Yikes!

Jul 30, 2012 11:16

Long story short, my husband and I are dual-military with a kid, and after much back-and-forth and attempting to find a solution, I am ending up taking a Family Care Plan chapter ( Read more... )

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fervid_dryfire July 30 2012, 18:40:31 UTC
I'm an Air Force guy who recently separated in March with just under 8 years of service- so, service-specific differences aside I think the process is similar.

SGLI should not be going away until after four months past your final out date. If you qualify for VGLI (you probably do) you can sign up for it within that time without a physical exam being required; beyond four months after your final out date they'll require an exam and will put limits on your coverage if your exam reveals anything justifying a limit (in their eyes).

Your TSP is going to stay exactly how it is until you actively a) move it to another valid (IRA) account, b) cash it in, or c) start making new contributions. If you have less than $250 of contributions in it, though, they'll force you to either accept it all in a lump sum (after taxes) or move it somewhere else within 60 days. I'm going to assume that after you 5 years you have well over $250, though.

10 August doesn't seem to give you enough time to do everything you need; see if you can get an extension out to at least 30 days later. You should also be able to do TAP (a big must if you plan to use VA benefits to any degree once you're out), and get all your medical appointments done before that date.

In summary: don't put any of this off, do everything as soon as you possibly can- even if you get to push back your final out date 30 days or more. People doing the paperwork can and will invariably screw things up- give them (and you!) as much time as possible to get everything in order beforehand. I very nearly had some serious medical- and financial-related screw-ups due to bureaucratic incompetence that I couldn't have fixed if I didn't start early and get on them to correct as soon as I discovered them.

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