Both systems start from the same base: the average of your highest 36 months of basic pay. The only difference in the pension math is the multiplier. Under the legacy High-3 system, you earn 2.5% of that base for every year of service. Under the Blended Retirement System, you earn 2.0%. At 20 years that works out to 50% of your high-3 average under High-3, and 40% under BRS. At 30 years it is 75% versus 60%. Every extra year of service adds 2.5 points of your base under the legacy plan and 2.0 points under BRS.
Take a concrete example. An E-7 retires with a high-3 average monthly basic pay of $5,500. Under High-3, the monthly pension is 2.5% x 20 x $5,500, which is $2,750 a month, or $33,000 a year. Under BRS it is 2.0% x 20 x $5,500, which is $2,200 a month, or $26,400 a year. The gap is $550 a month, $6,600 a year, and it persists for life. That is the cost of the trade, stated plainly.
The BRS pension is smaller, but it is not the whole retirement. Under the legacy system, the Thrift Savings Plan existed but the government added nothing to it; whatever you saved was your own money plus its growth. Under BRS, the government puts 1% of your basic pay into your TSP automatically starting 60 days after you enter service, and after two years of service it matches up to another 4%: dollar for dollar on the first 3% you contribute, and 50 cents on the dollar on the next 2%. Contribute at least 5% of basic pay and 10% of basic pay lands in your account every month. You vest in the government money after two years of service, and contributions continue through the end of your 26th year of service.
Run that forward and the match is doing real work. Imagine an E-6 averaging $60,000 a year in basic pay across a 20-year career, contributing 5% herself. The government adds 5% too, so $6,000 a year goes in from the combination before any growth. Compounded at a 7% annual return over 20 years, the government contributions alone, about $3,000 a year, grow to roughly $123,000, and the member's own matching 5% doubles the account past $245,000. That balance is an asset the legacy retiree never had unless she saved aggressively on her own. The BRS was designed for exactly this comparison: a smaller guaranteed check plus a funded investment account, versus a bigger check and whatever you managed to save solo.
Note the honesty in that math. The illustration assumes you actually contribute 5% for the whole career and earn a steady 7%. Many service members do less, and market returns bounce around. The DoD's own comparison calculator tells the same story: BRS wins for members who save, and High-3 wins for members who do not.
There is one more piece of BRS math the legacy system never offered. Between 8 and 12 years of service, BRS members can take continuation pay, a one-time bonus equal to 2.5 to 13 times their monthly basic pay on active duty (0.5 to 6 times for the reserve component), in exchange for agreeing to serve at least 3 more years. The multiple is set each year by each service branch based on retention needs. For an E-6 making $4,500 a month, even the 2.5 floor means $11,250 in a single payment. Dropped into the TSP or used to kill high-interest debt, that bonus alone can be worth tens of thousands in retirement value. The legacy system paid no mid-career bonus at all.
There is no universal winner. The careerist who serves 20 years, never contributes to the TSP, and ignores continuation pay does worse under BRS by roughly the 20% pension haircut. The careerist who contributes 5% from day one, takes continuation pay at the right multiple, and lets compounding work for two decades can finish ahead of the legacy system, sometimes well ahead. And anyone who separates before 20 years, which is the large majority of service members, gets nothing at all under High-3 but walks away from BRS with a vested TSP balance funded partly by the government. For the typical enlisted member who serves one or two enlistments, BRS is not close. It wins outright.
The honest bottom line: BRS rewards savers and rewards short and medium careers. High-3 rewarded only the 20-year career, and rewarded it more. Which one is better for you depends on which of those two people you are.
Monthly pension equals 2.0% times years of service times the average of your highest 36 months of basic pay. At 20 years of service that is 40% of the high-3 average, paid monthly for life after a qualifying retirement.
About 20% smaller for the same rank and years of service. The legacy High-3 multiplier was 2.5% per year, so a 20-year retirement paid 50% of the high-3 base, while BRS pays 40%. The gap persists for life.
Yes. Government TSP contributions of up to 5% of basic pay (1% automatic plus up to 4% in matching), continuation pay of 2.5 to 13 times monthly basic pay between 8 and 12 years of service, and a 25% or 50% lump sum option at retirement.
Yes. The monthly pension under BRS still requires 20 years of service (or 20 qualifying years for Guard and Reserve). Members who separate earlier keep their vested TSP balance, which High-3 members never had.
Figures current as of October 2026. Sources: Military OneSource / DoD military pay publications. This guide is general information, not financial advice.