Ryan-Murray budget deal hits younger, future military retirees

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http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/12/14/2947706/ryan-murray-budget-deal-hits-younger.html

Ryan-Murray budget deal hits younger, future military retirees
By TOM PHILPOTT
Contributing Writer
December 14, 2013

The yearly value of a 20-year military retirement would be cut for the current force steadily until age 62 under a COLA cap provision in the “bipartisan” budget deal struck by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the House and Senate budget committee leaders.

The cumulative effect would be to cut the lifetime value of military retirement by roughly $83,000 for a typical enlisted member who retires at age 40 after 20 years’ service. The typical officer retiring at age 42 after 20 would lose about $124,000.

That’s according to retired Air Force Col. Michael F. Hayden, director of government relations for Military Officers Association of America. Hayden also serves as co-chairman of The Military Coalition, an umbrella group of more than 30 military and veteran associations that is trying to kill the deal.

Targeted in the Ryan-Murray deal is full inflation protection for “working age” military retirees, those younger than 62. Retirees 62 and older would continue to get annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) that match inflation as measured by the government’s Consumer Price Index.