Why the Money Side of Resettlement Gets Missed

Most resettlement guidance focuses on jobs, qualifications and civilian CVs. That is understandable. But for many service leavers, the financial side of transition is the part that causes the most damage if it goes wrong. A missed benefit, an uninsured risk, a housing deadline ignored and a pension misunderstood can each cost thousands. Together, they can set a family back for years.

This checklist covers every significant financial decision and entitlement a service leaver needs to address before and immediately after discharge. It is structured in the order most people will actually face these issues.

Step 1: Understand What CTP Support You Are Entitled To

The Career Transition Partnership is the official provider of Armed Forces resettlement support for all service leavers, regardless of time served. Resettlement is a Ministry of Defence entitlement available to all Regular and Full-Time service leavers through the CTP.

For service leavers and veterans, the CTP provides support for up to two years after your discharge date. The standard entitlement is also available for up to two years before leaving service.

That means if you have a confirmed discharge date, you should be engaging with CTP immediately, not in the final weeks.

The Core Resettlement Programme provides support to service leavers with six years of service or longer, and those who have been medically discharged irrespective of length of service.

If you have served fewer than six years, you still have access to support, but the breadth of that support differs. Check your entitlement with your unit Resettlement Information Staff as early as possible.

Step 2: Claim Your Resettlement Grant and Training Funds

If you complete more than nine years of reckonable service as an Officer from age 21, or 12 years as an Other Rank from age 18, and leave without any other immediate pension benefits, you may qualify for a tax-free Resettlement Grant, paid to aid your resettlement into civilian life.

The Resettlement Grant is increased each year at the same rate as armed forces pensionable pay.

Check the current figure on GOV.UK when you receive your discharge date.

The Individual Resettlement Training Costs Grant is a financial provision available to service leavers to support their transition to civilian employment. This grant, capped at £534, is designed to cover the costs associated with training courses and other educational activities that enhance employability. Eligible service leavers can use it to pay for course fees, accreditation and other related expenses.

Eligibility for the IRTC Grant requires a minimum of six years of service, with exceptions for medical discharge or redundancy.

Do not leave this money unclaimed on the table.

Step 3: Use Your Enhanced Learning Credits Before They Expire

Enhanced Learning Credits are one of the many education schemes available to service personnel. The scheme entitles you to up to £6,000 to be used for your personal education and development at Level 3 and above. If you have served six to eight years, this can be three claims of £1,000 or one claim of £3,000. If you have served eight or more years, this can be three claims of £2,000.

You are expected to make a personal contribution of at least 20% towards the fees using your own funds, as well as using off-duty or leave periods for study.

The IRTC Grant can be used in conjunction with Enhanced Learning Credits to maximise the financial support available for resettlement training.

You can use Enhanced Learning Credits for up to ten years from your last day of service.

That gives you a long runway, but the practical advice is to plan your qualifications now, while you have the most flexibility.

Registration for the ELC scheme cannot be done post-discharge.

Register while you are still serving.

Step 4: Get Your AFPS15 Pension Position in Writing

This is where most service leavers lose money through simple ignorance of what they have built up.

Unlike most other public sector schemes, members of AFPS15 pay no pension contributions. The pension is fully funded by the Ministry of Defence.

That is a significant and often underappreciated benefit.

If you serve to the age of 60, your pension will be paid immediately on leaving. If you exit earlier, pension payments are deferred until state pension age. For every year you serve, the MOD adds 1/47th of your annual pensionable earnings to your individual pension, and each year it increases in line with the Average Weekly Earnings Index.

On death in service, your family does not walk away empty-handed.

If you die in service, your spouse, civil partner or eligible partner will receive an immediate pension paid for life and a tax-free lump sum amounting to four times your final pensionable earnings.

That death in service payment is a significant financial safety net while you remain serving. The moment you walk out of the gates, it disappears. That is one of the biggest financial changes of leaving the forces and most people do not plan for it in advance.

Request a Benefit Information Statement from Veterans UK before you leave.

The Armed Forces Pension Calculator includes a projection of benefits from the Armed Forces Pension Schemes.

Use it.

Step 5: Understand the Protection Gap You Are Walking Into

While you are serving, the AFPS15 death in service lump sum of four times your final pensionable earnings provides a degree of financial security for your family. Once you leave, that cover ends on your last day of service. In the civilian world, you now need to arrange your own life cover, and potentially serious illness cover, using your own budget.

This is a known gap.

The Financial Conduct Authority has urged insurers and intermediaries to do more to close what it described as a persistent protection gap in the UK, after finding that a majority of adults still lack cover that would support them or their families in the event of serious illness, injury or death. The FCA found that 58% of UK adults do not hold a pure protection product, despite many being likely to benefit.

For serving personnel who are still in the forces, income protection as a product is not available in the standard market due to the nature of service employment and the risks involved. That makes it more important, not less, to have life cover and serious illness cover in place from day one of civilian life.

A common real-world combination is a critical illness payout clearing the mortgage on diagnosis, income protection covering the monthly bills during recovery, and life insurance protecting the family if the worst happens. Each plugs a gap the others leave wide open, which is exactly why advisers talk about layering cover rather than choosing between products.

Absolute Military works exclusively with military families on these decisions. Our Vitality Coach service is a practical starting point for understanding which cover you actually need and what it would cost in your specific situation.

