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The new Blended Retirement System (BRS) goes into effect on January 1, 2018. It combines the legacy 20-year military defined benefit retirement, with a defined contribution plan, similar to the civilian equivalent of a 401(k)-style retirement system, utilizing the Thrift Savings Plan.
If you’re a member of the Uniformed Services who will have served fewer than 12 years (or National Guard and Reserve with fewer than 4,320 retirement points) on December 31, 2017, you will have an important decision to make between January 1 and December 31, 2018: You must choose whether to stay with your current retirement system or move to the new BRS.