Unexpected Navy bonus!

[dEviantrAdiologist]

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Hey all,

As a quick background, I am Navy HPSP currently in a fellowship...fully deferred civilian residency and fellowship. I have not received any HPSP stipend or military monies for about 6 years now....

I recently was reviewing my checking account balance and found a *significant* deposit by DFAS into my account. This was unsolicited and the reason for the deposit is unbeknownst to me. I will be starting AD in July, but have not received orders or anything that would merit starting my salary/bonuses now during fellowship.

Has anyone else received this? Is it my lucky day? I'm assuming they will find out about this error eventually and ask for the money back--not before I place it in a high yield CD or something tho 😉 .

thoughts?

 

[GeoLeoX]

incentive specialty pay? see last page

 

[dEviantrAdiologist]

incentive specialty pay? see last page

I initially thought of that as well, but unless it was taxed at 66% it would not be ISP (for radiology that is). I cannot come up with an amount that would represent a single reimbursement of this level--it would almost have to be a combination of smaller items such as basic pay + BAH + board certification, etc to equal the amount in question.

 

[haujun]

Hey all,


Has anyone else received this? Is it my lucky day? I'm assuming they will find out about this error eventually and ask for the money back--not before I place it in a high yield CD or something tho 😉 .

thoughts?

Your assumption is good one. I know several officers (residents, other active duty soldiers) who spent this so called "lucky money" and in the end they always paid it back in (a lump sum). In the future you will certaintly work hard (file necessary paper work) to get paid correctly.

 

[GeoLeoX]

I have heard tell of a pay that is generated once one is "no longer in training". I am unsure if this is the incentive pay or if it is a board passing pay. Suffice to say, residents that have graduated from my program have gotten a lump sum in the summer they finish and another one just before the end of the first calendar year as staff. One of the pays is the ISP, the other I do not know.

 

[haujun]

Since this site is related to a pay I have a question for you. My friend has total of five years active duty (prior enlisted) and she is a resident (R2). She is wondering when she hits six years of service does her VSP goes up from 5000 to 12000 per year?? I told her no since her HPSP creditable service years (post HPSP) have not reached six??

 

[SF49ers Fan]

Since this site is related to a pay I have a question for you. My friend has total of five years active duty (prior enlisted) and she is a resident (R2). She is wondering when she hits six years of service does her VSP goes up from 5000 to 12000 per year?? I told her no since her HPSP creditable service years (post HPSP) have not reached six??

According to 050104 of the DoD financial management regulation manual volume 7A
http://www.defenselink.mil/comptroller/fmr/07a/07a_05.pdf

Creditable Service Defined. Use creditable service to compute the medical officer's entitlement to variable special pay. Creditable service includes:
A. All periods of internship and residency training successfully completed while not on active duty.
B. All periods of internship and residency training not completed, if they were terminated or interrupted as the result of military operational requirements.
C. All periods of active service in the Medical Corps of the Army or Navy, as an officer of the Air Force designated as a medical officer, or as a medical officer of the Public Health Service.

If I am reading paragraph C correctly you would be right since time in med school is not counted as active service (at least not for HPSPers).

 

[tulane06]

Hey all,

As a quick background, I am Navy HPSP currently in a fellowship...fully deferred civilian residency and fellowship. I have not received any HPSP stipend or military monies for about 6 years now....

I recently was reviewing my checking account balance and found a *significant* deposit by DFAS into my account. This was unsolicited and the reason for the deposit is unbeknownst to me. I will be starting AD in July, but have not received orders or anything that would merit starting my salary/bonuses now during fellowship.

Has anyone else received this? Is it my lucky day? I'm assuming they will find out about this error eventually and ask for the money back--not before I place it in a high yield CD or something tho 😉 .

thoughts?

Be careful, earlier this year DFAS gave me unsolicited "significant" deposits....I later found out that they were giving me part of some poor schmoe's salary. He had the same first name as me, but a very different last name. I ended up having to send DFAS back several grand. I would try to sort this out sooner than later so you aren't tempted to spend the money. Good luck.

