Continuing yesterday's Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits transfer post, today we'll talk about what steps you need to take even if you've already transferred your Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits. There are two issues here:
- verifying your transfer was submitted, was accepted, and hasn't mysteriously disappeared, and
- making sure that you have optimized your transferred benefits to provide you with the most options.
We'll do the easier one first.
Verifying Your Post 9/11 GI Bill Transfer
The steps that you take to verify your Transfer of Education Benefits (TEB) are very similar to the steps that you took to transfer those benefits in the first place.
- Log into the MilConnect website. You will need to use your Common Access Card (CAC), your DFAS MyPay log in information, or your DoD Self-Service (DS) log in information,
- Select the Education tab,
- View your current TEB benefits status and allocation.
When you log-in, it will say that your status is Submitted until it is approved. If something isn't right, get help immediately. Contact information for each branch of the military is located on the Contact Us page located inside the milConnect website. The is FAQ page available on the MilConnect website is very good, also.
I always recommend that people take a screen shot of their approved transfer of benefits, and keep copies several places (maybe on your Google drive, and emailed to yourself, and on your hard drive.) While I hate to think poorly of any system, I've heard many complaints about transfers disappearing. It will only take you a few minutes to make copies of this information, and it could save you a lot of hassle and heartache down the road.
Maximizing Your Options
Yesterday, I made the case for allocating all your benefits to someone, and also for making sure you allocate at least some benefits to everyone. I'm not going to re-type the whole thing here, as you can read it in full by clicking to yesterday's post.
If, after consideration, you'd like to change your current allocation, you use the steps listed above. It's not hard once you get the hang of it!
Again, I know this is a big issue with lots of things to think about. The most important part is that you take action. We're talking about big money here, more than most of us make in a year (or three.) You want to be absolutely sure that you've made smart choices AND ensured that your decisions were carried out through the benefits transfer process.
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This post is part of our mid-year financial review series:
Mid-Year Financial Review: Taxes
Mid-Year Review: Regular Spending
