The Department of Defense Fiscal year runs from October to October – so the 2022 year has begun. This also means that the 2022 Defense Budget has been submitted and is now within negotiations between Congress and the White House. While the final approval is still pending, the Defense Budget outlines increases in Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) and pay for the 2022 fiscal year.

The proposed 2022 BAH rate is a 2.7 percent increase for all areas. This is a percentage increase in the current BAH rate. The BAH rates differ per duty station zip code. You can look up the BAH calculator at the Defense Travel Management Office link here. The 2022 rates will not be added until the Defense Budget is approved. You can calculate the expected BAH rate by adding 2.7% to the 2021 BAH rate.

The projected pay raise to basic pay is also 2.7%. The 2.7% number is not a random number. It is calculated using the Employment Cost Index, or ECI, formula. The military pay scale is based on grade and years of service. The pay raise would be for all levels. 2021 Military pay tables are available on the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) website here. This increase does not apply to special pays.

If the current Defense Budget is approved, the new pay and BAH rate will be effected January 1, 2022, with the first changes seen in the January 14, 2022, Leave and Earning Statement (LES).

COLA, or Cost of Living Adjustment, which is an annual inflation-based allowance will be determined by the government in preparation for the Fiscal Year 2022. The fiscal year ends on September 30th. COLA is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which is measured by the Department of Labor. The Department of Labor measures the average change over time on the prices paid for certain categories, like select utility, automotive fuel, and food items as part of the CPI. The CPI is separated by geographic regions and done as one nation. Overall in 2021, the costs for goods and services have increased 5.4% in comparison to the previous year.

What does this mean for pay?

The CPI is used to determine federal employee retirement and social security pay. An increase in CPI means that military retirees and veterans who receive disability compensation will see an increase in their monthly amounts beginning in Fiscal Year 2022. The average monthly increase will be around $160 for military retirees and around $100 for veterans receiving disability compensation.

The increase is there to cover the increasing costs of living, but the increase can help cover healthcare costs as retirees pay for their healthcare.

How many military retirees and veterans receiving disability compensation are there?

Per the Department of Defense, there are 1.87 million military retirees and 5.1 million veterans who receive disability compensation.

When will the determination be made?

Since CPI is calculated using the entire previous year’s data, the completion of CPI calculations will not be completed until September 30^th. Once the final calculation is completed with all 12 months of data, the final CPI will be released on the Department of Labor website. As of August 2021, the COLA was 5.4% and unless there is a drastic drop in costs, the CPI is expected to be around this number.  The COLA for the fiscal year 2022 that runs from October 2021 to September 2022 will be released in early October 2021.

Stay tuned for any updates on pay here as well.

4/30/2021 By: Janet A. Aker, MHS Communications

Military families may face financial challenges for a variety of reasons, and without assistance these issues could affect the health and well-being of children of those families.

But help is readily available. Military families have access to financial counselors and other Department of Defense personnel – for free.

“Service members and families have access to free financial counseling and education services through Military and Family Support Centers and Military OneSource,” said Beth Darius, a program analyst and an accredited financial counselor in the Department of Defense Office of Financial Readiness. “With the assistance of a financial counselor, service members and families proactively create realistic spending plans to meet financial challenges and goals such as planning for retirement, paying down debt, and making major purchases.”

For families experiencing shortfalls, “the best place to start is to examine your spending plan. Determine your food expenses, your monthly bill expenses and any additional expenses. Help is available to walk families through this process and provide referrals to additional resources as needed,” she said. “Additionally, you can include your children in meal planning, shopping and determining total food costs, which is a great way to build their financial literacy skills and nutrition habits.”

“There are many places to go online to get free, unbiased financial information,” she noted. These no-cost resources include the Office of Financial Readiness website, and the Milspouse Money Mission website, which has a section on raising financially fit children. Additionally, there is the Military OneSource website, the “Developing Your Spending Plan” course on the MilLife Learning portal, and the ‘Sen$e’ mobile application.

Military members also receive financial information and how to use these services when making a permanent change of station.

Establishing and following a spending plan is good to “ensure debts are paid, food is on the table, and financial goals are met,” Darius said. “If there is a financial issue that’s causing stress in the military family, reviewing the spending plan can help them gain some control and decrease stress.”

Steve Harris, a personal financial manager and accredited financial counselor at the Navy’s Fleet and Family Support Center in Washington, D.C., said: “A good financial plan represents both the needs and the wants of a military family.” This could include items such as saving for a college fund for their children.

