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USAFR - Medically Retire vs. 20 year Retirement


Tank

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All,

So I am having hip replacement surgery in March and because of the surgery, I am going to meet a MEB.  My question is; which do you think is financially smarter?

-  30% medically retire as an O-5 with 15.5 years of service and starting at the age of 41

-  Retire at 20 years as an O-5 and not start collecting the retirement until the age of 58

 

I already have my airline job and it would be nice to only have one job but I want to do what's financially smarter.

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37 minutes ago, Guardian said:

Does hanging it up cause issues with the civi job? To include are you allowed to take VA money and still be an airline pilot?

No problems with my airline job.  You can be 100% disabled with the VA and be medically retired from the military and still hold a Class 1.  The only real disqualifying factors with the FAA deals with your heart and brain (i.e. PTSD, stroke, heart attack, etc...).

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9 hours ago, Tank said:

All,

So I am having hip replacement surgery in March and because of the surgery, I am going to meet a MEB.  My question is; which do you think is financially smarter?

-  30% medically retire as an O-5 with 15.5 years of service and starting at the age of 41

-  Retire at 20 years as an O-5 and not start collecting the retirement until the age of 58

 

I already have my airline job and it would be nice to only have one job but I want to do what's financially smarter.

Are you sure its 30%?  Take the MEB and run, you will get your annuity immediately and TRICARE, the VA may rate you higher and you could potentially make more money.

Scroll down to hip replacement, looks like 30% in the end, it also says TDRL, which means they can put you back on active duty if you get better.

http://www.militarydisabilitymadeeasy.com/hipandthigh.html

 

Edited by matmacwc
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Why are they giving you a medical retirement for a hip replacement?  I had a hip replacement 10 years ago, and was back on flying status in 4 months.  Is there more to the story?

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13 hours ago, HuggyU2 said:

Why are they giving you a medical retirement for a hip replacement?  I had a hip replacement 10 years ago, and was back on flying status in 4 months.  Is there more to the story?

Per the ortho doc and some obscure medical AFI, I’ll be meeting a MEB and a hip replacement is now 30% med retirement if the med board wants to pursue that route.  

Chances of the med board pursuing that route are probably slim to none since I’m a pilot but I’m checking all options if and when they’re given to me.  

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And food for thought, you will be getting 30% of the base pay of a LtCol at 15.5 years (more likely 16.5 after the process) in your retirement.   You will not be able to collect VA and DoD retirement concurrently unless the hip damage was cause in a combat zone (or caused be an instrument of combat), my guess is the VA pay will be around $500 a month and the DoD pay will be about $2000 a month, so a grand total of $2K a  month with $500 tax free (VA math, trust me).

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4 hours ago, matmacwc said:

And food for thought, you will be getting 30% of the base pay of a LtCol at 15.5 years (more likely 16.5 after the process) in your retirement.   You will not be able to collect VA and DoD retirement concurrently unless the hip damage was cause in a combat zone (or caused be an instrument of combat), my guess is the VA pay will be around $500 a month and the DoD pay will be about $2000 a month, so a grand total of $2K a  month with $500 tax free (VA math, trust me).

The hip was not caused in a combat zone but was made worse, which is now the reason for the surgery, while in a combat zone.  

I would be able to keep both medical retirement and VA pay as long as I have above 50% total VA Disability correct?  

I know it’s that way with actual retirement but not sure in regards to medical retirement.   

Anybody smart on this?

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I am, and no, you cannot keep both sources of pay.  The combat zone aggravation will give you a tax break on the DoD retirement pay.  Concurrent receipt (keeping both sets of pay in total) takes more than 50% disability AND a 20 year letter.  I think they will find you fit, if not, only temp retirement.

Edited by matmacwc
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1 hour ago, matmacwc said:

I am, and no, you cannot keep both sources of pay.  The combat zone aggravation will give you a tax break on the DoD retirement pay.  Concurrent receipt (keeping both sets of pay in total) takes more than 50% disability AND a 20 year letter.  I think they will find you fit, if not, only temp retirement.

Thanks, I appreciate the help.  

I’m thinking the same thing that they’ll find me fit, especially considering the pilot shortage right now.  

I would have never thought of a medical retirement if it wasn’t for the ortho doc talking to me about it.  That’s why I asked the questions I did because I’m not smart on it.  

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No, they'll find you fit because you can "fully" recover from one of these surgeries.  It is still possible they will give you 50% disability (minimum for TDRL) for temp retirement and when they re-evaluate you in a a year or two bring you back to active duty.  IF you're a fighter guy you might be able to fight for permanent retirement because of the difficulty of getting in and out of a fighter cockpit, your CC will help draft that letter.  They won't retrain you at this point, but might give you a desk job.  The MEB process will take at least a year, maybe 1.5 and you'll be doing a lot of healing and little working during that time.  Don't forget to file for SSDI once you have the surgery, you never know, they might approve it.  Yes, you can collect active duty pay and SSDI at the same time.

Shoot, just figured out you are a part timer, make them put you on MEDCON orders while you go through all of this, make sure you have an LOD first.  IF they scoff, at least try for INCAP pay.  pebforms.com is your friend.  

Edited by matmacwc
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16 minutes ago, matmacwc said:

No, they'll find you fit because you can "fully" recover from one of these surgeries.  It is still possible they will give you 50% disability (minimum for TDRL) for temp retirement and when they re-evaluate you in a a year or two bring you back to active duty.  IF you're a fighter guy you might be able to fight for permanent retirement because of the difficulty of getting in and out of a fighter cockpit, your CC will help draft that letter.  They won't retrain you at this point, but might give you a desk job.  The MEB process will take at least a year, maybe 1.5 and you'll be doing a lot of healing and little working during that time.  Don't forget to file for SSDI once you have the surgery, you never know, they might approve it.  Yes, you can collect active duty pay and SSDI at the same time.

Shoot, just figured out you are a part timer, make them put you on MEDCON orders while you go through all of this, make sure you have an LOD first.  IF they scoff, at least try for INCAP pay.  pebforms.com is your friend.  

LOD already approved by AFRC and just applied for 180 days of MEDCON to cover my surgery and rehab time.  

Thanks!

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