Match military pay to a civilian salary, value the 20-year retirement you'd forfeit by
separating early, and see the combined private-sector package that replaces both. Official DoD & IRS figures for 2025/2026.
1 Your service profile
Brackets match the official pay table. e.g. Over 6 = more than 6 years.
2 Housing & family
Affects your BAH rate (and, in reality, BAS II / other items not modeled here).
Every official DoD military housing area is included — pick your state, then your duty station's area.
3 Federal tax
The comparison uses federal income tax + FICA only. State tax is intentionally
excluded — it depends on your state of legal residence and would distort the core comparison: the federal tax-free treatment of allowances.
1 Retirement profile
Preloaded from the Pay vs. civilian tab — change either to model a different retirement scenario (e.g. retiring at a higher grade, or at 20 years).
BRS = joined 2018+ (or opted in); High-3 = pre-2018. Both are shown side-by-side regardless.
Retirement age = entry age + years. The pension is paid immediately at retirement, for life.
Advanced assumptions
Defaults: 4% discount, 2.5% COLA (full CPI), life expectancy 85, 6% return. BRS government TSP = auto 1% + match (100% of first 3% + 50% of next 2%) → 5% at a 5% contribution.
Post-tax: pay income tax now; grows and is withdrawn tax-free. Pre-tax: contribute before income tax (still pays FICA), then taxed as income on withdrawal — the same tax treatment as the pension.