How do I sell leave days before ETS?

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 11:21:36 -0400

I have been told by multiple of my NCO's that a soldier can sell leave days anytime throughout their career and not only you PCS or when reenlisting, but each of the NCO's that I talked to had no idea how to go about selling them or where to go, just that they know you can. I am trying to avoid going to AER and would prefer to sell my leave days early if possible. I have almost 80 days of leave currently and I ETS in November. I do not plan on taking terminal leave. I am tracking that a maximum of 60 days can be sold when you do sell them. I also understand that most people believe selling leave is a mistake and that I should take terminal leave but financially I believe selling leave would be a better decision even with the leave being taxed.

Response by SSgt Christophe Murphy made Jul 8 at 2021 11:38 AM

SSgt Christophe Murphy — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 11:38:57 -0400

Are you PCSing or ETSing? You said PCS but you also mentioned terminal leave which would mean end of service.

If you are PCSing you can normally take upwards to 30 or 40 days of leave. I would recommend taking time off while in transit. You earned the days.

If you are ETSing you should take terminal leave and sell back the days you can't burn on terminal. But both scenarios should be covered in the briefs you get before you leave your current command whichever applies.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 8 at 2021 11:49 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 11:49:23 -0400

You can sell leave when you reenlist, it's one of the questions in the DA 3340 Request for Reenlistment. Technically you can sell leave any time you separate, those are when you ETS, retire, reenlist, and if you sign an extension - the day of your old ETS.

It's not a bad idea to sell leave, only to sell it when it's not worth anything. The total amount you can ever sell in your career is 60 days. I recommend people sell their leave when they go indef, it's a nice chunk of free money. Let's say you're a four to six year E4, your base pay is worth $2580. Your payout after tax, not counting state taxes, is $4025. If you were an E6 at 12 years and going indef your base is $4115 your take home is $6419. But as a combat arms MOS you would most likely go indef over 12 years as you pin on SFC so your take home would be $7425 if you were doing it this year. That's in today's dollars, the total would be much higher with ten years of annual increases.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 8 at 2021 10:32 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 22:32:42 -0400

You can sell up to 60 days but it will only be base on your base pay and nothing else. So what ever your base pay is times it by two and minus what ever taxes the military takes. So in the long run you lose money doing that because you won’t get any other benefits you would if you just take 80 days of leave. That’s 80 days less you won’t be in the military if you really want to get out