Veterans · Active Duty
See your true monthly retirement income — pension under BRS or Legacy, TSP balance at every milestone, and the honest state-tax impact. Free, no sign-up, no data stored.
Your retirement income breakdown
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Enter your retirement system (BRS or Legacy High-3), current years of service, base pay, and planned TSP contribution rate. The calculator projects your High-3 average pay at retirement, computes your monthly pension, models your TSP balance growth over a career, and shows total monthly retirement income at every milestone from 20 to 30 years — with your state's income tax applied.
The side-by-side BRS vs. Legacy comparison is designed to answer the question that matters most for service members who had a choice: given your specific pay, contribution rate, and planned retirement date, which system puts more money in your pocket over a 30-year retirement?
The answer depends on whether you retire at exactly 20 years or serve longer, and how aggressively you invest your TSP. Here's how the math works for each system.
Entered service before Jan 1, 2018
Entered service on/after Jan 1, 2018
Example: A service member retiring at 20 years with a $80,000 High-3 earns $40,000/year ($3,333/month) under Legacy vs. $32,000/year ($2,667/month) under BRS — a $667/month pension gap. But if that same person contributed 5% to TSP throughout a 20-year BRS career, they'd retire with roughly $300,000+ in TSP, generating ~$1,000/month in sustainable withdrawals. BRS total income overtakes Legacy within 10–15 years of retirement for most contributors.
The BRS government match is the most valuable benefit most junior enlisted service members don't take full advantage of. The match structure works as follows:
| Your TSP contribution | Govt auto | Govt match | Total going in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | 1% | 0% | 1% |
| 1% | 1% | 1% | 3% |
| 3% | 1% | 3% | 7% |
| 5% (max match) | 1% | 4% | 10% |
| > 5% | 1% | 4% | 5% + your extra |
Government matching begins after 2 years of service. Contributing at least 5% of base pay is the minimum threshold to capture every dollar of matching. The $23,500 annual elective deferral limit applies only to your own contributions — government contributions are on top of this limit.
Legacy (High-3) pays a pension of 2.5% × years of service × your average base pay over your highest-earning 3 years — but no government TSP contributions. At 20 years, that's 50% of High-3. BRS pays a smaller pension (2.0% × YOS × High-3) but adds automatic government TSP contributions: 1% of base pay starting day one, plus matching up to 4% after year two. Most service members who entered after January 1, 2018 are automatically in BRS.
Your High-3 is the average of your 36 highest-earning months of basic pay — not your final paycheck. Since pay usually rises each year, your High-3 is typically your average pay over your last 3 years of service. Our calculator projects your pay forward at a 3% annual raise assumption (consistent with historical DoD pay raise averages) to estimate your High-3 at retirement.
To capture every dollar of BRS matching, contribute at least 5% of your base pay to TSP. The government match structure is: 1% automatic (regardless of what you contribute), then dollar-for-dollar on your first 3%, then 50 cents on the dollar for your next 2%. Contributing 5% earns a total of 4% in government contributions — a 5% TSP contribution generates 9% total going into your account each month.
The TSP elective deferral limit for 2026 is $23,500. If you're 50 or older, you can contribute an additional $7,500 catch-up contribution, for a total of $31,000. Government matching contributions (under BRS) do not count toward these limits.
Yes — unlike teachers and some state employees, military service counts toward Social Security. If you paid FICA taxes during your service (which all active-duty members have since 1957), those years count toward your Social Security eligibility and benefit calculation. Military retirees are not subject to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) that reduces Social Security for many public pension recipients.
As of 2026, the following states exempt military retirement pay from state income tax entirely: Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. Several other states offer partial exemptions. Our calculator shows the state tax impact for your specific location.
Each additional year of service adds 3% to your Legacy pension multiplier (2% under BRS), plus your High-3 base grows as your pay increases. A Legacy retiree at 24 years earns 60% of High-3 vs. 50% at 20 years — a meaningful increase for the rest of your life. Our milestone projections let you compare your pension and TSP balance at 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, and 30 years side by side.
The calculator grows your TSP contributions at a 7% annual return assumption — a conservative long-run average for a diversified stock/bond portfolio consistent with the C Fund's historical performance. Monthly withdrawals are projected using the 4% safe withdrawal rate, meaning your balance should support 25+ years of withdrawals without depleting.