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Buy Back Four Years of Military Service — and the Window Is Now Ten Years, Not 180 Days

A veteran working for Massachusetts state government or certain other governmental units can purchase up to four years of creditable service toward the public pension: one year of credit for each year of active duty, or one year for each four years of Guard or Reserve service. The change worth knowing is that the 2024 HERO Act extended the application window from 180 DAYS to TEN YEARS after entering the retirement system. Anyone who missed the old deadline in the last decade, and was told they were too late, should ask again.

Verified August 27, 2026

What this benefit is

A veteran working for Massachusetts state government or certain other governmental units can purchase up to four years of creditable service toward the public pension: one year of credit for each year of active duty, or one year for each four years of Guard or Reserve service. The change worth knowing is that the 2024 HERO Act extended the application window from 180 DAYS to TEN YEARS after entering the retirement system. Anyone who missed the old deadline in the last decade, and was told they were too late, should ask again.

What it's worth: Up to four years of pension credit, purchasable

  • Up to FOUR YEARS of creditable service may be purchased.
  • One year of credit for each year of active duty.
  • One year of credit for each FOUR years of Guard or Reserve service.
  • The 2024 HERO Act extended the application window from 180 DAYS to TEN YEARS after entering the retirement system.
  • The credit is bought, not given. What it costs depends on your salary and system, and the pension it buys depends on your years and age at retirement — so no single figure can be quoted.
  • Applications go to the State Board of Retirement or to the public retirement system you belong to.

Who is entitled to it

  • You served in the U.S. armed forces.
  • Your discharge meets the state veteran definition.
  • You work for a Massachusetts public employer.
  • The retirement systems are Massachusetts ones.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: Ten years after entering the retirement system
  1. 1Work out when you entered the retirement system. The window is ten years from that date, not from discharge.
  2. 2If you were refused under the old 180-day rule within the last decade, apply again and cite the 2024 HERO Act.
  3. 3Send your DD214 with the application. Guard and Reserve members should send the points statements as well, since four years of that service buys one.
  4. 4Ask for the cost quotation before deciding. The system will price the purchase for your salary and grade.
  5. 5Ask how the purchase interacts with any veteran retirement allowance you may also be entitled to, so the two are not conflated.
Form
Veteran creditable service purchase application
File with
State Board of Retirement or your public retirement system
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
Worth knowingIf you were told years ago that the 180-day window had closed, that answer is out of date. The HERO Act of 2024 made it ten years.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.