Retirement Benefit Changes For Military Members?

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was recently asked about news reports that the Pentagon was considering reducing military retirement benefits, which, along with military health costs, have ballooned in recent years.

Though those payments have been considered “sacrosanct,” or part of the bargain the nation makes with those who protect it, the economic and debt crises have put those issues squarely in the crosshairs.

A private sector advisory panel last month drafted a plan to eliminate the current system under which those who retire with 20 years of service get immediate, lifetime payments of some 50 percent of their salaries, ramping up to 87.5 percent for 35 years of service.

Those with less than 20 years get nothing.

The advisory panel found that 83 percent of people who have served get nothing, and that for this budget year the government contribution to military retirement benefits will be $46 billion.

Though the report is not complete and it is non-binding at any rate, the board recommended the system be scrapped and replaced with a 401K-type defined contribution plan, grandfathering in the disabled and retirees.

“It’s the kind of thing you have to consider,” Panetta said.

He quickly added that it must have a grandfather clause so the government does not “break faith” with the military force.

El Paso veteran Walter Warren said he would be wary of any changes for future enlistees.

“The proposals they made to service members in the past guaranteed a lot more than we ended up seeing,” he told ABC-7.

Veteran Ronald Taylor said a 401K-style plan would be all right with him, as long as the government contributes its reasonable share.

“You have to understand, you have less than one percent of this nation’s citizens defending this country,” he said. “They deserve a little something special.”