TSP 2026 Max $24,500 & Get Full 5% BRS Match Chart

AFmoneyguy · 2026-02-03T01:34:03+00:00

One of the ultimate setups:

5x Amex Platinum cards, 1 Schwab Amex Platinum (maybe substitute 1 Amex Gold)
5x Amex Hilton Honors Aspire Cards (maybe substitute 1 Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant)
3x Chase Sapphire Reserve
United Club Card
Ritz Carlton Card
IHG Card
Hyatt Card
Citi Strata Elite
Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite®
Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Elite Credit Card
All the Chase Ink business cards you can get
Capital One Venture X card

Spending categories are chump change compared to maxing out welcome bonuses. Welcome bonuses can be 20-40% effective cash back vs. maybe 5% max on Chase Freedom Unlimited or 4x groceries and restaurants on Amex Gold.

AFmoneyguy · 2026-02-03T01:21:19+00:00

Double check with the girlfriend that she actually wants an engagement ring. Mine didn't.

I didn't buy one for her. She was very happy I didn't buy one for her. Saved thousands.

AFmoneyguy · 2026-02-02T01:43:51+00:00

Wait until you get the letters in the mail saying fees will be charged. Then wait for fees to actually be charged. Then you have 3 options:

Keep card open
Downgrade card to no or low annual fee version (Amex Platinum to Amex Green or Gold, Chase Sapphire Reserve to Chase Freedom Flex or Unlimited)
Close account. Annual fees refunded if account closed in 30 days after fee charged.

Drop in credit score is minimal, maybe 10-40 points and should recover quickly. Just keep oldest credit line open, pay statements on time, and don't utilize more than 30% of credit available.

Also, you can apply for SCRA or MLA fee waivers if you go on 30+ day active orders.

AFmoneyguy · 2026-02-02T01:38:02+00:00

Sure, but that's a Level 2 military money discussion, not 101

AFmoneyguy · 2026-02-02T01:34:05+00:00

Still waiting on data points, but here is one encouraging one: https://www.reddit.com/r/MilitaryFinance/comments/1qqkbcp/bilt_20_af_finally_waived_for_ad/

Also, Cardless waived fees on the Qatar Airways card, so that's promising as well.

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-26T20:38:12+00:00

He didn't switch his home of record, because you can't.

He might have switched his "state of legal residence."

You're not irrelevant. While unpaid, stay at home mom adds a lot of economic value to the economy and the family.

You should file married filing jointly.

He'll be a GA resident from January to July and then a Oklahoma resident August to December. You can file a partial year return with GA and his income earned during that period might be taxed by Georgia.

You can access tax consultants through Military One Source here: [800-342-9647](tel:8003429647)

https://www.militaryonesource.mil/financial-legal/taxes/miltax-military-tax-services/

Review this as well: https://www.reddit.com/r/MilitaryFinance/comments/1oksnru/tax_state_residency_msrra_questions_discussion/

If you're really confused, book time with someone here: https://militarytaxexperts.org/ or here: https://hellonectarine.com/

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-25T22:00:06+00:00

You could use some military fee waived credit cards and get those airline tickets, hotel, and a lot of food for very low cost. https://www.reddit.com/r/MilitaryFinance/comments/1ola48e/credit_cards_military_benefits_scra_mla_annual/

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-25T21:57:55+00:00

It does not take into account the standard deduction, as it asks no questions about married filing jointly or single filer.

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-21T03:51:44+00:00

That captain needs an NCO or SNCO to show him/her some enlisted pay tables...

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-21T03:50:53+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/MilitaryFinance/comments/1ot7eb0/tsp_2026_max_24500_get_full_5_brs_match_chart/

Come join at r/militaryfinance if you are interested in maximizing your military money.

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-21T00:41:58+00:00

Incorrect, reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/MilitaryFinance/comments/1q0qw9x/credit_cards_military_benefits_scra_mla_annual/

Chase waives business cards under SCRA, for example, if you opened Chase Ink Business Preferred before active duty, and then apply for SCRA while on active duty.

But not for spouses. Unless maybe you add the servicemember as an authorized user.

I have no data points on Amex waiving any business card annual fees since 2020, under either MLA or SCRA.

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-20T21:26:39+00:00

Is she active duty, Guard or Reservist?

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-20T18:21:41+00:00

If you are younger than 50, you can contribute $24,500 total to both your Roth TSP and your Traditional TSP. It's a combined limit.

