The Blended Retirement System

In the not-to-distant past, the majority of employers offered a pension to their employees.  Over time, employers moved away from offering pensions because of their overwhelming costs to the employer. Those companies began adding matching funds to employee saving as they phased out pensions.  However, the US government retained the pension model for military members and over time made the TSP available to the military as well. However, there was no employer match offered since career military still can access a pension passing 20 years. This retirement model has begun to change.

The Department of Defense has introduced a new retirement system called the Blended Retirement System (BRS) which became effective in 2018; most current service members may retain the previous system. The link below shows the high points, but there are a few major takeaways: 

1)  20 percent cut retirement annuity (moving away from pension model)

2)  Some employer matching in TSP (moving toward 401K model)

3)  Mid-career continuation pay (force shaping tool to promote retention)

BRS was introduced for two main reasons.  First, to compensate service members who don't stay for retirement. And second, to save the government money.  Some of the details are in the link below:    

http://militarypay.defense.gov/BlendedRetirement/