Reference & AI
Military Money Guides
Written from active dutyThe decisions behind the calculators. PCS moves, deployment pay, and retirement elections, explained in plain English by someone who lives them.
Reviewed by Guilherme Correia, active-duty U.S. Air Force
Our calculators give you the number. These guides give you the decision. Should you do a PPM? How do you capture every dollar on a deployment? Should you take the BRS lump sum? They’re written from inside the military, not from a corporate desk, and every figure traces to an official 2026 source. No fluff, no "10 money tips," just the real math and the gotchas nobody warns you about.
Showing the 16 guides that cite High-3 Retirement Calculator. See all guides
Guides for the High-3 Retirement Calculator
16 publishedRetirement & Transition
TRICARE For Life at 65: You Must Take Medicare Part B to Keep TRICARE, What It Costs in 2026, and the Sign-Up Window TRICARE Sets
TRICARE For Life has no enrollment form and no enrollment fee, but it only exists once you hold Medicare Part A and Part B. Skip Part B at 65 and TRICARE ends, except for prescriptions at a military pharmacy. Here is the rule in the statute, the 2026 Part B premium by income, the penalty for signing up late, and the sign-up window TRICARE's own brochure gives.
9 min readRetirement & Transition
The 2027 COLA Is 3.6%: September CPI-W Closes the Formula for Retired Pay, SBP and VA Compensation
BLS published the September Consumer Price Index on October 14, 2026, the last of the three months that set next year's cost of living adjustment for military retired pay, SBP annuities and VA compensation. The arithmetic is now closed: the 2027 COLA is 3.6%, and Social Security announced the same figure the same morning. Here is the calculation, what it is worth by retired grade, and the one piece still missing on the VA side.
8 min readRetirement & Transition
High-3 vs. BRS: Which Retirement System Are You Even Under?
There are two military retirement systems, they pay very differently, and a surprising number of people do not know which one they are in. Here is how to tell, and what each one actually gives you.
7 min readFamily & Spouse
TRICARE Posted Its Full 2027 Price List: Fees and Caps Rise With the 3.6% COLA, Reserve Premiums Rise More
The Defense Health Agency published the calendar year 2027 TRICARE enrollment fees, deductibles, copayments, catastrophic caps and premiums on November 5, 2026, four days before open season. The Group B active duty family cap goes to $1,372.00, the Group B retiree Select family fee to $1,233.96, and TRICARE Reserve Select family coverage to $307.48 a month. Here is every line that moved against the 2026 figures, and what it costs by rank.
8 min readPay & Allowances
TRICARE Published Half of Its 2027 Price List: Drug Copays Are Frozen by Law, the Rest Waits on the COLA
The Defense Health Agency published the CY2027 TRICARE program changes on September 18, 2026. Pharmacy copayments do not move on January 1, because a statute fixes them through 2027. Enrollment fees, deductibles and catastrophic caps are missing from the notice entirely, because they ride on a cost of living adjustment nobody can compute until October 14. Here is what is settled, what is not, and what the published 2026 figures are worth by rank.
8 min readRetirement & Transition
SGLI After Retirement: 120 Free Days, Then VGLI Priced by Your Age
Retiring does not let you keep SGLI. It runs free for 120 days after your retirement date and then stops. What replaces it is VGLI, and at the ages people retire from the military its premium climbs every five years. Here is the timeline, the premium table, and what $500,000.00 of VGLI costs against a 20-year retired check by grade.
6 min readRetirement & Transition
Marschner v. Marschner: The Supreme Court Will Decide Whether a Divorce Deal Can Make a Veteran Repay a VA Waiver
On October 1, 2026 the Supreme Court agreed to hear No. 25-1349, a North Dakota divorce in which the veteran promised to make up any retired pay his former spouse lost to a VA waiver. The question is whether Howell v. Howell (2017) voids that promise. Here is what is decided, what is not, and what a waiver costs a former spouse at each grade.