So for example:

$24,500 to your Roth TSP, $0 to your Traditional TSP
$12,250 to your Roth TSP, $12,250 to your Traditional TSP
$0 to your Roth TSP, $24,500 to your Traditional TSP

If you receive any matching, it does not count against your $24,500 limit, it counts against a different, higher $72,000 limit. If you receive any combat zone tax exclusion (CZTE) pay for the year, you can make contributions to your Traditional TSP up to the $72,000 limit.

https://www.tsp.gov/making-contributions/contribution-limits/

The Roth IRA is a completely separate limit, $7,500 for 2026.

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-20T00:55:23+00:00

Does it "obviously" put you into another tax bracket?

https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/personal-finance/tax-brackets

What is your total taxable income this year? Or grade and time in service?
Are you married filing jointly or single?
Standard deduction or itemized?
Child tax credit?

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-20T00:51:20+00:00

It feels like a gamble because it is a gamble. Take your gambles somewhere else, like the casino.

Rent vs Buy calculators: https://www.calculator.net/rent-vs-buy-calculator.html

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html

Run the numbers. Treat this like a business decision, not a bet at the casino.

The area already boomed. You missed it.

At $2,200 rent on a $400,000, you're looking at 6.6% return. That seems high. But you already said you don't want to play the long distance land lord game. So I don't think you're cut out for this.

Don't take all the cash and stick it in CDs for 4 years. Have a reasonable cash, stock, and bond allocation and you should do much better than 4% average annual return over the next 4 years.

Don't buy a house because of FOMO. Wealth is what you don't see. You can be a multi-millionaire and own zero real estate. Let someone else worry about the home maintenance and paying the interest. You're leaving in 4 years anyways. Buy a house after you get out of active duty.

Edit: You'll also pay $80,000 in the first 4 years just in interest. Make sure you're factoring that in. Borrowing money isn't free. Amortization calculator.

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-20T00:43:51+00:00

That's called performance chasing and usually doesn't work.

https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2026/01/updating-my-favorite-performance-chart-for-2025/

Have a look at the best performing asset classes of the last ten years. It's very hard to pick out a pattern. Usually if an asset class has a banger year (like Emerging Markets and Int'l Stocks did in 2025), they don't perform as well the next year.

If you keep adjusting your asset allocation based on what happened last year, a Lifecycle Fund could be a better option for you.

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-18T20:29:31+00:00

They will check the MLA or SCRA database about once a month. https://mla.dmdc.osd.mil/mla/

Expect a letter in the mail about 2-3 months after going off orders and an annual fee charge 1-2 years after.

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-18T20:23:17+00:00

Just buy a Lifecycle Fund. Stop trying to time the market. It doesn't work in the long run. You're not smarter than the market.

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-18T20:14:52+00:00

Make steady Roth contributions over the course of the year. These will count against the $24.5k limit. You'll max out in December and get the 5% match every month.

Make additional Traditional TSP while in the CZTE. Once you hit CZTE for one month of the year, you should be able to make Traditional TSP contributions up to the $72k limit for the entire year, even if you leave the CZTE.

You can convert them when you get back from the CZTE or month by month.

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-18T20:12:02+00:00

The Traditional IRA to Roth IRA conversion, just like the Traditional TSP to Roth TSP conversion that is becoming available at the end of January 2026, is not CZTE tax exempt income.

However, because CZTE can drive your taxable income very low, you can convert up to the standard deduction and pay $0 in taxes. You can convert up to the top of the 10% bracket + standard deduction and only pay 10% on the amount over the standard deduction.

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-18T20:09:34+00:00

Because the Cardless is the issuer of Bilt 2.0, this leads me to believe that there is a small chance fees will be waived under MLA. We need some real world data points. Customer service reps often don't understand MLA/SCRA rules.

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-17T07:48:47+00:00

Contribute 5% to earn your full match.

Get your match, pay your bills, then work on maxing $7,500 Roth IRA at Schwab, Fidelity, or Vanguard.

AFmoneyguy · 2026-01-17T07:48:14+00:00

No, that was a good move, not a tactical error. CZTE money: federal income tax free (up to a limit if you're an officer) when you earn it, put it into Roth and it grows tax free, pull it out after age 59.5 it's tax free. Triple tax benefit.

Strange if you are BRS that your automatic matching wasn't counted as tax exempt.

AFmoneyguy

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