DoD Savings Deposit Program

 

What is the DoD Savings Deposit Program?

The DoD Savings Deposit Program (SDP) was established to provide members of the uniformed services an opportunity to invest in their financial savings, while serving in a designated combat zone; or are receiving hostile fire/imminent danger pay as they serve in a Qualified Hazardous Duty Area (QHDA) or a designated direct support area of a combat zone.
 
How do I make SDP Account Contributions?
 
After a member has served in a covered SDP area for at least 30 consecutive days or at least 1 day for each 3 consecutive months, the member is qualified to begin making deposits.  The initial deposit is limited to the amount earned beginning with the first day AFTER (*See Important Note below) the 30 consecutive days in a covered SDP area. 

A minimum of $5.00 and a maximum of $10,000 in un-allotted current pay and allowances may be deposited to your SDP account. Deposit amounts outside of this range will be rejected by the SDP system.   SDP Interest compounds monthly and is paid quarterly at a rate of 10% on balances of up to $10,000.  Any amount in excess of $10,000.00 will not accrue interest. 
 
Deposits may be made by payroll allotment, Eagle Cash card, cash, or personal check.     

  • Allotments may be established by visiting the member’s servicing branch of service administrative or finance office.  An SDP allotment may be increased or decreased as your financial situation changes. 
    • Allotment will be terminated upon the member’s request or when the member is reported as departing the combat zone. 
    • Army, Navy, and Air Force:  Allotments will not systemically stop when the member reaches the $10,000.00 maximum.  To avoid over depositing to SDP, the member should stop the allotment once the $10,000.00 threshold has been reached.
    • Marine Corps:  Allotment will systemically stop when the member reaches the $10,000 maximum balance.  If the last months allotment will put the member over $10,000, the allotment amount will be systemically reduced to cap the member at exactly $10,000.  This system edit only considers deposits made by allotment from the member’s pay and does not include other contribution types in the cap.
  • Collections may be processed by military finance offices in theater for members choosing to make a deposit using Eagle Cash card, cash, or personal check.  Any service member from any branch of service may make these contributions at any military finance office; regardless of the branch of service the member might belong.
The maximum amount that can be deposited in any single transaction is the combined total of all military pay, accrued and paid during the 30 days immediately preceding the date of the deposit.  An exception to the regulation does authorize the member to deposit more than one month of un-allotted pay, only if the member presents written approval from their Commanding Officer with the deposit.  This approval must attest that mission requirements or limited finance office support did not allow the member to make SDP deposits in regular monthly increments.  The letter should specify the period of time the member was unable to make regular deposits.  This exception to the regulation only authorizes the member to make a deposit that exceeds pay earned during the 30 days immediately preceding the deposit date.  The Commanding Officer does not have the authority to approve backdated interest for periods when a member could not make normal deposits.  Interest accrual is strictly based on the date the member deposited the funds with a servicing finance office.  Travel allowances, advance pays, and money saved pre-deployment, are not authorized to be contributed to SDP.
 
Example.  A member arrives in Pakistan on April 1, 2018. The member is authorized to make an initial deposit on June 1, 2018, however the service member is out on a mission from May 25 thru June 20, 2018 and unable to make a deposit.  The member goes to finance on June 25, 2018, in order to make an SDP deposit.  A normal SDP deposit would only authorize the member to contribute money earned on the 6/1 and 6/15 paydays.  The member may present an authorization letter from the commanding officer, stating their non-availability dates 5/25 thru 6/20, which will authorize the member to also deposit any paydays received after May 1, 2018.  This would allow the member to contribute all the money they could have deposited on June 1st, as well as any additional money earned prior to the date of deposit.  This would increase the max deposit to include 5/15, 6/1, and 6/15 paydays.  The commanding officer cannot authorize backdated interest back to the June 1st, but he/she can authorize the higher amount for the deposit.  Interest will accrue based on the June 25th deposit date.