Military families that have appointments with the center for free financial planning should bring their pay stubs, leave and earnings statements, a list of bills and their bank statements for review.

“Basically, we have a confidential conversation about income coming in and expenses going out. ‘What did you think you spent and what did you actually spend?'” Harris said. “We are looking at needs first and goals second. We like to nudge them back on the right track.”

Echoing Darius, Harris said: “If there are stressors about finances, coming to see a personal financial manager can make a military family leave with less stress. A service member shouldn’t have to be distracted about finances while supporting the mission.”

For children, the Navy has a curriculum that addresses ages 3 to 19 called “Raising Financially Fit Kids.” The other services have similar programs.

“Lessons include how parents can approach children about finances, introducing kids to money, costs, and allowances, how to set goals through saving – such as for the purchase of a new toy or electronic device – and an introduction to debit and credit cards and how to use them wisely,” Harris said.

“Prioritizing is up the individual client, he said. “If there is a surplus of money or a shortfall, what are the two or three most important, often competing, goals? We want to address all of them.”

*This article originally appeared on Health.mil, the official website of the Military Health System. To read the original article click here. Appearance of this article does not constitute endorsement by the Military Health System or the federal government.

You got that phone call from your military spouse – “Hey, we have orders.” Excitedly you ask where.

“Overseas”

Panic mode.

Take a breath.

And start a checklist of all the things you need.

And peruse this article for answers to some of your questions.

What does it mean to move overseas with an OCONUS (Outside of the Continental United States)?

Paperwork upon paperwork upon paperwork.

It is true; there is a lot more paperwork with an OCONUS move. Get a binder or a large folder with tabs and keep track of everything you can in one place. While there a lot more xx required for a move overseas, it is no different than any other move in that once you get it all done, you will be on your way overseas.

What happens to my Privately Owned Vehicle (POV)?

Most locations overseas do not allow shipping a POV as the vehicles overseas have the steering wheel and driving are on the opposite of the road. Most of the time, shipping of one vehicle is covered for OCONUS moves to Hawaii. Check your orders to see if shipping of a vehicle is covered.

In cases where shipping is not allowed or covered as part of the military orders, storing your POV may be covered. In most cases, a service member is eligible to have one POV stored at a storage facility in a government-procured storage facility. There are limitations on vehicle sizes that are covered, so make sure to read the updated TRANSCOM guidelines for storing a vehicle.

What is medical clearance?

Before moving overseas, medical clearance is required. Why? Many of the overseas locations have limited availability of specialized medical services. A medical screening is completed by your medical provider and the paperwork is provided to the military-specific medical group that will be overseeing medical care for you or your family overseas. The screening identifies if there are medications or conditions that cannot be filled while your family is living overseas, and identify any vaccinations that may be required. If a condition is identified that prevents a military move to that location, the service member will be notified. Once medical clearance is provided, your family will be provided area clearance which begins the process for the military to book flights for everyone on the military orders.

How many passports do I need for an OCONUS PCS?

When on a government-ordered move, federal passports are provided. This official passport is also called a “no fee” passport and can be used when on travel orders from the government. It is not to be used for leisure travel outside of the government move.  The “no fee” passport will be arranged for through the Human Resources or Travel Office arranging the travel for the move and be required for military dependents as well as the active duty service member. If leisure travel is desired while overseas, a tourist passport is required which can be obtained through the state department.

Will I need a Visa?

Each overseas location has requirements for military stationed overseas. The Travel Office will provide the required paperwork if a visa is required as part of your orders. The visa should be used with the “no fee” passport.

What about scheduling the move?

While most CONUS moves have one move – from door to door or door to a storage facility in one move, OCONUS moves require different moves. An advanced shipment called an unaccompanied shipment, typically smaller in weight allowance, will arrive quicker than a household goods shipment. A second shipment of the most household goods holds furniture and mattresses, etc., and will typically take several months to arrive at the OCONUS location. If there is a weight restriction for the OCONUS move, a third shipment that goes to storage with the other items can be arranged. In some cases, like moving to Okinawa, there may not be a weight limit, but some service branches still cover a storage shipment due to the smaller size of homes and lack of storage. If your OCONUS move has multiple shipments allowed, it will be in the military orders and loaded in the Defense Personal Property System for arranging.

A note about items to bring overseas – many overseas housing locations do not have a garage, basement, or deck, and housing choices are not known until the move has been accomplished.  It is best to store larger tool items or outdoor equipment.

