National Guard Military Pay high 36 calculation

matthewsnyder82

PEB Forum Regular Member
Registered Member
Hello thread,

So I received my retirement brief today and was told something that may or may not be accurate and I hope this helps others out.

I have 20.5 Guard Years for pay
I have 13.3 years of active service within those 20.5 years.

I was told today that my High 36 will be calculated not off of my 20.5 years, but off of the 13.3 years.

so 2019, 2018, and 2017 pay charts I would have to reference my pay grade at what it would have been with 13 years of service in 2019, 12 years of service in 2018, and 11 years of service in 2017.

As you can guess this is a rather significant change. When I went through the soldier transition program all three instructors had us, all in the same situation, use our total years and not our active duty points to calculate high 36.

Which way is the correct way?
 
Hello,

“The retired pay base for a qualified reserve retirement under the High-36 retirement plan is the total amount of monthly basic pay to which the member was entitled during the member's high-36 months divided by 36. This includes months to which the member would have been entitled if the member had served on active duty during the entire period. Usually this will be the average of the 36 months for the member's pay grade and years of service taken from the pay tables in effect for the 36 months immediately preceding the date that retired pay begins, regardless of when the member stopped participation (i.e. went into the gray area).”
DoD web site LINK <—-

This might be helpful:

The Department of Defense has introduced a new "legacy" High-3 Retirement Calculator to help members (Active Duty and Reserve) under the high-3 retirement system to estimate their retired pay. This is the first widely-available calculator that allows Reservists to estimate their non-regular retired pay. It also takes into account reduced-age retirement (although the user will have to know how much reduction he/she will get) and other
factors. https://militarypay.defense.gov/Calculators/High-3-Calculator/ <—-Link

Ron
cc: @Guardguy11
 
Ron is the man... and of course is correct. You are getting bad information at your retirement brief. Was that briefing held at finance? If so, print out the data from the links Ron provided and go back to get a new retirement briefing.
 
guards
Hello thread,

So I received my retirement brief today and was told something that may or may not be accurate and I hope this helps others out.

I have 20.5 Guard Years for pay
I have 13.3 years of active service within those 20.5 years.

I was told today that my High 36 will be calculated not off of my 20.5 years, but off of the 13.3 years.

so 2019, 2018, and 2017 pay charts I would have to reference my pay grade at what it would have been with 13 years of service in 2019, 12 years of service in 2018, and 11 years of service in 2017.

As you can guess this is a rather significant change. When I went through the soldier transition program all three instructors had us, all in the same situation, use our total years and not our active duty points to calculate high 36.

Which way is the correct way?
guardsman use points to calculate retired multiplier , while using the high-3 average to get the base pay =

guard retirements use the active retirement fundamentals but add the pre calculation of (members points) / (365 good year points) = this sum then * 2.5% for your retirement multiplier .... then finish retirement calculations as normal

Use me if i retired TODAY as a hypothetical = I have 6949 points TO THE DAY currently (19 years and 2 weeks active duty day points)
6949 pts / 365 pts = 19.03 years * 2.5% = 47.5 % retirement multiplier times my last 36 month average all at E-7 pay

Did this help?
 
Last edited:
guards

guardsman use points to calculate retired multiplier , while using the high-3 average to get the base pay =

guard retirements you the active retirement fundamentals but add the pre calculation of (members points) / (365 good year points) = this sum then * 2.5% for your retirement multiplier .... then finish retirement calculations as normal

Use me if i retired TODAY as a hypothetical = I have 6494 points TO THE DAY currently (19 years and 2 weeks active duty day points)
6949 pts / 365 pts = 19.03 years * 2.5% = 47.5 % retirement multiplier times my last 36 month average all at E-7 pay

Did this help?

Just FYI to you that finance uses 360 as the calcuation versus 365. So you actually have 19.30 years! :)

Also, I guess I forgot to ask, @matthewsnyder82, are you doing a normal guard retirement and VA or a disability retirement?
 
