Military benefits no small part of compensation Published May 27, 2010 By Senior Master Sgt. Nick Grba Tinker First Sergeants Association TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Throughout my Air Force career, my appreciation of the benefits and advantages the Air Force provides me and my family has grown significantly. When I was a first-term Airman many years ago, I was a bit ignorant of how Air Force benefits and compensation stacked up against those in the civilian world. While reading through the following excerpts, try to think of any civilian companies that offer these benefits to 100 percent of their entry-level employees. Talk to civilian friends and relatives about the benefits offered by their employers. Very few offer anything close to what our Air Force does in the areas of professional development and advancement or ensuring their members and families are taken care of. Here are just a few of the common pay benefits available to military members. Last week we looked at pay incentives. This week we will examine retirement and savings benefits. We will examine other benefits in the future. Retirement Benefits: Retirement Pay: One of the most attractive incentives of a military career is the retirement system that provides a monthly retirement income for those who serve a minimum of twenty years. Your retirement represents a considerable value over your life expectancy. While many civilian employees must contribute to their retirement, yours is provided at no cost to you. Currently, there are three retirement plans in effect based upon your Date of Initial Entry to Uniformed Service -- Final Pay, High-3, and Choice of High-3 or Redux with $30,000 career status bonus. Thrift Savings Plan: The TSP provides military members a 401(k)-like savings plan, which allows members to contribute pre-tax dollars, thereby reducing current taxes, while accumulate long-term, tax-deferred savings and earnings, which can supplement future retirement income. Participation is painless through payroll deduction, and account management is easy via worldwide web interface. The TSP offers tax-deferred benefits roughly equivalent to those of a Roth IRA. Death and Survivor Benefits: Servicemember's Group Life Insurance: If you elect to participate in SGLI and subsequently die on active duty, your survivors will be eligible for life insurance payments up to $400,000 at a very low cost. Additionally, family member coverage of up to $100,000 for the member's spouse (spouse coverage is limited to no more than the member's current coverage) and $10,000 per child is automatic for all members participating in SGLI. Dependency and Indemnity Compensation: Surviving dependents may also be eligible to receive monthly nontaxable DIC payments in the amount of $1,033 for the surviving spouse and an additional $257 for each surviving child. The DIC amount is adjusted annually for inflation. Death Gratuity: The death gratuity is a lump sum payment for beneficiaries of a member who dies on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty for training, or full-time National Guard duty. Its purpose is to help the survivors in their readjustment and to aid them in meeting immediate expenses incurred. Currently, the death gratuity is $100,000, and payment is normally made within 24 hours of a member's death. Survivor Benefit Plan: Your regular pay stops when you die. However, if you die on active duty with 20 or more years of service, or in the line of duty with less than 20 years of service, your surviving spouse and children are automatically protected by SBP--at no cost to you. For active duty deaths in the line of duty the annuity is 55 percent of what retired pay would have been if retired for total disability. Other substantial benefits: Surviving dependents may be eligible to receive additional benefits upon the death of a member. The include mortuary entitlements to reimburse the costs of burial, housing for 365 days, active duty transitional health and dental care for 3 years, commissary and exchange privileges, and various Veteran's Affairs and Social Security benefits.