{"id":76,"date":"2026-05-08T13:20:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T17:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fersfree.com\/blog\/?p=76"},"modified":"2026-06-30T14:52:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T18:52:22","slug":"combine-military-retirement-and-fers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fersfree.com\/blog\/combine-military-retirement-and-fers\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Combine Military Retirement and FERS? What Federal Employees Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Many veterans who become federal employees ask the same question:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Can I receive both military retirement and a <a href=\"https:\/\/fersfree.com\/blog\/brs-vs-high-3-military-retirement\/\">FERS pension<\/a>?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The answer is: <strong>sometimes yes, sometimes no\u2014it depends on your situation.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Understanding how these systems interact is critical before making decisions like <a href=\"https:\/\/fersfree.com\/blog\/military-buyback-fers-worth-it\/\">military buyback<\/a> or retirement timing.<\/p>\n<p>To model your full retirement income:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/fersfree.com\">https:\/\/fersfree.com<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>The Short Answer<\/h2>\n<p>There are two main scenarios:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>You keep your military retirement and earn a separate FERS pension<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>You give up military retirement in order to combine your service into FERS<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The right choice depends on your goals and your numbers.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Scenario 1: Keep Military Retirement and Earn FERS<\/h2>\n<p>In many cases, you can:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Receive your <strong>military pension<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Earn a <strong>separate FERS pension<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Withdraw from <strong>TSP<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Collect <strong>Social Security<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This creates multiple income streams in retirement.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Example<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Military retirement: $2,500\/month<\/li>\n<li>FERS pension: $3,000\/month<\/li>\n<li>TSP: $1,500\/month<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Total: <strong>$7,000\/month<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Scenario 2: Military Buyback (Combining Service)<\/h2>\n<p>Military buyback allows you to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Add military service to your FERS pension<\/li>\n<li>Increase your total years of service<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, there is a major tradeoff.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>The Big Rule<\/h2>\n<p>If you are receiving <strong>military retired pay<\/strong>, you generally must:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Waive (give up) that military pension<\/strong><br \/>\nto use that same time toward your FERS pension<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>When You Do NOT Have to Waive Military Pay<\/h2>\n<p>You can usually keep your military retirement if:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It is <strong>Reserve or National Guard retirement<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It is based on <strong>non-regular service<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Certain disability retirements apply (case-specific)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These cases allow you to <strong>double-dip legally<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>When You MUST Waive It<\/h2>\n<p>You typically must waive military retired pay if:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You are an <strong>active-duty 20-year retiree<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>You want to use those same years for FERS calculation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is a major decision.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Example Comparison<\/h2>\n<h3>Option A: Keep Military Retirement<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Military pension: $2,500\/month<\/li>\n<li>FERS (20 years): $2,500\/month<\/li>\n<li>Total: $5,000\/month<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Option B: Buy Back Military Time<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Combined service: 24 years<\/li>\n<li>FERS pension increases<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You lose the $2,500\/month military pension<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Which Option Is Better?<\/h2>\n<p>It depends on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your military pension size<\/li>\n<li>Your high-3 salary<\/li>\n<li>Years of service<\/li>\n<li>Retirement age<\/li>\n<li>Long-term income goals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In many cases, <strong>keeping both separate pensions is better<\/strong> for full military retirees.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Why Buyback Still Matters<\/h2>\n<p>Even if you keep military retirement, buyback may still:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Help with eligibility timing<\/li>\n<li>Increase pension if no military pension exists<\/li>\n<li>Benefit those who did not retire from the military<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>5 Common Mistakes<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Assuming you can always combine both<\/li>\n<li>Not understanding waiver requirements<\/li>\n<li>Ignoring reserve vs active-duty differences<\/li>\n<li>Not comparing both scenarios<\/li>\n<li>Making the decision without calculations<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Key Takeaway<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>You <strong>can combine military and FERS income<\/strong>, but<\/li>\n<li>You <strong>cannot usually count the same years twice<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The decision is not automatic\u2014it requires analysis.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>What to Do Next<\/h2>\n<p>Compare:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Keep military retirement vs buyback<\/li>\n<li>Pension differences<\/li>\n<li>Total retirement income<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fersfree.com\">https:\/\/fersfree.com<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Disclaimer<\/h2>\n<p>This article is for educational purposes only. Rules around military retirement and FERS can be complex. Always verify your situation with HR, DFAS, and official sources before making decisions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many veterans who become federal employees ask the same question: Can I receive both military retirement and a FERS pension? The answer is: sometimes yes, sometimes no\u2014it depends on your situation. Understanding how these systems interact is critical before making decisions like military buyback or retirement timing. To model your full retirement income: https:\/\/fersfree.com The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[66,18,17,14,34,48,47,19,37,35],"class_list":["post-76","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-va-military","tag-dfas","tag-federal-employees","tag-federal-retirement","tag-fers","tag-military-buyback","tag-military-pension","tag-military-retirement","tag-retirement-planning","tag-va-disability","tag-veterans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fersfree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fersfree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fersfree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fersfree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fersfree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fersfree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":539,"href":"https:\/\/fersfree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76\/revisions\/539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fersfree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fersfree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fersfree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}