I included you in my post so that you could see that the other poster was misleading people by not divulging facts or figures. You appeared to be getting “sucked in” by their nebulous and questionable terminology.
I used but one example, figured that it would be sufficient to show folks what a “full pension” looked like.
I am not counting on SS, are you? I have had my pay reduced for SS every working day of my life, going on 35 years now. Failure to plan is a plan to fail...that is why I’m working a second job, one in the private sector that offers me a pension. A rarity to be sure, but I leveraged my skills, work ethic and other tangibles into a good paying job. Should I be forced to surrender my “full pension” from the military because of my success after my service?
Making up for the lost wages, but never making up for the lost time with my family as a result of my deployments or TDY’s, or the medical issues as a result of my chosen field.
The ~$1200 a month I mentioned is take home for an E7 retired in 2003 after 20 years of service...this includes state and federal taxes + SBP, which is an optional insurance for the surviving spouse should the member die. It then pays the surviving spouse 55% of the members’ retirement pay, before taxes.
Every member’s status is unique, but many are similar enough to use as an example if comparing apples to apples...
“I am not counting on SS, are you?”
I don’t know that you can count on anything from the government, whether it be SS or military retirement.