 

[NavyFP]

Hey all,

As a quick background, I am Navy HPSP currently in a fellowship...fully deferred civilian residency and fellowship. I have not received any HPSP stipend or military monies for about 6 years now....

I recently was reviewing my checking account balance and found a *significant* deposit by DFAS into my account. This was unsolicited and the reason for the deposit is unbeknownst to me. I will be starting AD in July, but have not received orders or anything that would merit starting my salary/bonuses now during fellowship.

Has anyone else received this? Is it my lucky day? I'm assuming they will find out about this error eventually and ask for the money back--not before I place it in a high yield CD or something tho 😉 .

thoughts?

I would call DFAS for an explanation. It is likely an error and they will want their money back.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Hey all,

As a quick background, I am Navy HPSP currently in a fellowship...fully deferred civilian residency and fellowship. I have not received any HPSP stipend or military monies for about 6 years now....

I recently was reviewing my checking account balance and found a *significant* deposit by DFAS into my account. This was unsolicited and the reason for the deposit is unbeknownst to me. I will be starting AD in July, but have not received orders or anything that would merit starting my salary/bonuses now during fellowship.

Has anyone else received this? Is it my lucky day? I'm assuming they will find out about this error eventually and ask for the money back--not before I place it in a high yield CD or something tho 😉 .

thoughts?

Have you filled out move paperwork? I can't remember if you get it for a first move, but this could be DLA, I guess.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

Hey all,

As a quick background, I am Navy HPSP currently in a fellowship...fully deferred civilian residency and fellowship. I have not received any HPSP stipend or military monies for about 6 years now....

I recently was reviewing my checking account balance and found a *significant* deposit by DFAS into my account. This was unsolicited and the reason for the deposit is unbeknownst to me. I will be starting AD in July, but have not received orders or anything that would merit starting my salary/bonuses now during fellowship.

Has anyone else received this? Is it my lucky day? I'm assuming they will find out about this error eventually and ask for the money back--not before I place it in a high yield CD or something tho 😉 .

thoughts?

Take the entire balance you received and put it in a high interest savings account or a money market fund. 6-12 months from now you'll either have figured out what it is for or they will have asked for it back. Either way, you'll make a few bucks off it. Whatever you do don't spend it. It doesn't sound to me like you were supposed to get it. ISP comes out in October/November, not January, and you're not entitled to it anyway, you shouldn't be getting money at all from the Navy right now. When they ask for it, make them set up a plan to get it back gradually and you may a get a year's worth of interest out of it. Don't bother calling and trying to get some E-3 to fix it. They'll just screw it up worse. Eventually they'll figure it out and come after you for it (trust me, they will find it and you). It is better to wait until then so the process of paying it back will be less likely to get screwed up.

 

[dEviantrAdiologist]

Have you filled out move paperwork? I can't remember if you get it for a first move, but this could be DLA, I guess.

I haven't filled out any paperwork yet. I just talked with the detailer via email about future plans but nothing is set in stone as far as I know. I will get ahold of him and try to figure out what is going on. In the meantime its tough not to redo our home entertainment setup with a new plasma, surround sound, blue-ray dvd player, xbox 360 etc.

Take the entire balance you received and put it in a high interest savings account or a money market fund.

Heheh, already done 😉

I guess I was hoping that this unexpected check would be the HPSP bonus that everyone seems to be talking about--retroactive from a few years back. I remember the days of making $900 a month as a med student--which is no paltry sum but it pales in comparison to the current remuneration. Now the med students on HPSP will be making more money than me as a PGY-6. Good for them.

