The pay you count on ends the day you separate, and the first civilian check can land weeks later. Nobody briefs you on that gap. It catches families between paychecks with the rent due, and it is completely avoidable if you see it coming.
Built from real experience. Not theory.
This card names no dollar figures and gives no financial advice. It is an organizing tool built to make the money side of separation visible before it becomes an emergency. Every item exists because the paycheck surprises are real: the held first check, the tax withholding change, the expenses the military used to cover that now land on you.
What's Inside
- Know the Pay Gap: final military pay date, first civilian pay estimate, the weeks between them, and terminal leave and sellback confirmation
- Learn the New Pay Rules: pay schedule questions to ask before you accept, tax withholding differences, the held first check, and benefits start dates versus work start dates
- Know Your Numbers: pricing rent, utilities, and food at your destination, the expenses shifting onto you, and your civilian budget number
- Build the Cushion: banking the gap difference monthly like a bill and setting an emergency buffer target before separation day
- Square Away Your Accounts: direct deposit, allotments, and moving every login off government systems before access ends
- 23 checkbox actions, fillable on your phone or printed
Who This Is For
Every separating service member and every military family running the household budget through the transition. Work it together.
Go Deeper
The money side of separation runs deeper than one card. Life After BAH, the full guide to the financial transition, is coming soon from Alpha VI Battalion.
More Free Tools From Alpha VI Battalion
- The full Transition Checklist Stack: seven free fillable checklists covering separation end to end
- The Home Buyer's Field Manual: the biggest purchase of civilian life, without the confusion
Free digital download. No shipping. Instant access after checkout.
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Alpha VI Battalion | alphavibattalion.com