Preparing for a Delay in Military Pay

You’ve read that the government is quickly reaching its self imposed debt ceiling. This has, in the past, at least threatened a delay in military pay until congress acts. During my 25 year career we’ve seen the threats at least three times, but only once was there a delay in payment. 

Here are a few strategies that you can use to prepare for a delay in your military pay.

1. Tap into your emergency fund (EF). It’s a wise idea to have 3-6 months of expenses put aside in an accessible account for emergencies. By using the 8% challenge you can sock that away in a single assignment. When the military pay spigot gets turned back on you can refill your EF and then get ready for the next crisis.
2. Open an account with a credit union. During the last threatened delay in payments the Navy Federal Credit Union announced that…