Are pets allowed?

This is base dependent. If pets are allowed, they will be required to have a veterinary screening. The screening may include rabies shots, FAVN screening, and vaccinations based on the area moving to.

There may be limitations to flying pets during the summer months due to the heat with commercial airlines but may be allowed on the Patriot Express.

Upon arrival at the duty station, there will likely be a mandatory pet quarantine period for which some of the fees are reimbursable.

Moving overseas is a stressful move, yes, and there is a lot to do. Take each step slowly, and mark off each item as you accomplish it. Many military families had moved overseas before and survived, despite how you may feel after interacting with the military travel office.

Tax time can be a confusing time. There are many numbers, acronyms (we have so many of those in the military community), and those ever-important dates for filing. After the paperwork is gathered, numbers are entered, and the filing is done, the wait begins for the tax rebate to show up in the mail or bank accounts. What to do with the rebate once it arrives? It is tempting to splurge on something new and exciting. There are wise and useful ways to spend the rebate.

1. Pay off orthodontic bills. While the military’s dental insurance does cover a little of orthodontic care, it does not cover it all. Especially as military families move across the country while a child, or yourself, is under orthodontic care, this leads to bills for care. Then there is a phase I and II of orthodontic treatment, and that can add up quickly. Use your rebate to pay for the remaining amount. If you pay the bill in full, ask if the orthodontist will provide a percentage off to cover this payment in full. It may not seem like a splurge, but using the rebate money is a splurge on a pretty smile!
2. Pay off or put a payment toward a high-interest loan. Have a credit card debt? What about a high-interest car loan? Maybe you are paying off school debt. Use the rebate to pay it down or off. Interest adds up, especially when it is above 10%. Depending on the risk, most investments can earn 7-10%, so any interest rate higher than that is worth paying down faster. This allows your money to be yours at a quicker pace to have available to invest in the future if you desire.
3. Put payment on the principal of your home payment. Putting a payment on the home mortgage will lower the principal amount and save some of that interest added to the larger principal amount. If you want to pay off your house sooner, consider adjusting the paycheck deduction, so you do not get a rebate at the end of tax season and instead receive the higher paycheck monthly and use that extra money to pay off the mortgage with bigger payments monthly.
4. Invest in a Financial Planner. Some fee-for-service financial planners can help determine the best investments for your family. From a Simple IRA to a 529 or education savings accounts, financial advisors can guide types of financial accounts that best suit your family’s financial abilities.
5. Boost Your Emergency Savings. Financial emergencies happen. The car engine stops working, you need to pay for an emergency dental bill, or the HVAC in your home stops working in the dead of winter.  If you don’t already have an emergency fund, put aside your tax rebate for it. Set an attainable goal – be it $500 or $1000 and go up from there as you are able. The age-old saying is to have three months’ expenses as an emergency fund. If funding is less predictable, have a larger emergency fund.
6. Build up your PCS fund. Moving is not cheap. While the government pays for the physical move of the household goods, and there is reimbursement for hotel stays when moving to the new location, there are still extra costs associated with replacing missing and broken items and pantry items. Put the tax rebate aside in an interest-bearing account ready to pay for the upcoming PCS costs.
7. Build a Savings Goal. If you have paid off debt and built up an emergency fund, start saving for a savings goal. If you want to own a home, consider building up savings for payment on the principal of a home, even if you use the VA Loan for the purchase of a home. Are you looking to purchase a car in the future? Consider saving for that. Maybe your goal is to buy new furniture during your twilight tour that you don’t worry have to worry about the weight with. Or perhaps your family wants to buy a Recreational Vehicle in the future to explore after retirement, consider the rebate as a boost to saving towards it. Decide on a savings goal for yourself or your family, and put the tax rebate toward that.
8. Consider purchasing life insurance. While in the military, SGLI provides wonderful life insurance coverage to the active duty member, but life insurance is not available after retirement. Life insurance provides coverage of funeral expenses and any living expenses needed for the family left behind.
9. Invest in education. Whether it is education for yourself or your spouse, using the rebate to pay for college courses can be an investment that pays dividends later. Maybe you wanted to take photography courses or get a certificate in a computer program. These skills can help build business or skill levels to help with future employment. If you have been looking at going back to school, using your rebate may be a smart way to do it.
10.  Save it. While this sounds like the simplest of all of the above, if you already have the debt paid off and an emergency fund in a separate account, maybe all you need to do is save the amount. Let the interest in your savings or checking account grow a little more, and you will be ready for whatever you need when you need it.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 was passed January 1, 2021, and secured a 3.0% military pay raise for 2021.

