If you or a loved one are in the military and are about to be deployed you may be able to take advantage of a special savings account that is specifically for our Armed Forces members that are deployed in a combat area.
The Savings Deposit Program (SDP) is a unique savings account for service members that are deployed in combat zones and allows the service member to allocate some, most, and in some cases all of their combat pay to a savings account. The maximum that can be contributed to the savings account is $10,000 per deployment and that money grows at 10%, yes 10%.
Eligible service members include:
- You are deployed to an area in support of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF), or other contingency operations where you are receiving HFP/IDP.
- You serve in the combat zone or in direct support of a designated combat zone for more than thirty consecutive days.
- You serve in the combat zone for at least one day for three consecutive months. This situation would more than likely occur if you are in a special operations unit.
- You are serving in OEF/OIF in the area of the Arabian Peninsula including the Persian Gulf (the Arabian Peninsula, the Strait of Hormuz, or the Gulf of Oman), Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.
Source: http://www.militaryonesource.mil/pfm/saving-and-investing-basics?content_id=269225
Generally, the service member may begin saving to the account after 30 days of deployment to the combat zone and once he or she returns home, can allow the money to grow in the account for an additional 90 days. The service member can choose to take it our earlier.
Although the thought and anxiety (as I can only imagine) of deploying must be hard on the service member and their families, they can find a silver lining in the SDP – a great way to save combat pay at 10%.
More information can be found at www.militaryonesource.mil and http://www.dfas.mil/dfas/militarymembers/payentitlements/sdp.html
Sterling Raskie, MSFS, CFP®, ChFC®
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