Financial Readiness
How to route your military pay and use allotments to fund your goals before you can spend the money.
Ribbon cutting at the Fort Campbell military pay office, which helps Soldiers resolve pay and allotment issues. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Leejay Lockhart, 101st Sustainment Brigade, DVIDS (public domain).
Your military pay lands by direct deposit into the account you choose, and you manage it through myPay, the DFAS system that handles your military pay. An allotment is a payroll deduction that sends part of your pay somewhere automatically, before the rest reaches your account. You can run up to 6 discretionary allotments and up to 15 allotments total per month.
Use an allotment to pay yourself first. Route money to savings or a goal so it moves before you get a chance to spend it. Just know the limits and the rules below.
Get your pay flowing to an account you control, then peel a fixed amount off the top into savings. Set it once and the money moves on its own, on a steady schedule, before you can touch it.
Know the limits
Use an allotment to move money before you get a chance to spend it.
Source: DFAS · Military OneSource · Military Consumer
Set it up through myPay. You can also update tax withholding and other pay settings there. If you cannot get into myPay, your local finance or pay office can help you with the paper process. Either way, check your next LES to confirm the account and the deposit are correct.
An allotment is a payroll deduction that sends part of your pay to a place you choose, before the rest reaches you. Discretionary allotments go to non-government recipients, like a savings account or an insurance premium. You can run up to 6 of those, plus more non-government and government ones, as long as the total stays at 15 or fewer per month. Most people only need a couple to start: one to savings, maybe one to insurance.
An allotment splits evenly across your two monthly paychecks. Half comes out mid-month and half at the end of the month, then the full amount goes to the recipient at the start of the next month. So a $200 allotment pulls $100 mid-month and $100 at the end. Plan around that timing so you are not caught short. You start, stop, or change a discretionary allotment in myPay, or with DD Form 2558.
The rules on what an allotment can do are there to protect your pay. Use them for the safe lane, and steer clear of the deals they were built to block.
Not for buying things: You cannot use an allotment to buy personal property: vehicles, furniture, appliances, electronics, jewelry. The rule blocks sellers who push overpriced goods on easy payment terms.
The safe lane: Use them for steady savings and fixed premiums. That is what they are for.
Two cautions
Confirm the payment on your LES before you trust it.
Source: Military OneSource · Military Consumer (FTC and DoD)
You do not have to set this up alone. Your installation Personal Financial Manager at the Military and Family Support Center gives free, one-on-one help building a pay split. Military OneSource offers free financial counseling by phone. Your local finance or pay office can help with myPay access, allotment setup, and any LES questions. All three are linked in Sources below.
Can I send an allotment to my own savings account?
Yes. Deposits to your own bank, credit union, or investment account are a common discretionary allotment.
Will an allotment hurt my credit?
No. An allotment is just a transfer of your pay, so it does not build or report credit on its own. The risk is tying a fixed allotment to a bill that changes, which can lead to underpayment. Match the amount to a steady obligation.
Who do I call if an allotment looks wrong on my LES?
Start with your local pay or finance office. If they cannot resolve it, they can refer the question to DFAS.