7 min readFamily & Spouse
TRICARE Young Adult Premiums for 2027: $394 a Month for Select, $893 for Prime, Priced Against Your Basic Pay
The TRICARE Operations Manual now prints the 2027 TRICARE Young Adult premiums: $394.00 a month for Select and $893.00 for Prime, starting January 1, 2027. That is $4,728.00 and $10,716.00 a year for each adult child, with no family rate. Here is what that means against a sponsor's basic pay, and the rules that cost families money when they miss them.
7 min readPay & Allowances
Navy Medicine's FY27 Special Pay Changes: RAM Bonuses Rise to $70,000 on a New 6-Year Contract, and Three Corps Get Bonuses They Did Not Have
BUMED's FY27 Summary of Changes raises the Aerospace Medicine retention bonus at every contract length and adds a six-year agreement at $70,000.00 a year, lifts the Preventive/Occupational Medicine three-year bonus from $23,000.00 to $30,000.00, and creates retention bonuses for NICU nurses, Medical Laboratory officers and nurses entering CRNA, FNP or MHNP training. Requests back to October 1, 2026 are open until November 20, 2026. The statute behind every agreement expires December 31, 2026 unless Congress extends it.
9 min readRetirement & Transition
TSP Share Price History: Where the Official Numbers Are, and What Each Fund Has Returned Through October 2, 2026
The Thrift Savings Plan publishes the share price of every fund for every business day back to 2003. This page shows where that file lives, the closing prices on October 2, 2026, and what the five core funds returned this year, last year and over five and ten years, all computed from the official prices. Then the part that matters more than any price: what to do with it.
6 min readRetirement & Transition
The Major Richard Star Act in October 2026: 340 House Cosponsors, 80 in the Senate, and Still No Vote
The Major Richard Star Act would let medically retired veterans with combat-related disabilities keep their full retired pay alongside VA compensation. It has more cosponsors than almost any bill in Congress. It has not had a vote in either chamber. Here is exactly where both bills stand as of October 3, 2026, who it would cover, and what those veterans can claim today.
6 min readPay & Allowances
The Pentagon Is Cutting 20% of General and Admiral Positions by January 1, 2027: What It Changes for Military Pay, and What It Does Not
Hegseth is doubling last year's 10 percent cut to general and flag officer positions to 20 percent, due January 1, 2027. There were 851 active-duty generals and admirals on July 31, 2026, against a legal ceiling of 857, so the order removes about 170 positions. Some will be downgraded to colonel or Navy captain, some eliminated. Here is what the order says, what Congress controls, what a one-star costs next to a colonel on the 2026 tables, and why your own pay does not move.
8 min readRetirement & Transition
Your Last Paycheck: Leave Sell-Back, Final Pay, and the Money on the Way Out
Getting out comes with a last round of money: your final pay, the leave you can cash in, and a few entitlements that settle on the way out. Here is how to make sure you get all of it.
7 min readRetirement & Transition
The Survivor Benefit Plan: The Retirement Decision Nobody Prepares You For
Your military pension stops the day you die. The Survivor Benefit Plan is the one chance you get to keep part of it flowing to your spouse, and you decide at retirement, often without much warning.
7 min readRetirement & Transition
The TSP Fund Choice, Demystified: G, F, C, S, and I
The Thrift Savings Plan gives you five core funds and a set of Lifecycle funds, and that is where most people freeze. Here is what each one actually is, in plain terms, and how to think about the choice without the jargon.
8 min readRetirement & Transition
BRS Lump Sum vs. Full Pension: The 2026 Math, Honestly
At retirement the Blended Retirement System offers you a lump sum in exchange for a smaller pension until age 67. It looks like free money. The discount rate is where they get you. Here is how to actually run the decision.
10 min readHow these guides are sourced
Every figure comes from a primary 2026 source: the Joint Travel Regulations, DoD Financial Management Regulation, DFAS pay tables, IRS publications, or U.S. Code. Each guide lists exactly which. Worked examples are clearly labeled illustrations, never real-person claims. Read more about our research methodology and update cadence.
REF: Military Toolkit Guides, effective 2026
Official 2026 DoD, DFAS, DTMO, IRS, and VA sources
Results are estimates. Always verify with your finance office.
Reviewed by Guilherme Correia · Military Toolkit editorial