Learn about the requirements and activities of the retirement process as early as possible before your planned retirement date.

• Gather information and become familiar with helpful planning materials
  • Review the Army Retirement Planning Guide.
  • Location/installation specific retirement requirements—contact the Transition Office at your installation.
  • Locate the Retirement Services Office for your location.
  • Read the “Change of Mission” e-newsletter for up-to-date information affecting Soldiers with 17 or more years of service.

• Begin thinking about when to retire

• Consider where you want to retire to—will the decision be based on a desired location, a job or education opportunity or other variables?

• Conduct financial planning
  • Build an emergency fund by calculating 3 -6 months of living expenses for your family. Plan to save this amount or more over the next 24 to 36 months by using this calculator.
  • Use the calculators at the U.S. Army's Financial Frontline to calculate how much your civilian salary needs to be to equal military take home pay.
  • Estimate your retirement pay and Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) premiums and annuity using the calculator tools on MyArmyBenefits.

• Conduct healthcare planning
  • Research health insurance options for Retired Soldiers with TRICARE by using their Plan Finder and enter your status as retired. Be aware of changes to TRICARE Select for Retired Soldiers that took effect 1 January 2021.

• Conduct survivor planning
  • Use the SBP planning tools on the DoD Actuary Page and the Soldier For Life SBP information page to find out how SBP compares to a term life insurance policy purchased from a private insurer and other useful planning information.
  • Research the Veterans Group Life Insurance (VGLI) and changing your Servicemans Group Life Insurance (SGLI) to VGLI as well as obtaining civilian life insurance. Read more from the Veterans Administration (VA).