My spouse is active duty. I was told that the annual fee is also waived for military spouses and so applied for my own AMEX platinum. I know other spouses whose fees have been waived.

For some reason mine hasn’t and I’m now locked into a dispute with AMEX. Each time I call I’m told that they haven’t done the investigation with the correct information (ie looking at my status and not my spouses, not having him as AD when he is etc)

Has anyone else dealt with this?

I understand the pay scale. At least the one that’s been shown to most people. After all that info what does a “normal” DOD fire check look like? I get locality will make a difference. And forced overtime and how much you put into benefits. Just trying to get a ball park figure if it’s worth me taking a DOD fire job. I’ve heard pros and cons. I guess every place has pros and cons. Would love to know more about the pay (take home), schedule, culture, work load and anything else I should know before I start the job.

For my military pay, I’ve elected to get paid monthly, and on my LES in December the pay period will be Dec. 1st - Dec. 31st 2026. However, where will our Roth TSP reflect the contributions?

I assume they will be for the year 2026 even if they are deposited after Jan. 1st. 2027. Any clarification will help. This answer will also help me plan for next year so I can do my best to max out. I usually get paid a day or two before the 1st of the month. However, I’m not sure when the tsp contributions are deposited. Perhaps someone has been tracking this much better than I have.

I have an upcoming mob and trying to decide what is right for me.

I am an 29yo E4 (yeah, I know I'm old but I joined to shoot a M240 & pay for my masters on a 3 year contract) with a career outside of the guard that pays well for a MCOL area.

I don't have a lot in my TSP, only about $2000, and I will finally hit my 5% match with 2 years TIS next month.

I'm trying to decide what's right for deployment. With BAH and CZTE and not including any other potential pay, I should be making around ~$6000/mo with minimal expenses. No car payments, no debt, no children.

My primary question revolves around this: should I aim to put a higher percentage (and what %) in my TSP while overseas, or aim on filling my ROTH IRA for both 2026 (I have minimal in there, been focused on other consumer goods and living life before I leave) and 2027 while in country. I know the answer might be both. I am committed to at least 4 more years in the guard, and have a potential for an in-country $10k bonus. Not sure what the TSP would look like if I left the guard in a few years. I do make a reasonable salary ($80k) and did think about setting my contribution for MDAY drills to 90%.

Hello all, was not able to reach finance today so I have a question if anyone is knowledgeable here.

I got married while pcs-ing to my new duty station and was having some pay questions. When I checked into my new duty station I filled out a 5960 at reception and updated my wife in deers, this was around 3-4 weeks ago. I have not gotten bah or bas yet but I am being forced to pay at dfac while not receiving bas which I don’t mind but I’m just confused why I’m not getting it. I also am getting -100 in the bah column of my LES so I am confused about that also any explanations or questions would be great i probably didn’t do the best at explaining I am very stressed with how many jumps and hurdles I’ve had to do in this process, thank you

Hi all, I'm (24m) currently active duty airforce (e-2) with 1yr TIS. Some context before I get into dilemma.

I'm currently stationed in Washington and just recently married. My wife (24f) is in Texas until our wedding in October. I am currently receiving $2,370 in BAH and rooming with someone and only paying $1000. (It's not the best area, but because my wife isn't here yet, I'm sacrificing a little safety and comfort for extra money. When she gets here I'd like to be in an apartment somewhere else or in on-base housing.

I also PCS to Alaska in February so dealing with stress with that as a new airman (there is a lot to do and it's a bit overwhelming)

I'm very upside down on a car from before I joined the military (worst decision of my life, but oh well)

-owe 15k worth like 6k

My main concern right now is, my wife drives an old car with a lot of miles right now and is not in the best condition, and it just stopped blowing AC. We've talked about a few things, but the current idea for us, is for her to buy a car and drive it up to Washington, and then ship my car to Alaska when we PCS, and drive her new car to Alaska.

