Retirement advice gets repeated so often that pieces of it turn into myth, and an employee at USAA who leans on the wrong version can make a costly call about a pension, Social Security, or a 401(k) rollover.

The six items below cover what the public rules actually say for 2026; the USAA-specific section further down adds what USAA's own plan filings show.

Myth #1: once you have a pension, there is nothing left to decide

An employee at USAA with a traditional, defined-benefit pension generally still has choices to make: most plans pay a monthly annuity for life by default, and some also allow a single lump sum that can be rolled into an IRA.

A married participant who wants anything other than the plan's standard joint-and-survivor annuity generally needs written consent from a spouse. That consent must be witnessed by a plan representative or a notary before the plan will pay a different form, such as a single-life annuity or a lump sum.

Lump-sum amounts are not fixed numbers. Plans must use the interest rates set under Internal Revenue Code section 417(e), published monthly by the IRS, and a lower rate in effect on the calculation date generally produces a larger lump sum, while a higher rate produces a smaller one.

Other income sources, health, and what a spouse would need after the participant's death all factor into the decision, and a plan's written benefit illustration is worth reading closely before signing anything.

Myth #2: a pension or 401(k) makes Social Security less important

For most retirees, Social Security remains a core, inflation-adjusted income source, and the age at which someone claims it changes the monthly amount for the rest of their life.

Full retirement age is 66 and a rising number of months for people born from 1955 through 1959. It is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. Claiming at 62 locks in a permanently reduced benefit for life, equal to about 70% of the full amount for someone whose full retirement age is 67.

Waiting past full retirement age instead adds delayed retirement credits of 8% a year, up to age 70. A person with a full retirement age of 67 who waits until 70 receives about 124% of the full benefit, instead of 70% at 62.

Social Security benefits rose 2.8% for 2026. Anyone who works while collecting before reaching full retirement age is also subject to the 2026 earnings test. SSA withholds $1 for every $2 earned over $24,480 for a person under full retirement age all year, or $1 for every $3 earned over $65,160 in the months before reaching full retirement age in the year that happens.

Myth #3: the exact date you retire from USAA does not change much

Years of service and pay history generally shape a traditional pension formula, so retiring earlier or later changes both numbers used in the calculation, not just the paycheck.

Because lump-sum values move with the 417(e) segment rates in effect on the calculation date, the same pension benefit can convert into a noticeably different lump-sum dollar amount depending on the month a person actually retires.

Plan terms are not permanent, either. A plan sponsor can amend a pension or 401(k) plan's formula, eligibility rules, or distribution options for future accruals, so the version an employee at USAA read about years ago may not be the version in effect at retirement.

Myth #4: holding company stock in a 401(k) is no different from any other fund

Putting 401(k) contributions into company stock concentrates risk differently than a diversified fund does, because it ties both a paycheck and a retirement account to the results of the same employer.

If company stock sits in a 401(k) and is distributed as part of a lump sum instead of being rolled over, a separate tax rule for net unrealized appreciation can apply. The stock's appreciation since purchase is not taxed as ordinary income at distribution; it is instead taxed at capital-gains rates when the shares are later sold.

This is not a statement that USAA stock is or is not a good investment, and nobody has to sell existing shares to understand the rule. It is a tax mechanic worth knowing before deciding what to do with a 401(k) balance that includes employer stock.

Myth #5: rolling a 401(k) into an IRA is automatically the better move

An IRA generally offers a wider menu of investment choices and more control over when you withdraw funds and which provider holds the account, options a former employer's 401(k) plan may not match.

Staying in a former employer's 401(k) can preserve plan-specific advantages instead. One is access to the balance without the 10% early-withdrawal tax if separation happens in or after the year someone turns 55, an exception that does not apply to IRAs.

ERISA's anti-alienation rule also generally keeps those 401(k) assets out of reach of creditors, a safeguard that does not depend on state law, and net unrealized appreciation treatment still applies if company stock stays in the plan.

Assets in an ERISA-qualified 401(k) are generally excluded from a bankruptcy estate with no dollar limit. Traditional and Roth IRA assets instead fall under a separate federal bankruptcy exemption, currently capped at $1,711,975 total per person for cases filed from April 2025 through March 2028; dollars rolled over from a 401(k) generally do not count toward that cap.

On withholding: the mandatory 20% federal withholding applies only to an eligible rollover distribution paid directly to the person leaving USAA. A direct, trustee-to-trustee rollover to an IRA or another employer's plan is not subject to that withholding at all.

Myth #6: turning 65 and signing up for Medicare means medical costs are handled

Medicare eligibility generally starts at 65, with a 7-month Initial Enrollment Period that opens 3 months before the birthday month and closes 3 months after it.

Someone still covered by a group health plan based on their own or a spouse's current employment is not required to enroll in Part B right away. They can generally delay it without a penalty using a Special Enrollment Period that runs 8 months after that employment or coverage ends, whichever comes first; COBRA and retiree coverage do not extend that window.

Original Medicare does not cover everything. Part B generally pays 80% of the Medicare-approved amount for covered services after the annual deductible, leaving a 20% coinsurance, and the standard 2026 Part B premium is $202.90 a month with a $283 annual deductible, before any income-related adjustment.

A Medigap policy, a Medicare Advantage plan, and Part D drug coverage are the three main ways people fill the gaps Original Medicare leaves, and each carries its own enrollment timing to check.

What does USAA's pension pay, and how does its 401(k) vest?

USAA employees testing the pension and 401(k) myths above have their own plan's specific rules to check, not someone else's. The USAA Pension Plan covers all U.S. employees employed on or after January 1, 2021 (new hires become eligible January 1 or July 1 after one year of service and age 21), crediting 3% of eligible pay each year into a cash balance account, with interest tied to the 10-year Treasury rate and a 0%-to-3% floor and cap; full vesting arrives after three years. In the separate USAA Retirement Savings Plan, a participant's own contributions vest immediately, the employer match vests fully after two years, and a Retirement Plus Account instead phases in over six years. At separation, a vested balance can be taken as a lump sum or installments, and loans are capped at the lesser of $50,000 or half the vested balance. Compare those windows against your own hire date and balance before assuming the general rule applies.

What happens if USAA goes through layoffs?

USAA's welfare benefits plan has checked the severance-pay feature code on its own Form 5500 every year from 2021 through 2025, and the Texas WARN dataset shows no 2025 or 2026 notice beyond a 235-worker San Antonio filing from 2023. USAA has separately confirmed to a local newspaper that it cut jobs at its USAA Federal Savings Bank unit around October 29, 2025, without disclosing a headcount. Ask your manager or HR directly whether your own role or location is affected by a current reduction.