Keep regular military longevity pay separate from special retirements
Reserve retirement uses points and age rules; disability retirement can use a service or disability multiplier; Final Pay and REDUX have different entry-date and formula rules. Temporary early retirement, sanctuary, nonregular service, and grade determinations can add complexity. Do not force those cases into a High-3-versus-BRS active-duty worksheet merely because a base and years can be entered.
The displayed gross monthly amount precedes Survivor Benefit Plan premiums, taxes, allotments, debts, VA waiver, CRDP, CRSC, and other offsets. Concurrent VA disability compensation questions require official coordination. Treat the result as one formula layer whose service, base, multiplier, and precision can be audited, not as a bank-deposit forecast or official retirement estimate.
For the TSP-like accumulation side of a BRS household scenario, the 401(k) projection calculator can illustrate declared contributions and returns but cannot reproduce TSP funds or service elections.
Establish the military retired-pay base before comparing systems
High-3, also called high-36, generally averages the highest 36 months of basic pay. It is not total compensation and excludes BAH, BAS, most special pays, and bonuses. The calculator asks for a retired-pay base rather than deriving one from a final grade because promotions, historical tables, service dates, reductions, and months at each rate can change the average.
Which retirement system applies depends on Date of Initial Entry to Military Service and any valid BRS opt-in facts. DIEMS is not necessarily the current accession date and does not reset merely because someone leaves and rejoins. Confirm the governing system from official personnel records before comparing multipliers. The workbench presents both paths for education; it does not grant a choice where law and records do not.
Use the salary calculator to annualize a separately confirmed monthly amount, but do not substitute one month of basic pay for the high-36 average.
Confirm military retirement status with authoritative records
DoD notes that its own calculators can be approximations, and a local model has narrower scope still. Personnel records and DFAS determine DIEMS, plan coverage, service credit, retired grade, effective dates, and pay. The calculator cannot assess an election, retirement order, disability finding, or reserve point statement.
Preserve the declared high-36 base, service months, plan branch, and official source date. Seek service retirement counselors and qualified tax or legal assistance for consequential decisions. This page is educational only; it is not an official retired-pay computation, a recommendation between systems, estate planning, tax advice, or a promise of future COLAs.
Apply full-month service to High-3 and BRS multipliers
For regular active-duty longevity arithmetic, legacy High-3 generally uses 2.5% for each creditable year, while BRS uses 2.0%. Convert full service months to years consistently, multiply by the declared retired-pay base, and follow the supported DFAS whole-dollar precision. At twenty years, those simple multipliers are 50% and 40%, but the surrounding systems have other features and cannot be compared by pension percentage alone.
BRS includes a defined-contribution TSP component, automatic and matching contributions, and continuation pay under separate rules. High-3 and BRS also have COLA and potential lump-sum considerations. This narrow calculator does not value those features, forecast TSP returns, or determine a member's election. A pension-only difference is not a full economic comparison.
A VA combined-rating table estimate can be viewed separately in the 2026 VA disability calculator without attempting to model CRDP, CRSC, or retired-pay waiver here.