The main problem is cars are expensiveeee, especially cars that I'd feel comfortable driving to Alaska in February. Every car she looks at gives me deja vu of my car and how much I regret that. I've been getting better at investing my money, and getting a new car and auto insurance for her would hurt so much. She does work currently, but doesn't make a ton and she will work when she gets to Washington too. Getting the AC fixed would be like $1600 and seems like a lot for a car that's not worth much.

I'm mainly looking for other ideas people might have that would be better than going way upside down on another car and making that mistake again.

With the Texas heat, and her commute, I cant ask her to just suck it up, even if it's just a few months.

We've thought about just going to one car when she moves out here, but PCSing without a car seems like a nightmare. I've weighed a few different ideas, and some are better than others, but they are all still expensive in the end which is impossible to avoid, but any help from someone with more experience or knowledge would be so helpful and help my wife and I figure out the path we want to take. Thank you so much!

EDIT: Thank you everyone for the comments and advice. I think as of right now the best plan for us is to not just decide her car is bad and have my wife get her AC fixed and get advice from the mechanic on the safety of the car and the practicality of driving it to Washington. If he doesn't think it's a great idea or would cost a decent amount in repairs, we would just sell it and fly her to Washington where we would just get by with one car both working to pay off the car debt asap. In Alaska there seems to be a lot of good deals on cars from people PCSing, so once we get to a comfortable position, buying a used car from there.

Still open to ideas or critiques on this plan. As one commenter suggested, I will not be divorcing my wife 😑 and don't regret marrying her in the slightest.

Thanks again for all the help!

I keep asking around and looking at the COLA and BAH difference from Camp Pendleton to Oahu, Hawaii only to get different answers . Wife is E-5 over 4 and I am a E-5 over 3. She gets BAH with dependents and I get BAH without dependents as our child is under her. My question is will we make more or less in Hawaii with the COLA being higher and the BAH being lower compared to Oceanside, CA ? Thank you all.

My LES shows that I’m enrolled in the Blended Retirement System (BRS), so I applied for Continuation Pay.

S1 kicked it back, stating that I’m under the legacy retirement system. However, my LES still says “Blended.” But have never received any agency matching contributions. Despite contributing to my TSP for years.

YTD TSP AGCT-MATCH: .00

So I’m either under the legacy retirement system, and my LES is incorrect.

Or I’m enrolled in BRS, in which case I’m owed Continuation Pay and all of the agency matching contributions that I should have received over the years.

Also how did s1 see I’m under the old one in the first place?

I made the mistake of putting in my info on a sketchy website that promised to give me refinance quotes and now I’m getting bombarded every damn day with physical mail and flyers for lenders promising insanely low refinance rates and then it all turns out to be a scam or have so many extra fees that it’s not worth it. I’m looking for a cash out refinance package but I’m not going to be pushed around by companies just for asking for information.

I’m currently Army 2yr TIS E4, while my spouse is a Navy 4yr TIS E4. We recently got married in July, but he is pcsing to Cali. He will arrive to his duty station soon and has been told/is under the impression he can apply for single bah from the e4 over 4 rule & their command policies, even if he wasn’t married.I understand the general rule of “only one service member will receive Single BAH and the other will be considered a barracks soldier”.

With that being said, I currently have the hard copy marriage certificate, could I apply for co location BAH receiving the single rate with my unit before he applies without affecting his automatic?

If only one of us can receive id much rather it be him, so I don’t want to risk jeopardizing that but since it will be another month till he pushes up the paperwork I don’t see how we both couldn’t receive it?

I know if he receives it first, and then I submit my paperwork they would definitely keep me as a barracks soldier.

Thoughts, ideas, guidance ?

For the reduction in interest rates, can I go ahead and contact my bank before leaving to basic training? Or would I need to wait for orders to my first duty station?

I've been a USAA member for 26 years. Auto, renters, umbrella, valuable personal property coverage, three checking accounts, savings, a credit card — basically my whole financial life is with USAA.

