Honest financial tools for military families.
Seven free calculators, expert answers in 30 seconds, and a monthly briefing built from official DFAS, JTR, IRS, and DoD sources. No upsells. No hype. Free without an account.
Get the Monthly Military Financial Briefing
One email a month with the rate releases (DFAS, BAH, per diem), tax changes that affect military families, and the planning moves military households actually use. Free, written by a military-family team, easy to unsubscribe.
Seven free calculators
Built from official sources. Always free. No signup wall.
TSP Calculator
Model BRS matching, fund allocations, and 30-year retirement growth.
PCS Planner
Estimate DLA, TLE, per diem, MALT, and PPM profit from current JTR rates.
Spouse Tax Wizard
MSRRA, residency, and state-tax workup for military spouses. IRS- and DOR-cited.
House Hacking Calculator
Model a 2-4 unit VA loan: rental income, BAH coverage, PITI, vacancy reserves.
SDP Calculator
Project SDP returns: 10% guaranteed on $10,000 with the 90-day grace period.
Military Salary Calculator
Compare military total comp (base, BAH, BAS, Tricare, retirement) to a civilian offer.
On-Base Savings Calculator
Annual commissary, Exchange tax-free, and MILITARY STAR fuel savings.
See them all
The full free-tools hub with descriptions, sources, and last-reviewed dates for each calculator.
Ask the Military Expert
Cited answers in roughly 30 seconds, drawn from over 6,500 official sources — DFAS, JTR, VA, IRS, DoDEA, and more. Built for the situation-specific questions a calculator can't answer. Five questions per month are always free.
Sample questions
- “What can I claim on a CONUS-to-Hawaii PCS?”
- “Does combat-zone pay cover my SDP interest?”
- “Can I claim MSRRA with my Texas SLR?”
- “Should I roll my old TSP into a Roth IRA?”
What else we publish
Free · Monthly
Monthly Briefing
One email a month with rate releases, tax changes, and planning moves. Magazine-format, no fluff.
Free · Long-form
Expert Guides
In-depth research on the financial situations military families ask about most. Bankruptcy recovery, predatory lending, Article 15 fallout, and more.
Free · Wizard
Spouse Tax Wizard
MSRRA, residency, and state-tax decisions for military spouses. Plain-English with the right state forms attached.
Built from official sources
Every calculator and every Expert answer is built from official primary sources: DFAS pay tables, the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR), DTMO per diem and MALT rates, IRS publications, the official DoD BAH calculator, TSP.gov fund returns, DeCA commissary methodology, 10 U.S.C. § 1035 for SDP, and VA loan policy. Each calculator page shows a visible “Last reviewed” date — when the underlying rates change, the calculators get updated.
Garrison Ledger is built by an independent military-family team. We don't sell your data, we don't store PII from calculators, and we don't monetize through “exclusive military offers.” The free tools are free; the paid product (Ask the Expert + Base Navigator at $9.99/month) is optional and doesn't gate anything you saw in the magazine ad.
Garrison Ledger · Family Media, LLC