Base Pay

Monthly base pay is based on rank and years of service. For instance, if you are an E5 with over 4 years of service, the base pay is $2,798.10. An O3E, a commissioned office with over 4 years of enlisted service, with over 8 years of total service has a base pay of $6,628.20.  A breakdown of active duty pay for Enlisted, Warrant Officers, Commissions Officers with over 4 years of Enlisted Service and Commissioned Officers can be found here.

Basic Allowance for Housing Pay

In addition to monthly pay, depending on rank/pay grade, number of dependents and geographic location, a service member collect Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH).

BAH rates are assessed annually to determine if there is a need for housing allowance to change to better align with current housing costs based on location.  The new BAH rate are effective beginning 1 January 2021 and overall have an average increase of 2.9%. Check your local area by inputting military rank and the zip code of the military base or city associated with your or your family’s military orders to determine the 2021 BAH rates here.

If you are living on base, the military housing agency will take the BAH at the previously agreed to rate.  For instance, if you moved into your home and the BAH rate is decreased, your BAH rate is grandfathered in and will not decrease so they will continue to collect the previously agreed rate.  If you are living off base and your rate goes up, you will keep the difference.  And if it goes down, your rate will not decrease.

Additional Pays

Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS): BAS is meant to offset the cost of meals to service members and comes from the historic origins of when pay in the military included room and board. Beginning in 2002, Enlisted service members received a full BAS ration per month. When rations are provided in the field, these meals are then paid for from the BAS paid to the service member. BAS increases annually based on the USDA food cost index. If a service member is on unaccompanied orders and living in government quarts, they receive BAS II. The 2021 BAS rates for Officers and Enlisted Service Members as well as BAS II can be found on the DFAS page here.

Hardship Duty Pay (HDP): HDP is divided into two categories: HDP-Location and HDP-Mission. HDP-Location is compensation provided to service members assigned to locations that have been determined to have living conditions below the conditions provided within the Continental U.S., or CONUS. The amount provided to the service member is dependent on the location area. HDP-Mission is provided to service members that are assigned to designated hardship missions as listed here.

Hostile Fire/Imminent Danger Pay (HFP/IDP): This is also referred to as combat pay. Any service member assigned to a designated IDP area is paid per month, so if you enter a designated IDP for one day, the service member is paid for the entire month. The HFP is pro-rated based on hostile fire. Service members cannot receive both IDP and HFP. Further details can be found on DFAS here. Currently qualified hazardous duty areas are listed on DFAS here. Imminent Danger Pay as of January 2021 is listed here.

Hazardous Duty Incentive Pay (HDIP): HDIP designates special duty pay based on hazardous duty. There many duty options including but not limited to Parachute Duty, Flight Deck Duty and Polar Region Flight Operations Duty.

Family Separation Allowance (FSA): This pay is extended to service members when dependents are unable to accompany the service member. This is often extended to service members when on temporary duty on ship, deployed overseas, or on unaccompanied orders. FSA is pro-rated per day after 30 continuous days away for your permanent duty station.

Assignment Incentive Pay (AIP): AIP is extended to service members that involuntarily extend in unusual assignments.

Depending on occupation, special pays for aviation, submarine, diving and foreign language proficiency pays may also be offered.  

Entitlements are listed in block 10 of the Leave and Earning Statement (LES).

By Marguerite Cleveland

The Department of Defense (DoD) recently announced the 2021 Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rates. The new BAH rates go into effect on January 1, 2021 and will increase an average of 2.9 percent. If you are receiving the GI Bill Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) which is the same as BAH for an E-5 with dependents and based on the school zip code your rate will increase on August 1, 2021, the start of the academic year.

This is part of a robust military compensation package, but service members will incur out-of-pocket expenses at five percent of the national average housing cost by pay grade. For 2021 that amount should range from $70 to $158 a month based on grade and dependency status. The DoD considers the overall military pay and benefits package to be competitive even with out-of-pocket expenses.

Depending on your area your BAH will either go up or down. A question many people have is what happens if my BAH goes down? Basically, nothing due to the individual rate protection provision which is an important part of the BAH program. If you maintain uninterrupted BAH eligibility at a set location, you will not see your rate decrease. If you have a lease or long-term commitment you aren’t penalized if housing costs decrease in your area. If you PCS and then return to the area later, you will receive the BAH in effect at that time.