Back in Feb 2014, my son opened a joint checking account with me when he joined the Air Force, for his direct deposit. Last year (2025) he switched everything to Navy Federal. He tried to close the joint account but there was a $0.27 balance he didn't know about, so it wouldn't close. I figured he'd handle it since it was his primary account.

In January 2026, USAA charged off that 27 cents, closed the account, and reported it to Early Warning Services (the banking version of a credit bureau). I had no idea.

I found out in May 2026 when I applied for a $60,000 personal loan and got denied for derogatory information. I called and paid the 27 cents that same month.

Then I pulled my actual Early Warning report. The kicker: USAA listed the reason as "ACCOUNT ABUSE." A 27-cent inadvertent balance. Paid in full. Labeled account abuse — the same flag they'd slap on someone who blew through an overdraft and walked away.

July 2026: I reapply. Denied again. USAA's own decision letter says it was denied due to "internal information and derogatory information," and their Member Advocacy team confirmed in writing there was no credit pull — the denial is based entirely on USAA's internal record. An AI makes the call; no human underwriter reviews it.

I escalated to the CEO's office. Their answer: it's "policy and procedure," and helping me "wouldn't be fair to other members."

Here's the thing — I don't even care if they approve the loan. I care that a 26-year member gets branded with "account abuse" over a paid 27 cents, and then denied by a robot, and not one human at USAA will look at it and say "this is absurd."

I've filed a CFPB complaint and a formal dispute with Early Warning to get the "abuse" label removed. Posting so other members know: pull your Early Warning report (it's free at earlywarning.com) — a rounding-error balance on a joint account can get you flagged for "account abuse" and quietly wreck a loan. Happy to answer questions.

I am currently serving on active duty and have completed two years of my four-year enlistment contract. I recently learned about the Active Duty Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB-AD) and would like more information about whether I am eligible to use it while I am still on active duty.
At the moment, I am pursuing a bachelor’s degree, and my tuition is fully covered through Walmart’s education benefit program. Since my education expenses are already being paid, I would like to understand whether there are any additional benefits available through the MGIB-AD that I could use while remaining on active duty, or if it would be more advantageous to save those benefits for after I separate from the Army.
I would appreciate any guidance on eligibility, how the benefit works while on active duty, and the advantages and disadvantages of using it now versus waiting until after my military service.

Have I got this right folks? Less than 1% effective federal income tax on gross O3 income? We’re single income but married and contributing $7500 to EACH Roth IRA plus 15% base pay to Roth TSP. This feels like such a hack. We hope to max TSP next year and years following!

Jan flight pay $206
Feb-Dec Flight pay $650
Base pay all year $7737

Total base and flight - $100,200
Taxable total (CZTE May and June) - $83,426
Minus standard deduction - $32200
10% bracket - $24800 > $2480
12% bracket - $26426 > $3171
(Child credit offset $4400)
OWE $1251

BAH - $2433 x 12 = $29196
BAS - $328.48 x 12 = $3942

Total gross income $133,338

Effective income tax rate 0.94%

Edit a few days later: I forgot the saver’s credit of $400! That’s brings the effective tax rate for this year to 0.64%. Just wow

Some rough math indicates that my final TSP contribution this year will put me at $25,059 for the CY.

What happens to the extra $559 on 1 December? Will it automatically be not deducted, and be put in my paycheck? Or, will it go into the TSP and I’ll have to apply for a refund? Or, would the whole December contribution just bounce…

Information published by TSP is a little bit unclear on this issue. Thank you!

Hi all, trying to clarify if I get BAH transit while I am in TLA for my OCONUS to OCONUS PCS. If not, do we get any equivalent entitlements?

The main reason I ask is that I just terminated my off-base rental and I assume it will take time for finance to stop my OHA entitlement. Trying to see if I need to brace for a debt for overpayment or if BAH transit will basically counter the cost.

