Base approaches half-million deposited in personal savings program in October

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SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  In less than one month, servicemembers here have deposited a record $454,975 in the Savings Deposit Program.

“Just for the month of October, members here have put in several times the rest of the (area of respopnsiblity) combined,” said Tech. Sgt. Scott Armstrong from the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing finance office.

A major awareness and education initiative by the finance office here and a change in eligibility policy are credited for the high amount, he said. Part of this initiative included an interest-calculating tool developed by the base comptroller that has since become an AOR standard as an educational aid for the program.

“I kept seeing people dismiss the program as not being worth participating in,” said Lt. Col. John Galloway, also deployed from Elmendorf, “so I created this spreadsheet to show people, based on how they pay into the program, exactly how much they could make with the SDP over their regular savings account."

Seeing concrete numbers for the potential interest they could make helped many members make the decision to participate, he said.

This tool was received so well at Central Air Force finance, they forwarded it for use as an educational aid at all Air Force bases in the region. 

A change in policy also raised monthly contributions.

“We were turning people away in September saying they had to wait 30 days before they could participate,” he said. “At the time, if (their) orders said Operation Enduring Freedom, (they) had to wait 30 days to start paying in. If they said Operation Iraqi Freedom, (they) could pay in from day one. So we called CENTAF and said, ‘We’re supporting both here, shouldn’t our people be able to start immediately?”

CENTAF agreed and allowed September arrivals to make a one-time double payment in October, allowing members to make up the missed payment for September and pushing this month’s deposit numbers even higher.

But finance believes educating the base populace was the key to such a record amount.

“SDP is only available while deployed, so at home station, I could have told you what the program is, but I couldn’t have really explained just how it would benefit you,” said Sergeant Armstrong. “Here, we spent two weeks really learning the details of the program and getting the word out. At one point, we processed over $170,000 in payments in four days.”

Younger, more junior members are also taking advantage of the program, he said.

“These kids are thinking ahead. When we started, [the program was used by] almost exclusively colonels and chiefs. Now, we have one- and two-stripers participating. It’s really good to see that, younger people preparing for the future,” he said.

Formerly known as the Uniformed Service Deposit program, this program is offered only to deployed members and pays a 10 percent annual percentage rate, which is three to four times the average interest rate of personal bank savings accounts.  

However, the capital a member may invest is limited to $10,000, and there are other restrictions.

“You can only pay in while you’re in the region,” he said, “and you’ll have to withdraw your funds no later than 90 days after you leave the AOR but you’ll continue to accrue interest for those 90 days,” said Senior Airman Ray Bertram, a finance representative here.