 

[NavyFP]

According to 050104 of the DoD financial management regulation manual volume 7A
http://www.defenselink.mil/comptroller/fmr/07a/07a_05.pdf

Creditable Service Defined. Use creditable service to compute the medical officer's entitlement to variable special pay. Creditable service includes:
A. All periods of internship and residency training successfully completed while not on active duty.
B. All periods of internship and residency training not completed, if they were terminated or interrupted as the result of military operational requirements.
C. All periods of active service in the Medical Corps of the Army or Navy, as an officer of the Air Force designated as a medical officer, or as a medical officer of the Public Health Service.

If I am reading paragraph C correctly you would be right since time in med school is not counted as active service (at least not for HPSPers).

Correct, and even USUHS time does not count. The clock starts ticking on the day you graduate from medical school.

 

[JFX]

It's unethical to keep money that isn't rightfully yours. Deep down you know it's not right to profit from someone's error regardless of the circumstance. If it doesn't belong to you, give it back. It's that simple.

 

[dEviantrAdiologist]

It's unethical to keep money that isn't rightfully yours. Deep down you know it's not right to profit from someone's error regardless of the circumstance. If it doesn't belong to you, give it back. It's that simple.

Thanks for the psychological analysis and attempted guilt trip.

The whole point of this discussion is to try and determine if this is a legitimate stipend/bonus, which can be very confusing given the somewhat convoluted remuneration scheme the military has. At this point, I am not 100% sure this money was not intended for me. Until I find this out, the money will stay safe and secure in a high-yield savings account. If/when I air publicly that I'm purposefully profiting to the detriment/misfortune of others, please feel free to criticize my actions and question my ethics. Until then....

 

[The White Coat Investor]

It's unethical to keep money that isn't rightfully yours. Deep down you know it's not right to profit from someone's error regardless of the circumstance. If it doesn't belong to you, give it back. It's that simple.

Ethics aside, you CAN'T give it back because it will take them longer to figure out what's going on then if you just wait for them to figure it out (they will.) I tried to give back my overpaid money several times and eventually they told me to just wait 6 months and they'd come and get it from me! Apparently that's the way the system is set up.

 

[NavyFP]

Ethics aside, you CAN'T give it back because it will take them longer to figure out what's going on then if you just wait for them to figure it out (they will.) I tried to give back my overpaid money several times and eventually they told me to just wait 6 months and they'd come and get it from me! Apparently that's the way the system is set up.

Too true.

 

[GeoLeoX]

It's unethical to keep money that isn't rightfully yours. Deep down you know it's not right to profit from someone's error regardless of the circumstance. If it doesn't belong to you, give it back. It's that simple.

Wow, spoken like someone clearly unfamiliar with the workings of DFAS. As the OP mentioned often it is difficult to unravel the complex pay schemes, with VSPs, ISPs, multi-year bonuses, etc. In addition as also mentioned, they often won't take it back until they realize that an accounting error was made.

In the end I am fairly sure that no mistake has been made and the poster is entitled to the funds.

We'll see.

 

[NavyFP]

Wow, spoken like someone clearly unfamiliar with the workings of DFAS. As the OP mentioned often it is difficult to unravel the complex pay schemes, with VSPs, ISPs, multi-year bonuses, etc. In addition as also mentioned, they often won't take it back until they realize that an accounting error was made.

In the end I am fairly sure that no mistake has been made and the poster is entitled to the funds.

We'll see.

I am fairly sure they did make a mistake, but I could be wrong.😱

 

[JFX]

...I tried to give back my overpaid money several times

The key here is that you at least tried to give it back <- big difference between this and just sitting quietly hoping no one comes around to claim it. Personally, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing I've got something that doesn't belong to me. If after you try to give it back they say you can keep it, great; you've done the right thing. But even after they say I could keep it but knew the money didn't belong to me I'd probably just give it to charity and get a tax write-off that way.

 

[narcusprince]

Take the money. You will repay it to them multiple times over during your payback. Also, DFAS is so screwed up from the top down that they probably don't even notice that money is gone. I have known multiple people who were overpaid, my theory is that some like you try to give the money back, but most take the money and are never heard from.