Military pay allotments let active-duty service members automatically divide each paycheck before it lands in the bank, sending fixed amounts to savings accounts, dependents, insurance companies, mortgage lenders, and a handful of other approved recipients. Federal law caps voluntary allotments at six per member, and since 2015 you cannot use one to pay for a car, phone, appliance, or other consumer purchase. The system runs on 37 U.S.C. § 701 and is administered by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service under the DoD Financial Management Regulation.
Discretionary and Non-Discretionary Allotments
Every allotment is either discretionary or non-discretionary, and the label decides whether it eats one of your six slots.
Discretionary allotments are the ones you choose to set up. Approved uses include personal savings accounts, mortgage or rent payments, support to dependents, investment contributions, and commercial insurance premiums. You can start, change, or stop them at will, and the total in force at any moment cannot exceed six.1Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Military Allotments
Non-discretionary allotments are required by regulation or tied to specific DoD-approved programs. They don’t count toward the six-allotment cap. For active-duty members, the non-discretionary categories are limited to:
- U.S. Savings Bonds
- Repayment of loans from Army Emergency Relief, Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, Air Force Aid Society, or the American Red Cross
- Charitable contributions to the Combined Federal Campaign, AER, NMCRS, or Air Force Assistance Fund affiliates
- Rent for privatized on-post housing
- Contributions under the Veterans Educational Assistance Program (Post-Vietnam Era)
- Delinquent government travel charge card debt, when directed by an agency head
What You Cannot Use an Allotment For
Effective January 1, 2015, the DoD amended its Financial Management Regulation to prohibit discretionary allotments used to buy, lease, or rent personal property. The ban covers vehicles (cars, motorcycles, boats), appliances and furniture, electronics such as laptops, tablets, phones, and televisions, and any other tangible movable consumer item.2Defense Finance and Accounting Service. New Allotment System Change Frequently Asked Questions
Savings, dependent support, insurance premiums, mortgages, rent, and investment contributions remain allowed. If a lender offers to set up an allotment-funded “savings account” that then auto-pays a loan on a restricted item, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recommends using ACH or your bank’s online bill-pay instead, both of which are free and carry stronger consumer protections than an allotment.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Curbing Abuses of the Military Allotment System
Child support and alimony are not allotments. Those obligations run through a separate DFAS garnishment process driven by a court order, not by a member’s election, so they do not use a discretionary slot.
How Much of Your Pay Can Be Allotted
The six-allotment cap is written into 37 U.S.C. § 701, which authorizes allotments “for the purpose of supporting relatives or for any other purpose that the Secretary considers proper” and explicitly limits discretionary allotments to six.4GovInfo. 37 USC 701 – Members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force Non-discretionary allotments have no numerical cap, but they still come out of the same paycheck.
Before any allotment is calculated, several items must be withheld first: federal and state income taxes, Social Security and Medicare (FICA), SGLI and Family SGLI premiums, Montgomery GI Bill deductions, and any debts chargeable against your pay account. What’s left after those mandatory withholdings is the pool your allotments draw from.5Department of Defense. DoD 7000.14-R Financial Management Regulation Volume 7A, Chapter 40 – General Provisions Governing Allotments of Pay There is no single fixed minimum retention amount, but commanders can further restrict how much a member allots when necessary to protect essential personal needs.
If a grade reduction or stoppage of pay leaves too little to cover existing allotments, DFAS discontinues them involuntarily.5Department of Defense. DoD 7000.14-R Financial Management Regulation Volume 7A, Chapter 40 – General Provisions Governing Allotments of Pay
Deductions People Mistake for Allotments
Not every automatic deduction on your Leave and Earnings Statement is an allotment. Two big ones sit entirely outside the system:
- SGLI premiums are a mandatory withholding taken before allotments are calculated. They are not counted as an allotment.
- Thrift Savings Plan contributions run through your service’s personnel payroll system, not the allotment framework. Changing your TSP percentage does not affect how many allotment slots you have used.
Commercial life insurance purchased on top of SGLI is different. That premium, if paid from your pay, is a discretionary allotment and does count toward the six.
Setting Up or Changing an Allotment
Before you start, have three things in front of you: the recipient’s name and mailing address; the receiving bank’s nine-digit routing number, the account number, and whether the account is checking or savings; and the exact monthly amount along with the start date you want.
Through MyPay
The fastest option for most members is the MyPay portal at mypay.dfas.mil. You can start, stop, or change Electronic Funds Transfer allotments to financial institutions directly on the site without visiting a finance office. Some non-EFT allotments, including mortgage payments, certain insurance premiums, and charitable contributions, can also be stopped or changed through MyPay.6Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Allotments
By DD Form 2558
For requests that can’t be handled online, DD Form 2558, “Authorization to Start, Stop or Change an Allotment,” is the paper route. It asks for your full name, Social Security number, branch of service, the allotment amount, the start or stop date, and the full recipient banking details. The form is available from the DoD forms website or your local finance office.7Department of Defense. DD Form 2558 – Authorization to Start, Stop or Change an Allotment
When It Takes Effect
Allotment changes take effect with the next full month of pay. A request submitted early in the month may begin with that month’s end-of-month check; anything submitted after roughly the first week usually waits until the following month. Confirm the change by checking the Allotments column on your next LES, which shows each active allotment’s amount and payee.
Extra Rule for E-4 and Below Buying Commercial Insurance
Setting up an allotment for a private life insurance policy carries an extra safeguard. Under 32 CFR Part 50, personnel in pay grades E-4 and below must wait at least seven calendar days between signing a life insurance application and certifying the allotment. The cooling-off period is there so you can get financial counseling before committing.8eCFR. 32 CFR Part 50 – Personal Commercial Solicitation on DoD Installations
Insurance agents soliciting on a DoD installation must be licensed in the state where the installation is located, and any agent caught handling direct deposit forms, allotment paperwork, or trying to access a member’s MyPay account faces suspension or withdrawal of solicitation privileges.8eCFR. 32 CFR Part 50 – Personal Commercial Solicitation on DoD Installations A pre-filled allotment form or a request to log into MyPay on your behalf is worth reporting to your installation commander.
Separation and Retirement
For members leaving active duty through ETS, chapter, or any non-retirement discharge, all discretionary allotments stop automatically the month before the separation date. They are not deducted from final pay.
Retirees can keep using allotments from retired pay under essentially the same framework, and the six-discretionary-allotment cap carries over.4GovInfo. 37 USC 701 – Members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force Active-duty allotments actually roll into retired pay by default if you don’t stop them before the finance office cutoff, usually around the 20th of your final month. If you don’t want an allotment to continue into retirement, cancel it before you separate.
The retiree non-discretionary list differs slightly from the active-duty one. It includes delinquent federal, state, or local tax payments, repayment of debts owed to the government, charitable contributions to AER, NMCRS, or Air Force Assistance Fund affiliates, and relief loan repayments, with no cap on how many a retiree may have.6Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Allotments