Frequently Asked Questions

MilitaryCalc is a free set of nine military money calculators - BAH, BAS, Post-9/11 GI Bill, VA Disability, VA Loan, TSP, Retirement, Combat Pay, and CONUS COLA. Every figure is pulled from a public DoD, VA, or DFAS source and verified against the original file.

Because you should not have to hand over an email address to find out your BAH. The big lender calculators online use multi-step forms to capture you as a sales lead. We do the opposite: type a ZIP and a paygrade, see the number. No account, no funnel, no gate.

No. MilitaryCalc is an independent civilian project. We are not affiliated with the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or any branch of service. We just publish the rates that those agencies already release for free.

A small future affiliate component on financial products you would already research independently - VA loan lenders, refinance, TSP rollover IRAs. We never sell subscriber data and we do not run third-party ad trackers.

Solo developer. Civilian, with family in service. The site is maintained directly - bug reports, wrong numbers, and broken pages get fixed the same week they are reported.

Straight from the DoD Defense Travel Management Office (DTMO) BAH-ASCII rate files released annually. We parse those files unchanged - no smoothing, no rounding, no modeling. Rates are matched to your ZIP via the official DTMO ZIP-to-MHA crosswalk.

DTMO publishes new BAH rates once per year, typically in mid-December for the following January 1 effective date. We ingest the new file within 24 hours of release so the site reflects the new rates by the time your January LES posts.

Not yet. The current calculator covers CONUS BAH (the lower 48). OCONUS Housing Allowance (OHA) uses a separate methodology with utilities reimbursement and currency conversion, and it is on the roadmap. CONUS COLA for Alaska and Hawaii is already supported.

Three common reasons: (1) you are receiving BAH rate protection from a prior duty station, (2) you receive BAH-Partial because you live in government quarters, or (3) you have a special rate like BAH-Differential. The calculator shows the published with-dependents and without-dependents rates for your current ZIP, which is what new arrivals receive.

By statute. Congress sets a flat monthly BAS rate that is intentionally higher for enlisted than for officers - it is a holdover from when enlisted personnel were more likely to depend on it for daily meals. Both rates adjust each January based on the USDA food cost index.

BAS II is paid at twice the standard enlisted BAS rate. It goes to enlisted personnel permanently assigned to single (unaccompanied) housing without adequate food storage or preparation facilities, and where a government mess is not available. Eligibility is determined by your commander.

There are two different caps. Public schools: VA pays full in-state tuition and fees, no cap. Private and foreign schools: there is a national annual cap (around $28k for academic year 2026-27) that the calculator uses. If your private school participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program, the school plus the VA may cover the difference above the cap - the calculator does not model Yellow Ribbon yet.

It uses the BAH rate for an E-5 with dependents at the ZIP of your school's campus, scaled by your benefit tier percentage. Online-only programs receive half of the national average E-5 with dependents BAH. The calculator pulls the campus ZIP and applies the same DTMO BAH file used for active duty.

Post-9/11 benefits are tiered: 100% for 36+ months of qualifying active duty post-9/10/2001, 90% for 30 months, 80% for 24 months, and so on down to 50% for 90 days. The tier multiplies every component - tuition, MHA, and the annual book stipend. The calculator lets you set the tier so you see your actual entitlement, not the theoretical max.

VA uses combined ratings math, not simple addition. A 50% rating plus a 30% rating is not 80% - it is 65% (because the 30% is applied to the remaining 50% of healthy body, then the result is rounded to the nearest 10%). The calculator handles the combined ratings table automatically when you enter multiple conditions.

Not yet. The current calculator shows base monthly compensation by combined rating and dependent status. SMC for loss of use, aid and attendance, and housebound status is on the roadmap but requires more complex eligibility rules.

Starting at 30% combined rating, the VA adds an additional amount for a spouse, each child under 18, each child between 18 and 23 in school, and dependent parents. At ratings below 30%, dependents do not change the payment. The calculator applies the published 2026 additional dependent amounts.

Monthly principal and interest, the VA funding fee (first use vs subsequent use, with and without down payment), total interest over the life of the loan, and a side-by-side comparison vs a conventional loan. It does not include property tax, insurance, or HOA - those vary too much by location to estimate accurately.

The funding fee is a percentage of the loan amount set by VA. It depends on (1) first use vs subsequent use of the VA loan benefit, (2) your down payment percentage, and (3) whether you are exempt (Purple Heart recipients and veterans with service-connected disabilities are exempt). The calculator applies the 2026 published rates and the exemption checkbox waives the fee.

The calculator shows both. Rolling it in means a slightly larger principal and more interest paid over time, but no cash out of pocket at closing. For most borrowers the lifetime interest difference is small enough that conserving closing cash is the right call - the comparison view makes the math explicit.

Under the Blended Retirement System (BRS), the government contributes 1% of your base pay automatically every pay period, then matches dollar-for-dollar on your first 3% of contributions and 50 cents on the dollar for the next 2%. Max free money: contribute 5%, get a 5% match - that 5% match is on top of the 1% automatic. The calculator shows the exact match for your contribution level.

Starting the year you turn 50, you can contribute an additional amount above the standard annual elective deferral limit. For 2026 the standard limit is $23,500 and the catch-up adds another $7,500 (with a higher catch-up for ages 60-63 under SECURE 2.0). The calculator adds the catch-up bucket automatically when you set your age to 50+.

The calculator does not give tax advice, but it projects both side by side. Rule of thumb most planners follow: Roth TSP makes sense early in your career when your taxable income is low (especially while deployed and tax-free) and Traditional TSP makes sense in higher-pay years when current-year tax deduction is more valuable. Combat zone tax exclusion makes Roth contributions especially efficient.

High-3 (Legacy): 2.5% per year of service × average of highest 36 months of base pay. BRS: 2.0% per year of service × High-3 average, plus TSP match. Final Pay (CSB/REDUX and pre-1980): 2.5% per year × final base pay. The calculator runs all applicable plans side by side based on your DIEMS date.

No. The BRS opt-in window closed December 31, 2018. If you were already in service before January 1, 2018 and did not opt in, you are locked into Legacy High-3. Members who entered on or after January 1, 2018 are automatically in BRS. The calculator detects your plan from your service entry year.

Continuation Pay is a one-time bonus paid between years 8 and 12 of service in exchange for a commitment of 3-4 more years. The multiplier varies by branch and year. The calculator includes it as a separate line in the BRS projection so you can see the total package vs the pure pension comparison.

No. We do not rent, sell, or share email addresses with anyone, ever. This is the entire reason the site exists - if we were going to sell your data, we would just be another lender funnel. Full details are in the privacy policy.

Maximum 2-3 per year unless you specifically opt into annual rate-change alerts (one email each January when DoD publishes new BAH and pay tables). Every email has a one-click unsubscribe at the top, not buried at the bottom.

Yes. Every calculator result has a permanent shareable URL that encodes your inputs as query parameters. Copy the URL, send it to your spouse, paste it into a forum thread, or bookmark it - the page will rebuild the same numbers next time.

Google Analytics 4 with IP anonymization, and optionally Microsoft Clarity to understand how people use the calculators. No third-party advertising trackers, no cross-site tracking, no Facebook pixel. Calculator inputs (ZIP, paygrade, etc.) are processed in your browser and never sent to our server unless you submit an email form.

Solo developer, finite hours. Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), OCONUS OHA, Tricare cost share, and a glossary of military pay terms are all on the roadmap. If yours is not listed, the contact page is the fastest way to bump it up the priority queue.