Compared to civilians it appears the US military is doing a much better job educating its ranks on retirement needs:

Servicemembers are more practical about their retirement needs than their civilian counterparts, according to a survey conducted by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, Investor Education Foundation, in cooperation with the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

The findings bode well for servicemembers’ readiness to transition out of work and into retirement, FINRA’s foundation president says.

“Unless you are aware of the amount of money you’re going to need in retirement, it’s going to be hard to start saving the amount you need,” John Gannon, president of the FINRA Foundation, said. “The good thing is the military is much further along in understanding their savings needs than the general public.”

While 26 percent of civilian workers think they can retire on less than $250,000, only 10 percent of servicemembers believe that to be true. On the other hand, nearly a third of servicemembers think they’ll need more than $1 million, which is a lot closer to the truth, Gannon said.

For most people, $1 million probably will be enough, given that most people will spend 20 to 30 years in retirement, he added  [USFK.mil]

I think the Army for the most part does a pretty good job educating soldiers on finances.  I can remember when I first joined the Army there was a class given by USAA on how to plan for retirement at the start of your military career.  Ever since then I have been following the investment plan highlighted by USAA such as investing in a Roth IRA.

I have received various other financial training classes from the US Army Finance branch over the years as well which typically emphasizes the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) that available to US military members, which is something else I put money away in as well. Some people listen to the advice and others don’t, but at least the advice is being offered.

If you are in the military these are all options you should be looking at and the sooner you start saving for your retirement the better.