portfolio goal of “25 times your desired supplement.” For example, he said, “if you believe you’ll need $40,000 to supplement your sources of income each year, your financial portfolio goal should be $1 million.”

Frost also said prospective retirees should ask themselves:

• Have I considered the tax implications of my investment portfolio and income sources?
• What will be my future required minimum distributions (RMD) from any individual retirement accounts and 401(k) plans?
• Should I consider rolling traditional retirement accounts to Roth accounts that do not require RMDs? What would be the best timing for that to happen to reduce the tax burden?
  
  

To achieve your goal, Frost and Quintiliani both strongly urge engaging a financial planner, particularly a fee-only professional.

[RELATED: The Basics on Finding Professional Planning Help]

Financial consultancies also offer free advice online. For instance, Fidelity Investments gives this metric for saving through a military career: Aim to save at least one times your salary by age 30, three times by age 40, six times by 50, eight times by 60, and 10 times by 67.

“This is good advice,” said Brig. Gen. Greg Zanetti, USA (Ret), a financial advisor and fiduciary. “The method of the saving is the hard part.”

Zanetti knows first-hand about financial ups and downs. After building a successful investment advisor business, he was assigned deputy commander for Joint Task Force Guantanamo — perhaps good for the country, but not so much for his financial plans.

“I had to sell my business,” Zanetti said. “It is hard to take care of clients from Cuba.”

Assistant Secretary of State Brian Hook, center, receives a briefing from Joint Task Force Guantanamo deputy commander Brig. Gen. Gregory Zanetti, USA, right, and Capt. Gregory Rismiller, USN, on Aug. 29, 2008. (State Department photo)

Because of the “significant” loss of income and the fact that a noncompete clause didn’t allow him to return to his business in his home state, his financial plans were upended, he said.

But thanks to his experience in the Army and at the Pentagon, he was eventually hired by “one of the richest men in the world” to help manage that person’s assets, he said. From there, he got a solid grasp on what he calls “big money” and the way wealth flows.

‘Agility Is Key’

“My belief is the conventional ‘rules of investing’ are no longer working,” Zanetti said. “I believe a post-World War II financial structure is changing … at lightning speed.”

He forecasts a “disruptive” transition of great investment opportunities. In the short term, he sees more inflation as the U.S., Europe, and Asia “are all hitting the debt wall.” Devalued currencies will lead to higher prices to be countered by investing in “low tech” things like natural resources, energy, precious metals, and other “hard assets,” he added.

He also believes that flow will reverse, favoring newer technologies such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology. Once this trend gets underway, more traditional investment strategies will work again, he added.

[RELATED: Why You Should Review Your Retiree Account Statement Every Month]

What does this mean for investors in the military, among others?

“Agility is key,” Zanetti said. “Do not become a slave to an orthodoxy. In other words, do not believe what worked for the past 40 to 50 years will work for the next 40 to 50 years.”

Choose Your Own Adventure

Transitions are inherent to military service. Fortunately, DoD’s Office of Financial Readiness offers military personnel extensive financial training from entry into service right up until their career transition. This includes access to personal financial counselors.

Some who have taken advantage of the training retake classes during their military careers in order to keep up with financial changes and to glean new strategies for retirement.

As the actual retirement date approaches, leaving details to the last minute can cause unwelcome financial strains. Some servicemembers assume VA benefits will automatically kick in upon retirement. But like many other governmental processes, the timeline for application approval can be uncertain and frustrating — and leave a servicemember without those benefits for a period of time after retirement.

[PREMIUM/LIFE MEMBER EXCLUSIVE: MOAA’s Guard and Reserve Retirement Guide]

Another moving part of retirement and its effect on personal finances is where you plan to retire. A recent survey by online financial publication GOBankingRates highlighted the enormous differences between retiring in the least expensive state, West Virginia. The annual cost of living was estimated at $50,954, and annual expenditures after Social Security came to $28,517. You would need $712,913 in savings to retire there.

Contrast that with Hawaii, with an annual cost of living at $110,921 and annual expenditures after Social Security reaching $88,483. You would need more than $2.2 million of savings to retire on the islands.

But retirement isn’t just about geography. Consider more far-reaching goals.

“For those who feel comfortable about their financial situation — as many MOAA members do — they also begin to consider their legacy,” Frost said. “Are they looking to leave a legacy for their children or grandchildren, to their church or other beneficiary? If this is important to the member, I would tell them to consider seeking an independent financial advisor if they didn’t already have one. In addition to financial advice, they can typically recommend an estate or trust professional to ensure your legacy is set up to your wishes.”

[RELATED: Make a Difference for Those in Need ... and Save on Medicare Premiums?]

Then there’s “an alternate strategy,” said Cmdr. Jim Tritten, USN (Ret).

Tritten, a published and award-winning writer, is well known in the Albuquerque, N.M., area for his dedication to veterans, especially those with service in Vietnam and subsequent wars, coaching them in weekly sessions on how to write about their experiences. For Tritten, satisfaction trumps additional income.

“The most satisfying volunteer work I did in my post-career years was to work with an individual who had spent most of his adult life incarcerated,” he said. “I helped him break that cycle, and he is now a hands-on volunteer working with other individuals like him. Helping yourself while helping others is a win-win strategy for what to do in your post-work years.

“Give something different a chance. Boldly go explore new worlds. Meet new people. Try new activities. You may just find that your most important contributions to society will occur when you least expect it … after you stop working for money. Give an alternative exit strategy a chance.”

Latayne C. Scott is a writer in Albuquerque, N.M., who teaches The Biopedia Method.