Should I sell my leave back?

Almost_Separated

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I have been crunching the numbers on this scenario for nearly a year now and it always comes back as being more beneficial for me to sell my leave back instead of taking terminal leave. There is a big stigma about selling leave instead of taking terminal, but I believe in my situation it makes more sense to sell it. Let me explain my situation below and then please give me your feedback as to if I am miscalculating something.

Leave at time DOS: 60 days
Current income after taxes and social security: $4,560
Monthly VA Disability compensation once I retire: $3,197.16
Compensation for selling back 60 days of leave: Roughly $5,000

2 month scenario if I stayed in and took terminal leave: $9,120
2 month scenario if I got out and started receiving VA comp plus the one time leave comp: $11,400
Difference between the two scenarios: $2,280

There are minor monetary expenditures not included above like $50 tricare health insurance premium for the family, increased dental insurance cost, etc, but I do not believe these will be cumulatively over $200 in a 2 month period.

Terminal leave is a great opportunity to provide a means to receive dual incomes for some individuals if they have a new career lined up and will be working while on terminal. However, in my situation I will not be working when I get out. I will be starting college in August and up until that point I will be brushing up on my math skills at home.

What do you all think?
 
Every situation is different. If you sale leave you loss paid insurance, BAS, and BAH. Crunching the numbers in only part of the calculus. Ultimately every person has to decide what is best for them. Do what is best for you and press. Thank you for serving. Best wishes. Mike
 
Every situation is different. If you sale leave you loss paid insurance, BAS, and BAH. Crunching the numbers in only part of the calculus. Ultimately every person has to decide what is best for them. Do what is best for you and press. Thank you for serving. Best wishes. Mike

I agree with your points and have included the loss of bah and bas into the calculation. Really what I am looking for is to see if I have missed something here in my calculation. Pretty sure I haven't, but never hurts to triple check!
 
Unless your orders were cut 10 days after you were put on TRANSPROC, it is not likely that you will even be able to use all 60 days you have accrued. (because you should be granted 20 days PTDY).

During those 90 days, you will also accrue another 8 days of leave, this includes earning it while you are on leave.

You VA compensation is not going to start until the first of the month, following the month that you receive your DD-214, you will not get a check for another 30 days after that.

Therefore what you would want to do is calculate your last date to be on the second to last day of the month.

This may entail selling some leave back.

By doing this, your VA benefits will start on the first of the month and be paid on the first of the following month.

Not all claims are finalized within 30 days, so you may have a 60 day wait to see any VA benefits paid to you, but the claim will always be effective the first day of the month following the month that you end your service (the date on the DD-214)


Selling back leave is taxed at 25%, BAH and BAS are not taxed. This is very important to think about when you are calculating your potential income.

Here are some very important housekeeping things you want to be aware of...

1.) Your dependents will be dropped from Tricare the day after your DD-214 is final. You will be enrolled in Tricare for Retirees, you will need to enroll your dependents into either Tricare Standard or Tricare Prime. This has to be completed at the DEERS office or you can do it over the phone.

2.) Once you have been on SSDI for two years, you are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part B, the moment that you are enrolled in Part B, you are dropped from Tricare for Retirees and you must enroll in Tricare for Life. If you do not do this right away, you will lose 60 days of health care coverage, there is no way to fix it. You have 100% VA so they will take care of any medical need you have if you are not planning on using Tricare.

3.) Since you are 100% VA, you are eligible to have your SGLI extended for two years, this will save you $$ on VGLI premiums ($68.00 per month for me). This is $1632 free dollars. If you forget to contact them, they will fix it for you but it is best not to wait.

4.) Because you are 100% VA, you qualify for Dental care with the VA, this will save you quite a bit of money with Tricare Retiree Dental Program, because the premium is much lower for dependents only (assuming you have a spouse and a child, which is what you listed your VA C&P at). Premium in my region for one person is $44.53, two is $87.57 and three is $153.55. (By my using the VA for dental, I am saving $64.98 per month in dental premiums).
 
Unless your orders were cut 10 days after you were put on TRANSPROC, it is not likely that you will even be able to use all 60 days you have accrued. (because you should be granted 20 days PTDY).

During those 90 days, you will also accrue another 8 days of leave, this includes earning it while you are on leave.

You VA compensation is not going to start until the first of the month, following the month that you receive your DD-214, you will not get a check for another 30 days after that.

Therefore what you would want to do is calculate your last date to be on the second to last day of the month.

This may entail selling some leave back.

By doing this, your VA benefits will start on the first of the month and be paid on the first of the following month.

Not all claims are finalized within 30 days, so you may have a 60 day wait to see any VA benefits paid to you, but the claim will always be effective the first day of the month following the month that you end your service (the date on the DD-214)


Selling back leave is taxed at 25%, BAH and BAS are not taxed. This is very important to think about when you are calculating your potential income.

Here are some very important housekeeping things you want to be aware of...

1.) Your dependents will be dropped from Tricare the day after your DD-214 is final. You will be enrolled in Tricare for Retirees, you will need to enroll your dependents into either Tricare Standard or Tricare Prime. This has to be completed at the DEERS office or you can do it over the phone.

2.) Once you have been on SSDI for two years, you are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part B, the moment that you are enrolled in Part B, you are dropped from Tricare for Retirees and you must enroll in Tricare for Life. If you do not do this right away, you will lose 60 days of health care coverage, there is no way to fix it. You have 100% VA so they will take care of any medical need you have if you are not planning on using Tricare.

3.) Since you are 100% VA, you are eligible to have your SGLI extended for two years, this will save you $$ on VGLI premiums ($68.00 per month for me). This is $1632 free dollars. If you forget to contact them, they will fix it for you but it is best not to wait.

4.) Because you are 100% VA, you qualify for Dental care with the VA, this will save you quite a bit of money with Tricare Retiree Dental Program, because the premium is much lower for dependents only (assuming you have a spouse and a child, which is what you listed your VA C&P at). Premium in my region for one person is $44.53, two is $87.57 and three is $153.55. (By my using the VA for dental, I am saving $64.98 per month in dental premiums).

Thank you for the detailed response! Just what I was looking for. Take care.
 
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