Step 6: Sort Your Housing Before the Clock Runs Out

If you are leaving the armed forces, the MOD will issue you with a Certificate of Cessation of Entitlement to Occupy Service Accommodation six months before you are discharged. The certificate will indicate the date on which entitlement to occupy service accommodation will end.

Aim to contact the Joint Service Housing Advice Office at least 12 months before your discharge date if you know it. Leaving Service Family Accommodation is one of the most time-sensitive parts of leaving the forces.

Do not treat the six-month certificate as the start of the clock. It is effectively the final warning.

Private renting is the most common immediate step for service leavers who are not yet ready to buy or are waiting on a social housing application.

If you are considering buying, speak to a mortgage adviser who understands the forces. Our adviser John Greasby specialises in mortgages for military families and veterans, including those with irregular income histories and those moving from SFA to a first civilian home.

Step 7: Check Your National Insurance Record

Your state pension is built on qualifying years of National Insurance contributions. Many service leavers have gaps in their record, particularly those who spent time posted overseas or in periods where NI was not being accrued in the standard way.

To get any new state pension, you will need to have a minimum of 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record. To get the maximum new state pension, you usually need to have 35 qualifying years.

There is a system in place where people can plug gaps in their National Insurance record, however, the rules on how far back you can go changed in April 2025. From 6 April 2025, you can now only fill gaps going back six tax years.

Check your record through GOV.UK using your personal tax account as early as possible after leaving.

Step 8: Review Your Employment Outcomes Realistically

Of the 2024/25 UK regular service leavers who used a billable CTP service and reported their employment outcomes six months after leaving service, 86% were employed.

That is a positive figure, but it also means that 14% were not in employment within six months of discharge.

The unemployment rate for 2024/25 service leavers was 7%, significantly higher than the 5% rate for 2023/24 service leavers.

A gap in employment is a realistic scenario and not a failure. The financial question is whether you have a plan to cover your costs during that gap. Savings, a partner’s income, a resettlement grant or a deferred pension income are all factors. Plan for a gap of at least three to six months before you leave.

The Financial Checklist at a Glance

  1. Confirm your CTP entitlement and register with your Resettlement Information Staff as early as possible, up to two years before discharge
  2. Check eligibility for the tax-free Resettlement Grant and apply through your chain of command
  3. Claim your IRTC training grant of up to £534 and stack it with your ELC funding
  4. Register for Enhanced Learning Credits while still serving, you cannot register after discharge
  5. Request a Benefit Information Statement from Veterans UK and use the Armed Forces Pension Calculator
  6. Arrange life cover and serious illness cover to replace the AFPS15 death in service lump sum before your last day of service
  7. Contact the Joint Service Housing Advice Office at least 12 months before discharge if you live in SFA
  8. Check your National Insurance record through your personal tax account on GOV.UK
  9. Budget for a potential employment gap of three to six months minimum
  10. If buying a home, speak to a specialist military mortgage adviser

When to Speak to a Specialist

The resettlement process involves multiple organisations, multiple deadlines and multiple financial decisions that interact with each other. A pension decision affects your tax position. A protection decision affects your mortgage application. A housing decision affects your benefit eligibility. None of these sit in isolation.

Absolute Military exists to help serving and former military personnel navigate this. We work only with the armed forces community and we understand the specific products, timelines and rules that apply to you. Read our September 2025 Market Review for the latest on protection products and rates relevant to military families. To get personal guidance on your cover requirements, visit our Vitality Coach page for a no-obligation starting point.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my AFPS15 death in service benefit stop the day I leave?

Yes.

The AFPS15 death in service lump sum is four times your final pensionable earnings and is paid regardless of whether you have completed at least two years of qualifying service.

That benefit is available only while you remain a serving member of the Armed Forces. On your last day of service it ceases. You need replacement life cover in place from day one of civilian life, not arranged weeks or months after you leave.

Can I use my Enhanced Learning Credits after I leave the forces?

You can use Enhanced Learning Credits for up to ten years from your last day of service.

However,

registration for the ELC scheme cannot be done post-discharge.

This means you must register while you are still serving. If you leave without registering, you lose access to up to £6,000 in funded training. Check with your Education or Learning Centre before your discharge date.

What happens to my pension if I leave before completing a full career?

If you exit before the age of 60, pension payments are deferred until state pension age.

However, your accrued AFPS15 pension is not lost.

Your pension starts building from your first day of paid service. Each year the pot increases with inflation and your further service is added. This process continues until you leave the Armed Forces and this pot will become the pension you receive.

You should request a Benefit Information Statement from Veterans UK to understand exactly what deferred pension you have built up.

Is income protection available to me as a serving member of the forces?

Serving military personnel are generally not eligible for standard income protection insurance due to the occupational risks involved and the nature of service employment. This makes other forms of cover, particularly life insurance and serious illness cover, more important. Once you leave the forces and move into civilian employment, income protection typically becomes available to you. Speak to a specialist adviser who understands your transition to ensure your cover is reviewed at the right point.

How early should I start planning the financial side of resettlement?

Your resettlement period is listed officially by the MOD as the two years before and after you leave service.

That two-year window before departure is the right time to start. Many of the most costly mistakes happen because people engage with the financial side only in the final few months, when deadlines are already close and options are limited.

Ask for help early, especially with career direction, finance awareness and housing questions.

The financial checklist in this article gives you a clear structure to work through without delay.