Director’s Message

Greetings from Cleveland! As the days get shorter and nights get cooler, we know that fall is here.
    
Welcome to the fifth issue of our Survivor SBP Newsletter. This newsletter focuses on news of special interest to survivors. We know that the laws and regulations governing military annuity pay are complex and can be difficult to understand. We hope this newsletter, along with our other communications tools, will help to clarify your SBP annuity benefits.
    
There are changes coming for some of our SBP annuitants in 2023. These changes might affect you if you are a surviving spouse and you receive Dependent and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) from the Department of Veterans Affairs or if you requested the SBP Optional Annuity for Dependent Children because your military loved one was a service member who died on active duty or inactive duty in the line of duty after October 7, 2001. Please be sure to read the articles to see if these changes apply to you and what you can expect.
    
DFAS remains committed to our primary goal of delivering your pay accurately and on time. With tax season approaching, we need your help to do that. Please see the “Your Next To-Do List Should Include Taxes” article with helpful tips for getting ready for tax season.
    
Also, with tax season approaching, you may want to access your myPay account to obtain your tax documents. We know some of you only access myPay once a year so we provided an article with tips for reactivating your myPay account. If do not have a myPay account yet, we provided instructions for starting a myPay account.
    
The askDFAS Resource webpage has a new look. We included an article on what you can expect to see on that page for annuitants and retirees and how askDFAS can help you better manage your annuity pay account.
    
As we continue to add to our line-up of simpler methods to fill out forms, we introduce our new Form Wizard for the DFAS 9415-Representative Payee Certification. Check out the article to learn more about it.  

In our “Did You Know?” article, we again provide useful tips and tidbits of interest to survivors. In this issue, we discuss laws and regulations governing military annuitant pay.
    
We will continue to share news of interest to survivors in our quarterly DFAS Retiree Newsletter, and twice a year we also provide this focused newsletter especially for you.
    
Please share this information with your community of survivors.
    
Remember, our website puts a lot of helpful information at your fingertips. Check it out: https://www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary. Look for “Survivors and Beneficiaries” in the menu for links of special interest to survivors.
   
We honor the service and sacrifices made by you, your family, and your loved one. We are proud to serve those who have served, and we wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday season.