Post 9/11 GI Bill Transferability
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Just a quick head's up to those out there who may be thinking of transferring any Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to a spouse or your kids. I looked into it a few weeks ago and found out a pretty important little detail - you can only do it if you are still on active duty or as a drilling reservist. I retired from the US Navy Reserve on 1 Jan of this year. #2 daughter started her first year at George Mason a few weeks ago and I began to look into the transfer of what benefits I had in the new GI Bill. It is not spelled out very clearly in the instructions and I had to go through about 4 or 5 different organizations and people before I could get the skinny on this, but while I can still use those benefits, I cannot transfer them to my kids. Would that have made a difference in my decision to retire? Possibly. If I knew there was a requirement for being on active duty or still drilling to that transferability, it might have been worth staying in the reserves, even in a non-pay drill status for a couple more years.
Just something for your back pocket if you are thinking of transfering those benefits and contemplating retirement.
The VA page for the Transferability requirements are here.