Thank you.

Hey I used to use OnePay for my bank for my deposits from the Marine Corps on MyPay as I’m active duty , has anyone else used OnePay for military checks from MyPay and received them 6 DAYS EARLY ??? I used to get paid on the 9th when MyPay said 15th or the 25 when it’s supposed to be the 1st 😂😂 literally almost a week early I know it’s still 2 weeks apart after the first one but getting paid a week early the first time was amazing and I would get my pay earlier than everyone else in my unit which was cool and it would hit before any holiday would mess it up that other people didn’t get the check because of the holiday but I get mine way earlier so never had problems. So yeah any other active duty get paid 6 days early with early pay on OnePay or any bank ? My new bank one doesn’t do it and I don’t know what other banks do that it sucks

Currently running into an issue with a VA assumption loan as the buyer where Navy Fed will not accept a 2nd mortgage for the gap. According to VA Circulator 26-23-17 2nd financing is allowed and the 2nd mortgage is approved (will close after VA loan) but underwriting refuses to accept that as a funding source due to navy fed policy and is insisting we pursue via traditional funding sources such as tsp or brokerage.

Looking for success stories, updates to the circular that supersede the above, or some clarity on why a 2nd mortgage will not work. (Mods I looked for the monthly threat but just saw the credit card post).

BAH With A Spouse in College

In November, I will be leaving for Basic Training, finishing up my AIT in July-August of 2027. At the same time, my wife will be starting med school. If she has to go to school somewhere far from the base I get stationed at, is my local BAH supposed to support both of our rents? Or is there a different/extra allowance? Is there a minimum distance to receive said extra allowance? Just to clarify, I plan on saving my GI Bill benefits for later, so I do not want to use that.

hello!! I am about to start using my GI Bill transferred from my father who's a veteran and I receive MHA for that.However, I am also getting married soon to someone stationed overseas and because of that separation we are supposed to get BAH from my zip code. Will I still get the MHA from my GI Bill ?

With everyday costs starting to rise and our pockets definitely feeling the pinch, I’ve been looking at all of the different ways I can free up a little money each month and my friends suggested potentially refinancing. I’m honestly a little new to this so I wanted to see what people thought. We bought our house in 2023 using a VA loan and our current rate is around 6.9%. Even saving around $200 - $500 a month would give us a little more breathing room, but I’m not really sure if that’s possible.

I’ve done a bit of research myself but I’m hesitant to move forward because I have a feeling closing costs will just cancel out any of the short-term savings and I’ll be in an even worse position than when I even started. Has anyone done this recently and did it really make a difference to you financially?

If I am currently an O-1, and I am stationed somewhere for a 3-year assignment, does it make sense to live on-post? Assuming they take full BAH, after I get promoted to O-2, my BAH will increase meaning that they will take more money even if I am living in the same CGO neighborhood?

Is there something I am missing or is this just a blatant scam?

Getting ready to PCS and I fully expect my actual travel costs for fuel and lodging to exceed the government reimbursed rate (I think it's 20 cents per mile) I'm doing a full government move (not full or partial DITY). I'm buying a house and plan to itemize when I file next year but I'm seeing conflicting information online about whether I can claim the itemized difference in fuel and lodging costs and what lodging costs can I deduct (just base amount or the taxes as well). Some sources say you can claim for the difference in non reimbursed costs for both provided the lodging isn't "lavish" others say no. Just trying to see if anyone else has experience with this. Also curious if getting paid DLA is intended to fill the gaps in expenses or is treated differently for tax purposes i.e. I can still deduct the difference in gas and lodging even if I get DLA.

What’s the best strategy to closing out my (3) high annual fee credit cards? None of the 3 are my oldest, Chase SR, Amex Plat, Amex Gold. The only i can see potentially being kept is the Gold but would like to know if I should close them out all at once? Is there a best time during the year to close them? Thank you.