The Military Retirement Timeline: 24 Months Out, Month by Month
Every hard deadline back-planned from your date — TAP at 365 days, the BDD window, Capstone, and the SBP decision.
Leave & payTerminal Leave vs. Sell-Back: The Real Math
The per-day value is not equal — allowances, taxes, the 60-day career cap, and SkillBridge all move the answer.
Branch checklistAir Force Retirement Checklist: Every DAFI Deadline
The myFSS window, TAPS deadlines, the SHPE window, SkillBridge via AFVEC, and the retired-grade trap — with DAFI citations.
Branch checklistArmy Retirement Checklist: The SFL-TAP Timeline
SFL-TAP's tiered deadlines, the AR 600-8-24 / AR 635-200 windows, AGDRB grade determination, and CSP/SkillBridge.
Survivor benefitsSBP vs. Life Insurance: Running the Break-Even
What SBP costs (6.5%), what it pays (55%, inflation-protected), when premiums actually stop, and how to compare term honestly.
Branch checklistNavy Retirement Checklist: Fleet Reserve and the NSIPS Windows
Why enlisted Sailors transfer to the Fleet Reserve instead of retiring, the MILPERSMAN submission windows by paygrade, and the PRD conflict.
Branch checklistMarine Corps Retirement Checklist: FMCR and the 14-Month Window
The FMCR transfer, MARCORSEPMAN's 14-months-to-4-months window that MCTFS enforces automatically, and CMC vs. SECNAV grade determination.
Branch checklistCoast Guard Retirement Checklist: No Fleet Reserve, and a 90-Day Pay Deadline
Why there's no Fleet Reserve, the DD 2656 to PPC-RAS at 90 days, the Coast Guard's own PDES, and the 20/30-day administrative absence.
Retired payREDUX vs. High-3 vs. BRS: Which Formula Are You Actually Under?
How to tell which system applies to you, why the 75% cap doesn't exist for post-2006 retirees, and the REDUX COLA penalty that never ends.
Retired payGuard and Reserve Retirement: Points ÷ 360, the 20-Year Letter, and Age 60
Good years decide whether you retire; points ÷ 360 decides how much. Plus the point caps, the reduced-age credit, and the gray area.
Retired payTSP on the Way Out: Match, Vesting, Limits, and What Happens After Separation
The match windows that open at 60 days and close at 26 years, two-year vesting on government money, the 2026 limits, and life after separation.
Retired payCRDP: When Retired Pay and VA Compensation Actually Stack
VA compensation normally offsets retired pay dollar for dollar. CRDP removes that offset at 50% — and that threshold is worth more than most rating increases.
Retired payDivorce and Military Retirement: USFSPA, the 10/10 Rule, and the Frozen-Benefit Rule
Why 10/10 governs direct payment rather than entitlement, what "disposable" actually excludes, and how the frozen-benefit rule caps a former spouse's share.
Survivor benefitsRCSBP: The Survivor Decision That Arrives With Your 20-Year Letter
A 90-day clock starts when the letter arrives — and doing nothing enrolls you at full coverage, irrevocably. The three options and the statute behind them.
TimelineSkillBridge, The Complete Guide: Eligibility, MOU Employers, Timing, and PTDY
The four eligibility gates, the 180-day box that SkillBridge, relocation PTDY and terminal leave all share, and the application sequence by branch.
VA benefitsThe VA BDD Claim Timeline: The 180–90 Day Window Explained
File a VA claim before you separate — but only inside a 90-day-wide window. What to have ready before it opens, and how the separation exam feeds it.
VA benefitsVA Disability Math: Why 50 + 30 ≠ 80
The efficiency model behind the combined ratings table, the exact rounding procedure, and the bilateral factor most people never claim.
VA benefitsThe VA Home Loan Funding Fee — and the Disability Waiver Most Veterans Miss
The fee costs five figures on a typical purchase, and the statute waives it entirely for any service-connected rating — including a pre-discharge rating at closing.
VA benefitsGI Bill Chapter 33 at Separation: Tiers, the Transfer Catch, and Yellow Ribbon
The 36-month threshold, and the transfer rule that costs you four more years of service if you wait until late in a career to use it.
MedicalMedical Separation vs. Medical Retirement: The IDES Timeline Explained
The 30% rule decides between a lifetime pension and a lump sum. The timeline, the election deadline that defaults against you, and severance recoupment.
MedicalTAMP: The 180 Days of TRICARE Most Separators Don't Know They Have
180 days of TRICARE at no premium for qualifying separations — plus an extension for conditions identified during the window, and what comes after.
Leave & payInvoluntary Separation Pay: Who Gets It, and How It's Clawed Back
Six to twenty years, involuntary, fully honorable — and a written three-year Ready Reserve agreement most people never hear about until it's too late.
Guides are the generic version — your transition isn't. WheelsUp turns all of this into live countdowns and calculators built around your date and branch.