Just FYI to you that finance uses 360 as the calcuation versus 365. So you actually have 19.30 years! :)

Also, I guess I forgot to ask, @matthewsnyder82, are you doing a normal guard retirement and VA or a disability retirement?
oops, I defaulted to 365 days in a year because I failed to check my reference. Thanks for the correction
 
I understand that. My issues was with the high 36 calculations. Here is my following information.

13.3 years active federal service
20.6 years total service in the national guard
Given 70% perm DoD disability

I was told by the retirement service office
Just FYI to you that finance uses 360 as the calcuation versus 365. So you actually have 19.30 years! :)

Also, I guess I forgot to ask, @matthewsnyder82, are you doing a normal guard retirement and VA or a disability retirement?





I am doing a disability retirement DoD 70%
 
You can retire at the higher of your DoD rating or service multiplier if you are being medically retired.
 
I understand that. My issues was with the high 36 calculations. Here is my following information.

13.3 years active federal service
20.6 years total service in the national guard
Given 70% perm DoD disability

I was told by the retirement service office


I am doing a disability retirement DoD 70%

Well you good sir are right in the butterzone! Since you are over 20 years and have over 50% VA Disability, you are eligible for concurrent retirement and VA disability pay. @RonG is our resident guru on calculating that stuff. As a national guardsman, it make sense financially to take the 70% DOD rating because there is no way at 20 years of service you are going to beat that percentage. If you give ron your date of rank, and what rank you are, it will help him calculate your high 3. With that, he should be able to give you a solid number you can look forward to.
 
Re: High Three, DoD Computations

The Department of Defense has introduced a new "legacy" High-3 Retirement Calculator to help members (Active Duty and Reserve) under the high-3 retirement system to estimate their retired pay. This is the first widely-available calculator that allows Reservists to estimate their non-regular retired pay. It also takes into account reduced-age retirement (although the user will have to know how much reduction he/she will get) and other
factors. Military Compensation > Calculators > High-3 Calculator <—-Link

A retiree such as myself, who retired years ago, will not be able to use the the High-3 Retirement Calculator. It appears to be a good tool for those eligible to use it. It is on a DoD site.

Ron
 
Re: Understanding Guard and Reserve Points

Reference: DoD web site LINK <—-
[start of quotation]

Years of Service
There are 3 categories for determining years of creditable service that have applicability to the computation of reserve (non-regular) retired pay. One for determining when an individual is entitled to retired pay, one for determining the applicable active duty base pay upon which to compute retired pay, and one for determining the retired pay percentage multiplier. For reserve retirements these are generally different.

The first category we shall call- Years of Service for Retirement Entitlement. This category of years of service includes each one year period in which the person has been credited with at least 50 points, as follows:

  • 1 point for each day of active service
  • 1 point for each attendance at a drill period
  • 1 point for each day of performing funeral honors duty
  • 15 points for each year of membership in a reserve component
Generally, a member retiring with a Reserve (non-regular) retirement must have 20 years of service for entitlement and they will receive a letter from their Service advising when this criteria has been met.

The second category we shall call- Years of Service for Pay Base. When combined with pay grade, YOS for pay base, determines the active duty pay entitlement by defining the appropriate pay table cell, e.g. E-4 over 6 years of service. This category of years of service includes all periods of active service and all periods of Reserve or National Guard service counted day for day. A unique feature of Reserve retirement is that the pay base is determined as though the reserve member were serving on active duty immediately prior to retirement, thus the years of service continue to accumulate even after the member has entered the retired reserve and continue until they actually begin receiving such pay (usually age 60).

The third category we shall call- Years of Service for Retired Pay Percentage Multiple. YOS for retirement percentage multiple determines the years of service for computing the retired pay multiplier. This category of years of service includes all periods of active service (counted as one point for each day) plus all points earned through qualifying reserve duty, not exceeding annual limits, divided by 360. [end of quotation]

Comment: Recommend confirming through an official source your total points and the conversion before one retires.
------

Although the web page linked below is non-DoD, it provides a good narrative about Guard and Reserve points.

