Base pay, BAH, BAS, and what is tax-free. Not affiliated with the Department of Defense.
In development. Numbers are illustrative estimates we are still refining.
Low: Fort Sill, Fort Bliss. Average: most CONUS bases. High: DC, San Diego, Hawaii, Bay Area.
What this year of service is worth
$72/mo
in future monthly pension under BRS, earned for every year you serve. Plus 5% TSP match on your base pay each year.
Vests at 20 years. That is $862/year added to your annual pension forever, for each year you serve.
$5,134
your total monthly comp (base after tax, plus BAH and BAS, both tax-free)
$2,874
base, after tax
$1,800
BAH (tax-free)
$460
BAS (tax-free)
About $2,260/month of this is tax-free (BAH + BAS). At a 22% federal bracket, that is worth roughly $497/month more than the same dollars paid as taxable salary.
BRS pension preview: If you stay 20 years, your monthly pension would be roughly $1,437/month (2.0% × 20 × your current base pay as a high-3 proxy). Plus your TSP balance, with a 5% government match every year you contribute. Legacy High-3 (joined before 2018) uses 2.5% instead of 2.0%, no TSP match.
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Big thing in the next 5 years
Illustrative only. Base pay tables approximated from DFAS 2024. BAH varies sharply by ZIP and is a 3-tier estimate here; your real BAH comes from the Defense Travel Management Office BAH calculator. Federal and FICA withholding is simplified to roughly 20%. Your LES is the authoritative source for your actual pay. MoneyBadger is an educational tool, not financial advice.
BAH and BAS aren’t raises. They’re structure.
BAH and BAS show up on your LES as separate lines because they’re untaxed allowances, not salary. They don’t follow you to a civilian job, and they don’t count toward your pension. The pieces that DO follow you: your TSP balance, what you save outside it, and a pension if you stay to 20.
Two things at once: MoneyBadger finds your spend leakage (forgotten subscriptions, duplicates, fees), and you customize your full budget line by line. In development.