So how does the DoD determine BAH rates. Each year they collect housing cost data for 300 military housing areas in the United States including Alaska and Hawaii. The branches of the military as well as local housing offices assisted in the data collection effort. In addition, local commands provide information on which neighborhoods provide adequate and safe apartments and houses available for rent.

Then it gets more complex as the median current market rent and averages for electricity, heat, and water/sewer are factored in to make up the total housing cost for an area. Then there are six different housing profiles which are based on the type of home and number of bedrooms for each military housing area. Then the BAH rates are calculated for each pay grade with and without dependents.

What are the highest and lowest BAH rates around the country? Check out this chart from Military Benefits.

2021 BAH Rates by The Numbers

Areas with 10 Highest BAH Rates*

1. San Francisco, CA (MHA: CA019)
2. Santa Clara County, CA (MHA: CA044)
3. Westchester County, NY (MHA: NY349)
4. Long Island, NY (MHA: NY218)
5. Nantucket, MA (MHA: MA119)
6. New York City, NY (MHA: NY219)
7. Marin/Sonoma, CA (MHA: CA027)
8. Boston, MA (MHA: MA120)
9. Oakland, CA (MHA: CA018)
10. Florida Keys, FL (MHA: FL069)

Areas with 10 Lowest BAH Rates*

1. Terre Haute, IN (MHA: IN338)
2. Fort Leonard Wood, MO (MHA: MO163)
3. Youngstown, OH (MHA: OH233)
4. Anniston/Fort McClelland, AL (MHA: AL001)
5. Charleston, WV (MHA: WV323)
6. Sault Ste Marie, MI (MHA: MI145)
7. Saginaw, MI (MHA: MI156)
8. Fort Chaffee/Fort Smith, AR (MHA: AR012)
9. Saint Joseph, MO (MHA: MO344)
10. Fort Still/Lawton, OK (MHA: OK237)

*Average across pay grades. Individual pay grades by area may rank lower or higher.

The Service Members Civil Relief Act (SCRA) enacted in 2003 expanded on the 1940 Soldiers’ and Sailor’s Civil Relief Act. At its core, the law was written to alleviate financial stress on active duty military, with some benefits extending the military dependents. The SCRA may be most well-known by military families as providing protection with terminating a residential lease for a permanent change of station (PCS) or deployment. When a military member receives PCS orders, they can tell their landlord and break their lease without financial penalty. If their next rent is due on October 1^st, and the military member tells their landlord and provides military orders on September 20^th, then they pay for September and October’s rent but do not pay a penalty for breaking a lease early.

The SCRA has undergone multiple amendments since its original writing. In May of 2020, an amendment was introduced allowing for the extensions of the “lease protections for servicemembers under stop movement orders in response to a local, national, or global emergency, and for other purposes” (Congress.gov). When the pandemic hit the United States in the spring of 2020, many families across the world were gearing up for a PCS. That came to a stop. Several families had already handed in their notice to terminate their lease, and were left negotiating with landlords who may or may not have been understanding of the situation. Some families had two leases signed, one in the location they lived in, and one in the location they would be moving to as they anticipated the move. The Senate passed the amendment on 8/14/2020.

This amendment to SCRA is retroactive, meaning families can request reimbursement for rental payments that were paid during the stop movement order when they or their family was not living in the home.

The final adopted language of the amendment further states that the bill applies to service members who execute a lease upon receipt of PCS orders “for a period of no less than 90 days and thereafter receives a stop movement order issued by the Secretary of Defense in response to a local, national, or global emergency, effective for an indefinite period or for a period of not less than 30 days, which prevents the servicemember or the service member’s dependents from occupying the lease for a residential, professional, business, agricultural, or similar purpose.” Layman’s terms – if the servicemember already signed a lease but cannot reside in it due to the stop order for at least 30 days, the service member can terminate the lease with a copy of the military orders and providing that termination lease to the landlord.

To Terminate a Lease Due to Stop Move Order:

• A written notice of termination and a copy of the military orders must be provided to the landlord
• The delivery of the notice must be done in one of three ways:
  • Hand delivery
  • By Private Business Carrier
  • Mailing the written notice in an envelope with appropriate postage with return receipt requested and addressed to the landlord or the landlord’s agent

The termination of the lease is effective on the date that all of the above is completed. READ: No 30-day notice needed if the stop movement order was the reason for the move, or lack of move.

If you or a military family you know was affected by the stop-move order, make sure they know about the new changes to SCRA.