Guard and Reserve Points LINK <----


Ron
 
CRDP, Guard and Reserves

Reference: DoD 7000.14-R Financial Management Regulation
VOLUME 7B, CHAPTER 64: “CONCURRENT RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY PAYMENT (CRDP)”

[selected excerpts]

640203
. Physical Disability Retirement Members retired for physical disability who have less than 20 years of service creditable for the purposes of computing retired pay are not eligible for CRDP, unless they have 20 years of service for determining entitlement to non-regular (reserve) retired pay and are otherwise eligible for such reserve retired pay.

640204. Non-Regular Retired Pay Members eligible for retirement for non-regular service are not eligible to receive CRDP until they reach retirement age and have applied for and have become entitled to receive retired pay.

640401. Special Rule for Disability Retirement Members retired for disability under 10 U.S.C., Chapter 61, §§ 1201 through 1222 remain subject to the offset required under 38 U.S.C. §§ 5304 and 5305 for any retired pay they receive that is in excess of the amount of retired pay to which they would be entitled under any other provision of law based on service in the Uniformed Services, had they not retired for disability. Since retired pay in excess of the amount calculated for years in service is still subject to offset under the CRDP program, a member with an amount of retired pay remaining after offset of VA disability compensation, that is greater than the amount calculated for years of service, is not eligible for any increase in payment of retired pay under the CRDP program.


VOLUME 7B, CHAPTER 1,* March 2018 Retirements
010407.
Age and Service Retirement - Reservist Total days of service, as stated in subparagraphs 010403.D.1 through 010403.D.3, divided by 360 equals equivalent years and any fraction of a year of service. Note: That appears be "E" rather than "D"
010308. Service Creditable for Age and Service Retirement - Non-Regular Member
[see THIS LINK <----]

Ron
 
Well you good sir are right in the butterzone! Since you are over 20 years and have over 50% VA Disability, you are eligible for concurrent retirement and VA disability pay. @RonG is our resident guru on calculating that stuff. As a national guardsman, it make sense financially to take the 70% DOD rating because there is no way at 20 years of service you are going to beat that percentage. If you give ron your date of rank, and what rank you are, it will help him calculate your high 3. With that, he should be able to give you a solid number you can look forward to.

Reference:
I understand that. My issues was with the high 36 calculations. Here is my following information.
13.3 years active federal service
20.6 years total service in the national guard
Given 70% perm DoD disability
I was told by the retirement service office
I am doing a disability retirement DoD 70%

Comments:

1. When computing CRDP or CRSC, I usually ask the retiree for his/her active duty equivalent rather than computing their service myself. Occasionally, when they provide the points I'll divide the total by 360 to determine the active duty equivalent. That might occur in 2% of the cases I see.

2. The reason? Many (not most) of the veterans for whom I have computed CRSC have experienced difficulty in providing accurate information on which to base the CRSC estimates.
I remember one case on another board where there were 18 exchanges between the veteran and myself (nine each way) before I received enough to perform the computation.
If I provide a CRSC estimate that is incorrect due to imprecise information, the worst that can happen is disappointment by the veteran. If one is making their choice of whether to retire based on reserve time/points, I think they should base their decision on official sources of information. Their decision is irrevocable.

3. With regard to the reference I cited (i.e., 13.3 years AD, etc.) the retiree must have the following for CRDP:
--20 good years for retirement
AND
--a VA rating of 50% or more
AND
--meet the reserve age requirement for retirement

4. CRDP will restore the amount of of the waived longevity portion of retired pay (upon achieving the age requirement and applying for reserve retirement), That will involve (active duty equivalent x 2.5%) x (high three) = reserve longevity amount

5. Pre-age requirement pay @70%. If there is residual retired pay after the reduction in the amount of VA compensation is retained by the retiree.
I can see no disadvantage in selecting the higher percentage multiplier in this case (70%). Upon receipt of CRDP, the residual retired pay (if any) plus CRDP cannot exceed the reserve retirement amount.

Ron
 
High 3 calculation in NG is based on what your high three would be, if you were subject to active duty pay.

Typically it will be the average of the last three years, however if you held a higher rank during your career, they may use that period.

If you are getting severance, it will be the rate of pay at the time of separation if you were subject to active duty pay.
 
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