*Important Note:  A recent update to the DoDFMR vol 7a  Chapter 51, specifies that the member’s initial deposit is limited to the amount earned beginning with the first day AFTER the 30 consecutive days in a covered SDP area.  This is a significant change. Prior to this legal determination, members could begin making deposits as soon as they were eligible; utilizing any pay earned during the first 30 days in the combat zone.  Examples below have been provided within the regulation cited above to help clarify the updated policy: 
 
Example 1.  A member arrives in Pakistan (a designated direct support area as defined in Chapter 44, Figure 44-1 and an Imminent Danger Pay (IDP) location as defined in Chapter 10, Figure 10-1) on April 1, 2018. The member is authorized to make an initial deposit on June 1, 2018, for the amount accrued beginning May 1, 2018. The member may make additional deposits until departure from Pakistan.
 
Example 2.  A member arrives in Albania (a designated CZ area as defined in Chapter 44, Figure 44-2) on June 19, 2018. The member is authorized to make an initial deposit on August 1, 2018, for the amount accrued beginning July 19, 2018. The member may make additional deposits until departure from Albania.
 
Example 3.  A member is TDY to the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt (a QHDA as defined in Chapter 44, Figure 44-3 and an IDP location as defined in Chapter 10, Figure 10-1) on April 17, May 2, and June 19, 2018. The member is authorized to make their initial deposit on August 1, 2018 for the amount accrued in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt beginning June 20, 2018.
 
SDP Deposit Posting & Inquiry Information
 
Finance Offices: 
  • SDP collections received for all Army, Air Force, and Navy members should be submitted to DFAS Indianapolis to be posted to the member’s SDP account.  This can be accomplished via DDS file feed, or by submitting an askDFAS ticket and including uploaded copies of the completed DD1131 from DDS.
  • SDP collections received for any Marines should be submitted to DFAS Cleveland, who will post the collection to the member’s MMPA and SDP account.  This can be accomplished by submitting an askDFAS ticket and including uploaded copies of the completed DD1131 from DDS.
Contributing Service Member Inquiries:
 
  • Any Army, Air Force, and Navy service members who identify an issue within their SDP account may submit inquiries to DFAS Cleveland by submitting an askDFAS ticket .
  • Any Marine service members who identify an issue within their SDP account may submit inquiries to DFAS Cleveland by submitting an askDFAS ticket. 
 
Notes: 
  • Please take into consideration before submitting an inquiry, deposits contributed at a finance office overseas can take several weeks to appear in myPay.  Multiple pay systems must feed the information from one to another, and these system feeds sometimes only occur weekly or monthly.  Please hold inquiries until at least 3 months from the date of an SDP deposit. Ensure askDFAS inquiries describe in detail the nature of the discrepancy
  • Upload any supporting documentation to the askDFAS ticket that might help to resolve any issue.
How do I Withdraw from my SDP Account?
 
An SDP account payment, including all interest, will be issued automatically 120 days after the service member has left the combat zone.  Upon returning from deployment, deposits will continue to draw interest for up to 90 days.  If the service member prefers, he/she may request final withdrawal at any time before 120 days following return from deployment via myPay, but may forfeit some interest by doing so. 
 
  • Ensure any SDP allotments are stopped.
    • Funds will be transferred electronically (EFT) to the bank account on record, if payment is made automatically 120 days after the service member has left the zone. 
    • myPay withdrawal request includes fields to designate banking/credit union information, which includes bank name, routing number, account number, and type of account (savings or checking).
When a member contributes to SDP, the member is not authorized to withdraw the funds until returning from deployment. However, there are exceptions to the regulation:
              
  • Once an SDP account reaches a $10,000 balance, the member may make a withdrawal request on a quarterly basis; limited to any funds in excess of $10,000.  These withdrawals may be requested via myPay.
  • Service members may request an “Emergency Withdrawal”, however this request must be authorized by member’s Commanding Officer.  The Commanding Officer can authorize the emergency withdrawal if ‘…the health and welfare of the member or their dependent(s) would be jeopardized if the withdrawal was not granted’.  To request an emergency withdrawal, the member should submit an askDFAS ticket and include an uploaded copy of the Commanding Officer’s authorization letter.
 

Page updated August 9, 2021