Two money events in military life have no civilian equivalent: buying a home with a loan the VA guarantees, and packing up on the government's schedule every two or three years. Both reward knowing the rules before the orders arrive.
The VA loan: what the guarantee buys you
A VA loan is a mortgage from an ordinary lender that the Department of Veterans Affairs guarantees. Because the VA stands behind part of the loan, the lender can drop the two things that make a low-down-payment conventional loan expensive:
- No down payment. You can finance the full price.
- No PMI. A conventional loan with less than 20% down carries private mortgage insurance every month; a VA loan never does.
- Competitive rates, no prepayment penalty, and limits on lender fees.
Eligibility covers service members, veterans and some surviving spouses. Your first step is a Certificate of Eligibility (COE), which you request on va.gov, through your lender, or by mail with VA Form 26-1880. You must intend to live in the home as your primary residence; if orders move you later, you can keep it as a rental.
| Feature | VA loan | Conventional loan |
|---|---|---|
| Down payment | $0 allowed | Commonly 3%–20% |
| Monthly PMI | None | Required under 20% down |
| Upfront cost | One-time funding fee, financeable | None specific to the loan |
| Occupancy | Primary residence at purchase | Primary, second home or rental |
| Who qualifies | Service members, veterans, some surviving spouses | Anyone the lender approves |
The trade-off is the funding fee, a one-time charge that depends on your down payment and whether you have used the benefit before; you can roll it into the loan.
| Down payment | First use | Subsequent use |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 5% | 2.15% | 3.3% |
| 5% to 9.99% | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| 10% or more | 1.25% | 1.25% |
You pay no funding fee if you receive VA compensation for a service-connected disability (or would, but draw retirement pay instead), have a pre-discharge disability rating, are on active duty with a Purple Heart, or are a surviving spouse receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation — a $6,450 waiver on a $300,000 first-use loan.
PCS: the move the government pays for, after you pay
A permanent change of station (PCS) is the order to relocate, and it can come every two or three years. The government covers most of the cost, but almost all of it arrives as reimbursement — you spend first, file a claim, and the money follows. Knowing the program names is how you collect all of it.
| What the government pays | How it reaches you |
|---|---|
| Household goods shipment | Booked through your transportation office; or a personally procured move (PPM), where you move yourself and are paid a share of what the government would have spent |
| Travel: mileage and per diem for you and your dependents | Claimed on your travel voucher (DD Form 1351-2) after you arrive |
| Dislocation Allowance (DLA) | A flat payment, by rank and dependents, for costs no other allowance covers; you can request it in advance |
| Temporary lodging (TLE in the US, TLA overseas) | Hotel and meals for the days the JTR allows at each end of the move |
| Advance pay | A portion of base pay paid before the move and repaid by allotment over the following months |
The rates come from the Joint Travel Regulations and change every year; your finance office and travel.dod.mil have the current figures. The gaps are what the table does not list: a security deposit on the new rental before the old one is refunded, utility set-up fees, pet deposits, shipping a second car, and a spouse's paycheck that stops for weeks while they find work in the new town.
That last gap is why an emergency fund does double duty in a military household: it also covers the predictable lag between paying for a move and being reimbursed. A sinking fund labelled "next PCS," built from the month you arrive, does the same job on purpose — the savings-goal calculator sets the monthly amount.
The loan and the move are both paperwork systems: a COE and a funding-fee table on one side, a travel voucher and a DLA request on the other. Learn them before the orders come and both events turn from surprises into line items.