2019 Military Pay Increase: What the 2.6% Increase Looks Like for Your Family

2019 Military Pay Increase: What the 2.6% Increase Looks Like for Your Family

Good news! Military servicemembers are getting a pay increase in 2019! In August 2018, Congress and President Trump approved and signed into law a 2019 military pay increase.

The new pay increase will be effective on January 1, 2019. You will see the 2019 pay increase reflected on your first paychecks that go out on January 15, 2019. If you’re interested to see 2019 active duty military pay days/deposits, check out Kate Horrell’s post here.

Read below to see what a 2.6% military pay increase looks like for your family in 2019.

How to Read the Pay Increase Charts

These charts show the additional amount you’ll receive from the 2019 Military Pay raise on a MONTHLY basis. If you want to see how much the increase will be annually, find your number and multiply it by 12.

Find the rank and then scroll across to how many years of service the servicemember has in 2019. Where the number intersects is the 2019 monthly pay raise amount.

If you’re going to receive a promotion or meet a time in service “pay bump” in 2019, you can still figure out how much additional base pay you will collect. First, click over to these 2018 Military Pay Charts and find the difference between the pay from your new rank/years in service to your old rank/service pay. Then pop back over to my chart and find your 2019 monthly increase for your 2019 rank/service pay.

2019 Military Pay Monthly Increases

2019 Military Pay Increases

3 Things to Do With That Raise

1.Do give your TSP savings an extra raise

The cool thing about using a percentage of your pay to determine your TSP contribution is that when you get a 2.6% pay raise, so does your TSP. But you can do yourself one better. Go to MyPay and knock your contribution percentage up a notch or two. The 2019 elective deferral limit for the TSP is $19,000. That’s a big chunk of change. However, if you keep slowly and steadily increasing your TSP contributions over the years, you won’t feel the burn.
***Remember that if you’re in the Blended Retirement System, you get the most benefit if you contribute 5% to your TSP to receive the full DoD matching contributions

2.  Do a (LITTLE) something special for yourself or your family

Maybe it’s a movie night with the family or it covers the cost of a date night with you and your spouse. If you want, do one small yet special thing. Call it out as your 2019 pay raise treat.

3.  Do remember that it’s only a 2.6% pay increase

Don’t get me wrong, a 2.6% pay increase is totally awesome. In my book, any pay raise is a good pay raise. However, getting a 2.6% pay raise doesn’t mean you should go out and buy a new car or make some other major lifestyle upgrade. Instead consider using your raise to pay down any debt you may have, pad your emergency savings fund, or boost your retirement savings.



1 thought on “2019 Military Pay Increase: What the 2.6% Increase Looks Like for Your Family”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *