|
|
Garrison Ledger
Monthly Military Financial Briefing
|
|
The July Briefing
PCS closeout + mid-year money check
|
|
|
Bottom Line Up Front
July is the handoff month. If you moved, close the reimbursement loop before receipts disappear. If you did not move, use the slower holiday window to check Thrift Savings Plan pacing, school-year logistics, and education-benefit choices before fall term decisions lock in. None of this is flashy, but every item prevents a real administrative problem later.
|
|
|
In This Briefing
♦
| I |
PCS voucher closeout: the receipts that slow payment |
| II |
Thrift Savings Plan at halftime: check the 2026 limit before December |
| III |
Back-to-school after PCS: call the school liaison first |
| IV |
Fall education benefits: use Tuition Assistance before GI Bill months |
|
|
|
Briefing · No. I
♦
PCS voucher closeout: the receipts that slow payment.
By July, many summer movers are either at the new duty station or close enough to start the claim. DFAS is plain about the basics: a PCS travel voucher uses DD Form 1351-2, claimed reimbursable expenses of $75 or more need receipts, and lodging plus rental cars require receipts regardless of cost (DFAS PCS voucher guidance).
- Separate receipts by claim type. Keep lodging, rental car, tolls, fuel, airfare, and authorized miscellaneous expenses in separate folders. If several small tolls add up to more than $75, DFAS says to show the individual breakdown instead of treating the lump sum as one mystery charge.
- Do not lose the paper trail for a PPM. Personally Procured Move packages require the signed DD 1351-2, PCS orders, DD 2278 from the Transportation Office, certified gross and tare weight tickets, the operating expense worksheet if used, rental agreement, and other required support (DFAS PPM requirements).
- Check signatures before upload. A technically complete voucher can still stall if Block 20 is missing the claimant signature/date or if the reviewer date is before the claimant date. Fix it once before it goes into the queue.
- Use a statement in lieu only when you have to. DFAS allows a Statement in Lieu of Actual Receipts when documentation is missing. That is a backup, not a substitute for keeping the original proof.
If you want to sanity-check what a summer move should have generated before you file, the PCS Planner models mileage, per diem, dislocation allowance, TLE, and PPM economics from the route.
|
|
|
Briefing · No. II
♦
Thrift Savings Plan at halftime: check the 2026 limit before December.
The 2026 Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) elective deferral limit is $24,500. The regular catch-up limit is $8,000, and participants turning 60, 61, 62, or 63 in 2026 have an $11,250 catch-up limit (TSP Bulletin 25-3). July is the right time to check pacing because there are still enough pay periods left to correct without overreacting.
- BRS members: do not accidentally pause the match. If you front-load too aggressively and hit the annual limit before the final pay periods, your own contributions can stop. That can also stop agency matching on later paychecks. Steady pacing usually beats a heroic January.
- Catch-up is automatic now. TSP says contributions beyond the elective deferral limit automatically spill over to the catch-up limit if you are eligible. You still need the payroll election high enough to reach it.
- High earners need the Roth rule on their radar. Starting in 2026, if prior-year FICA wages exceeded $150,000 and you make catch-up contributions, those catch-up dollars must be Roth under SECURE 2.0. TSP says the switch is automatic for most people, but payroll offices are still the practical point of failure.
- Combat-zone pay changes the math. Tax-exempt pay can be powerful in Roth TSP, but contribution limits still apply. Do not guess; check the LES and the TSP year-to-date total.
Run your current percentage through the TSP Calculator and compare the projected year-end contribution to the official limit before changing MyPay.
|
|
|
Briefing · No. III
♦
Back-to-school after PCS: call the school liaison first.
Registration week is the wrong time to discover a district boundary, course-placement issue, special-education handoff, or youth-sponsorship gap. Military OneSource says school liaisons are located at each installation and support pre-K through grade 12 school matters, including transitions after PCS, credits, class registration, special education navigation, homeschooling resources, and youth sponsorship referrals (School Liaison Program).
- Ask before you sign a lease. School boundaries, bus routes, commute time, and program availability can change block by block. The liaison can tell you which district office to call before housing locks you in.
- Bring unofficial records anyway. June's compact reminder still stands, but the practical move is simple: carry transcripts, IEP or 504 plan, immunization record, birth certificate, proof of residency, orders, and the gaining-school contact in one folder.
- Use youth sponsorship early. Military OneSource's back-to-school guidance points families to youth sponsorship so students can connect with a peer before the first day (Back-to-school support). That is especially useful for middle school and high school moves.
- Do not wait on special education. Ask for the gaining school's special education contact now and send the plan ahead of arrival. The first week should not be spent proving a documented need still exists.
If you are still choosing a place to live, start with the public base pages at Base Navigator and then call the school liaison for the local reality check.
|
|
|
Briefing · No. IV
♦
Fall education benefits: use Tuition Assistance before GI Bill months.
Fall term decisions start in July, and the order matters. Tuition Assistance (TA) is the active-duty benefit you coordinate through your service education center and DoD's MilTA system (DoD MilTA). The Post-9/11 GI Bill is a finite VA benefit with up to 36 months available when eligible (VA Post-9/11 GI Bill). Burning GI Bill months on coursework TA would have covered is usually the wrong order.
- Use TA first when it fits the degree plan. TA resets by fiscal year and is designed for coursework while serving. Confirm current caps, grade requirements, course approval rules, and service-specific obligations before you register.
- Save GI Bill months for where they do more work. The GI Bill can cover tuition after service and may include a housing allowance, books, and dependent-transfer value. Active-duty use can remove much of that housing value.
- Use Top-Up deliberately. If tuition is above the TA cap, Top-Up can cover the gap with GI Bill entitlement. That can be useful, but it still consumes a finite benefit.
- Check spouse and dependent timing now. Transfer of entitlement, MyCAA, school deadlines, and command approval windows do not move just because PCS season was chaotic.
If you are deciding whether to use TA, Top-Up, the GI Bill, or transfer benefits to a spouse or child this fall, ask the Military Expert for the order of operations before you spend benefit months.
|
|
|
New on Garrison Ledger
♦
Base Navigator: public base pages, live BAH tables.
Every installation page now has a free, public layer with stable base facts and the live DFAS BAH table. Premium members can unlock the neighborhood intelligence layer for housing, schools, commute, weather, and Family Fit scoring. The public layer does not fire paid vendor calls.
Browse Base Navigator
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
