Pay Questions after Retirement.

[3E3Cripple]

Last active duty day is 23 May. I’m 50% DoD and 90% proposed VA.

I’ve reached out to my local finance office, called DFAS, nobody has answers.

Looked on this forum and I see that I’ll probably get the VA payments…end of July. Last active duty check somewhere between 2-4 weeks after final active duty day. My questions are:

Since I am retiring at 50% (13.5yrs active total) will I get “retirement” pay until the VA kicks in late July?

Should I submit my DD-214 to the VA now or wait until I’m officially out? I plan on doing a supplemental claim, so I’m not sure if I should do all that at once with the VSO.

Thanks in advance.

 

[chaplaincharlie]

Submit your DD214 ASAP. Final AD pay in two weeks +-. You will get VA pay around the middle of July. That is what you will get.

 

[3E3Cripple]

if I have the DD-214 completed now, can I just submit it before leaving active duty or do you mean “ASAP” as soon as I’m out?

 

[Provis]

if I have the DD-214 completed now, can I just submit it before leaving active duty or do you mean “ASAP” as soon as I’m out?

As soon as you have DD214 you need to upload it to the VA. They can't finalize your VA compensation until they have that document.

Also, expect a decent gap in pay. Things can take longer than expected. VA doesn't pay for partial months so usually you get a small pensino check for the time between when you got out and the end of that month. Then the next full month is the period that the VA uses and because they pay behind it means there is a decent gap between when you get out and your first VA compensation check.

So save money as there can be a period of 6-8 weeks with no pay. That is unlikely to be that bad but better to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.