DFAS savings deposit program-Thoughts?

[eckerph]

http://www.dfas.mil/militarymembers/payentitlements/sdp.html

Have any of you guys used this while deployed? I was thinking of moving money(loan@8%) from a TSP account into this and sending Family Sep,etc into the SDP account @10%. Think it would be worth the trouble? Wifes deployment will be short, 140+/- days.

[45DAVID1]

Interest earned isn't really all that much. I thought about doing it but decided against it.

[turbomkt]

I used it as an untouchable savings account. And, while your wife's deployment is 140+/-, the money can stay in the SDP up to 90 days past her return.

Deposits are limited to an extent. You can only deposit once a month and it can not exceed your monthly pay.

In all, I ended up getting almost $800 in interest with no risk and now had $10k in the bank I didn't have before. That's not a bad deal.

[45DAVID1]

I used it as an untouchable savings account. And, while your wife's deployment is 140+/-, the money can stay in the SDP up to 90 days past her return.

Deposits are limited to an extent. You can only deposit once a month and it can not exceed your monthly pay.

In all, I ended up getting almost $800 in interest with no risk and now had $10k in the bank I didn't have before. That's not a bad deal.

The downside to that would have been if you had a family emergency and needed that money then and there. With the SDP, I believe you can't pull it out while you are deployed.

[eckerph]

Think ill just toss all the "extra" pay in the SDP and leave it in there, we wont be hurting for it. The hassle and the $50 fee to move the TSP over isn't worth it though.
Tango87- From further reading you're commander can approve you to withdraw funds from you're SDP if you can show a financial hardship but nobody really wants to deal with that kinda BS. Thanx for the input guys.

[jloffermann]

do it! its free money.

[SilverTauron]

Its a smart idea.

TSPs performance isn't all that great with the money in the default 'G' fund. Its the least risky portfolio as its comprised of government bonds and such, but your return is somewhat akin to the .05% down the street at Wells Fargo.Moving the funds to a higher yield portfolio can get better gains , but of course the risk increases as well.

The SDP is a much better program. It can only be used if the member is deploying, so I had no choice but to use TSP which I would have ditched in a New York Minute if I got orders to the desert. Much less risk, much greater payout, and you are funding the SDP with money that you virtually cannot spend anyway;it's not like your spouse is going to be shoe shopping at the Kabul Gap Outlet.

As I remember the regs,money can remain in the SDP up to 90 days after returning from the deployed area, so check with your local finance section and verify that's still in place. Much like with firearms, there's a lot of FUD out there about finance and money in the service. I used to work Finance in the Air Force,so PM me if you have any specific inquiries.

[crashbubba]

I used the SDP. Can't beat a guaranteed 10% with zero risk! As previous poster noted, your spouse's deployment must be to a combat zone and she has to be drawing hostile fire pay to be eligible...I only metion that because some folks "deploy" to non-combat zones. Plus you have to there for 30 days before you can make your first deposit.

When I did it, our disbursing office limited our SDP deposits to our paycheck net amount. Thus, I couldn't simply make a 10k lump sum deposit from my savings account. I had to deposit several months of paychecks to hit the 10k limit.

Even if you could, I wouldn't take a loan out of the TSP for the SDP. There's multiple scenarios where the TSP would provide better gains than the SDP. You may want to look into the new Roth TSP option, and the tax benefits of funneling combat zone pay into that.

[eckerph]

When I did it, our disbursing office limited our SDP deposits to our paycheck net amount. Thus, I couldn't simply make a 10k lump sum deposit from my savings account. I had to deposit several months of paychecks to hit the 10k limit.

This is what i was going to do but from what i can gather this is a no go. She is unfortunately going too a combat zone so we could afford to put aside all of the "extra" pay around $575 I think for Five months would be $2875. It's not allot but the intrest is free money. Her TSP is in one of those target year funds BTW, its been doing OK but has lately. not losing anything at least.

[e_fizzy]

It's a good deal. Where else can you get 10% on a savings. I was able to put in money during my OIF 3 deployment. I was able to get about $1000 in interest.