Hi,
I'm a National Guard officer with 22 years of service. I currently have 70% VA disability (since 2019). I have 4400 points for retirement purposes. Already have a 20 year Reserve letter. I'm pretty sure I'll be between 50-70% when I get my 199. I already had a comp and pen exam in Sept for the MEB and I'll have my BH exam in another two weeks. My overall case should be pretty cut and dry, but I imagine something may surprise me somewhere.
I'm trying to plan for my income needs when I'm done. Let's say I get 50% DoD rating. I'm an O-4, and my high three should calculate about $9000/month. Will I receive $4500/month ($9000 X 50%) or $2749/month ($9000 X [4400/360 X 2.5%]). Do I receive that immediately or wait until 60 to receive my retirement but get my VA disability in the meantime. This just isn't clear to me. I would think it's the second scenario above other than the "whatever benefits the Soldier more" clauses that seem to be in the regs in most cases, but if I don't get that until 60, it won't help me much now. My usual drill/AT/extra duty pay usually comes to 17-20K a year, so losing that will certainly hurt.
Hoping there's something I'm not thinking of. I've looked at DoDI 1332.18 a bit, but it's still not clear to me. My local HRO doesn't seem to provide much clarity either.
Thanks for any input!
I'm a National Guard officer with 22 years of service. I currently have 70% VA disability (since 2019). I have 4400 points for retirement purposes. Already have a 20 year Reserve letter. I'm pretty sure I'll be between 50-70% when I get my 199. I already had a comp and pen exam in Sept for the MEB and I'll have my BH exam in another two weeks. My overall case should be pretty cut and dry, but I imagine something may surprise me somewhere.
I'm trying to plan for my income needs when I'm done. Let's say I get 50% DoD rating. I'm an O-4, and my high three should calculate about $9000/month. Will I receive $4500/month ($9000 X 50%) or $2749/month ($9000 X [4400/360 X 2.5%]). Do I receive that immediately or wait until 60 to receive my retirement but get my VA disability in the meantime. This just isn't clear to me. I would think it's the second scenario above other than the "whatever benefits the Soldier more" clauses that seem to be in the regs in most cases, but if I don't get that until 60, it won't help me much now. My usual drill/AT/extra duty pay usually comes to 17-20K a year, so losing that will certainly hurt.
Hoping there's something I'm not thinking of. I've looked at DoDI 1332.18 a bit, but it's still not clear to me. My local HRO doesn't seem to provide much clarity either.
Thanks for any input!
