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NAFCU Senior Regulatory Affairs Counsel Michael Emancipator attended a Department of Defense financial readiness roundtable discussion at CFPB yesterday that included updates on the blended retirement system and a look at survey results on servicemembers' financial well-being.

Representatives from several federal agencies, including NCUA, Treasury, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Securities and Exchange Commission, attended the roundtable, held at CFPB's headquarters in Washington.

The blended retirement system, which is a new retirement product approved by Congress last year, adds a defined contribution option to the already existing defined-benefit plan. DoD explained that servicemembers using the current retirement plan have the option to grandfather their existing plan or can opt in to the blended plan. DoD estimates that under the current retirement system, only 19 percent of servicemembers qualify; under the blended system, 85 percent of all servicemembers will receive retirement benefits.

In the survey on servicemembers' financial wellbeing, 86 percent of active-duty respondents indicated they have a savings habit; of that group, nearly 50 percent reported having a regular, monthly savings habit.

The DoD roundtable plans to meet again in January.