AprilWhine wrote:
calewjohnson wrote:
I will say this, I am currently active duty, and have been for 18 years. While I believe that the benefits I was promised when I joined should be honored, I also believe that something has to be done to offset the costs of people and operations. Today, 60 cents of every dollar in our budget goes to personnel (retired and active duty). As we move into the future, that will not be sustainable. We (US Navy) currently have 285 ships, short of the 300 goal we would like to have, I doubt we will ever get back to that number since we do not have a conflict to support that size of a fleet.
From what I can say, there will be a change to retirement coming down the pipe. More of a 401k approach and not needing to stay for a full 20. Is it right? Sure, I know of a lot of folks who cut and run before the 10 year mark because anything more than 10, you may as well do 20. That kind of thinking has kept a lot of mediocre folks in, instead of the knowledgeable technicians I have seen get out.
Next thing, Tri-Care for Life….I may get blasted for saying this, but I think that the premiums should be increased for that benefit. Two really good friends of mine, both retired LtCOL types, pay only $200 or so a year for the benefit. A real steal for such a benefit.
There are many hard questions that need to be asked when looking at our benefits. A pragmatic approach will ensure we do not end up with the failing pensions like some large companies. We can stay on this course of spending and end up with nothing in the end, or we can start trying to fix the problem before it become unrecoverable.
Just my 2 cents.
Cale
Your friends are not being straight with you. ;)
Tricare for life does not cost extra, but you do have to have Medicare Part B. My hubby is enrolled and has been since he became eligible for Medicare.
Yep calewjohnson doesn't understand TCFL as his erronous statement about the $200/yr clearly demonstrates. Nor does he seem to understand the Tricare and TCFL programs in general. I was paying the standard ~$540/yr for Tricare Prime for me and DW and this year with DW still on Tricare Prime and me on TCFL my premiums between her Tricare Prime and my TCFL are effectively $1500+ (270 for her and 1260 for me).
I am one of those that served and retired when we believed that one of the benefits for our sacrifices was free medical for life which was a broken promise when Tricare was started some 5 years after I retired and then Tricare for Life was piled on in 2001. I have up to now seen a zero benefit in TCFL except increased costs, but that could change in the future, but I'm still paying with increasing premiums now for something I thought was not going to cost me anything when I joined back in the 60s.
Larry
