Military Households Express Higher Retirement Confidence Than Nonmilitary Households

The Employee Benefit Research Institute’s recent Retirement Confidence Survey found that in 2024, Americans’ confidence in having enough money to live comfortably throughout retirement has not fully recovered from a decline in 2023. 

However, when comparing the retirement experiences of military households with those of nonmilitary households, EBRI found that retirement confidence was much higher among those who served in the military. 

Of American households that include individuals ages 25 and older, 13% are considered military households, or those whose respondents are either actively in the military or are veterans. Military-household respondents were also more likely to be widowed or married than those from nonmilitary households, as well as more likely to be male and White. In contrast, the nonmilitary households surveyed were more likely to be female and Hispanic. 

Overall, EBRI found that military households were more likely to have the highest levels of financial assets and were less likely to consider debt to be a problem when compared to nonmilitary households. 

For example, 49% of military households reported having $250,000 or more in financial assets, compared with 40% of the nonmilitary households. However, 14% of nonmilitary households have asset levels in the lower-level category of $100,000 to $249,999, while 9% of military households reported this level of assets. 

As for debt, 55% of military households consider debt not to be a problem or a hinderance to their retirement savings. Not surprisingly, military households reported lower debt issues than nonmilitary households. In addition, military households were more likely to say they have enough savings to handle an emergency or a sudden large expense. 

Service members who joined after 2006 but before January 2018 had the choice of staying with the legacy traditional retirement system or joining the Blended Retirement System, which combines the traditional defined benefit pension with the defined contribution federal Thrift Savings plan. According to EBRI, 37% of military respondents said they use the traditional retirement system, 7% use the BRS, while 10% are not sure and 45% said neither. 

In EBRI’s Retirement Confidence Survey, Americans with higher incomes are typically more likely to be confident about having enough income in retirement, which this holds true for both military and nonmilitary households. 

However, 89% of military households with incomes of $75,000 or more said they were confident they will have enough money throughout their retirement, whereas 81% of nonmilitary households with the same income level reported feeling confident about their retirement income.  

While approximately 90% of military households disagreed with the statement that their military service has prevented them from saving for retirement, EBRI found that the larger share (71%) who separate from the armed forces before military retirement still have to navigate changes in their careers, which involves knowing what to do with their retirement savings.  

There is also a discrepancy between military households reporting having more knowledge about the regulations around retirement plans while also being more likely to have taken a retirement plan loan or withdrawal. For example, 22% of military households reported taking a loan or withdrawal from their workplace retirement plan, compared to 16% of nonmilitary households. 

“Thus, while military service can put individuals on a better track for retirement, they still face many of the same issues as those who have not been in the military, such as when to retire, preserving retirement assets and working in retirement,” EBRI’s report stated.