What happens if bah goes down

This includes active service members who are assigned to a base, but live off base in civilian housing. While not all service members will be given the opportunity to live off base, those that do will qualify for BAH benefits. For those stationed internationally, they receive similar benefits through the overseas housing allowance, or OHA, which is set up to provide similar benefits. For home buying, the BAH monthly stipend can be seen as purchasing power towards a home and go to paying the mortgage.

Going to a lender, you can use all or some of your BAH earnings as income to increase your buying power and the loan amount you can aquire.

A lender will want to verify the BAH amount, and will do so through your leave and earnings statement. The lender will also want to ensure that you will likely continue to receive the benefits. Any leftover can be applied to other things such as utilities or homeowners insurance. Many active duty service members relocate several times during their career. It some areas it may be easy to sell or rent the home, in some areas it might not be. Keep a backup plan in mind. Also, keep in mind that all of the other requirements for securing a mortgage are still in play.

The rate itself is calculated each year by the Department of Defense. They go through and look at aspects such as current rental costs, utility costs, and other factors like renters insurance costs. This rate is then further influenced by the individuals rank and pay grade, those higher in both are going to get a larger stipend for BAH. What this does is create variable rates that are heavily dependant on location. Service members in more expensive parts of the country generally receive a larger amount to stay competitive in the market.

On the reverse, in cheaper markets they will receive less. Lastly, having dependents also influences the amount for BAH. There is a separate with dependents rate that service members with spouses or children will receive. This helps to offset the additional cost for housing when living with others.

Planned properly, Certificates of Deposit can be a valuable part of a diverse investment strategy. If you get an unexpected call from a debt collector, keeping your wits about you is the best course of action. Mike Rogers said he and committee Chairman Adam Smith want a sizable increase for enlisted troops as part of next year's Potential disruptions to military pay and benefits were averted Tuesday night -- at least for a couple more months.

The president and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are warning that pay and benefits are at risk in Congress' battle over the Benefits Paycheck Chronicles. Related Topics: PayCheck Chronicles. All rights reserved. Each year, the DoD does a thorough study of the actual costs to rent a house in each military housing area. Thankfully, the DoD has a rate protection policy that means that almost no one will see their housing allowance decrease when the BAH rates decrease for their area and rank.

Your BAH is based on the higher of:. The only situation in which someone is not covered by rate protection is if they are demoted or have a change in dependency status. Each year, the DoD through a contractor gathers thousands of costs for six different sizes of rental properties, and utilities, for over markets across the United States. In almost all cases, you will not lose any money thanks to the rate protection rules. What about separating from Active Duty and joining the local Reserve unit at the same location?

Seems like a bad deal to me. David, you should receive the rate in effect on the day that you check in. What if they assign you the big city bah on check in, but then try to lower it to the area they want to send you to, and create an indebtedness to recoup the diff?

Are they TDY? Was there a movement of household goods involved? In most cases, your BAH is pegged to your assigned duty station. The biggest exception is if you change duty stations within the same military housing area i.