The Air Traffic Controllers Fix Kit
Built for air traffic controllers.
Controller pay is set by schedules and agreements, so the leaks are almost never in the rate. They are in the dates and elections you make: military time never bought back, a retirement date nobody checked against the mandatory age, a match left on the table, leave forfeited at year end. Each leak below is a check you can run against your own leave and earnings statements. This kit finds where the money leaks in your own work and gives you the steps and the words to close each one.
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The 7 leaks it covers
5 you can close it · 2 a pro decides
- Military time never bought back, so it does not count toward retirementWhere to look first: Get your DD-214 and list each period of active duty.Keep it from coming back: Check your service computation date on every retirement estimate you receive.You can close it
- Contributing under 5% and leaving part of the TSP match unpaidWhere to look first: Look at your TSP contribution percentage on your leave and earnings statement.Keep it from coming back: Re-check the percentage on the first statement of every year.You can close it
- Retirement date never checked against the mandatory separation ageWhere to look first: Find your service computation date for controller service and your date of birth.Keep it from coming back: Request a fresh estimate every two years and after any break in service.You can close it
- The annuity formula and the supplement never laid out before choosing a dateWhere to look first: Controllers' annuity is 1.7% (VERIFIED: FEDweek) of high-3 average salary for each of the first 20 years, plus 1% for each additional year.Keep it from coming back: Keep every estimate with its date so you can compare them.A pro decides
- Annual leave over the carryover limit forfeited at year endWhere to look first: Check your annual leave balance on your current statement.Keep it from coming back: Check your balance every October and schedule excess leave in writing right away.You can close it
- Premium pay lines on the statement never checked against the schedule workedWhere to look first: Keep your own record of each shift: date, start, end, and whether it was night, Sunday, holiday or overtime.Keep it from coming back: Check each statement the day it posts, against your own shift record.You can close it
- The overtime-premium tax deduction never raised with a preparerWhere to look first: Find the overtime on your stubs for the year. The deduction covers only the premium part, the "half" in time-and-a-half, not the whole overtime check.Keep it from coming back: Save every stub with overtime on it in one folder through the year.A pro decides
Free: one full leak from this kit
No sign-up, no email. Here is leak 1 of 7 exactly as it appears in the kit, so you can see what you get before you buy.
Military time never bought back, so it does not count toward retirement
You can close it- Get your DD-214 and list each period of active duty.
- Under FERS, post-1956 military service gives no retirement credit unless you pay the deposit.
- The deposit is 3% of military base pay (VERIFIED: FEDweek, military deposit) for most periods (3.25% for 1999 and 3.4% for 2000).
- Interest is waived if you pay within 2 years (VERIFIED: FEDweek) of first becoming employed; after that interest is added.
- Ask your HR office for SF-3108 and the deposit estimate. The deposit goes to your employing agency and must be paid before you leave federal service. Payments can be as small as $50 (VERIFIED: FEDweek).
Your part: Request the estimate and decide whether and how to pay.
Email to your HR / benefits office: Subject: Military deposit estimate - [YOUR NAME] Hi [NAME], I served on active duty from [DATES] (DD-214 attached). I would like to make a FERS military service deposit. Can you send me the estimate of earnings request forms, the current deposit amount with any interest, and how to set up installment payments? Thank you, [YOUR NAME]
Check your service computation date on every retirement estimate you receive.
What this kit can't decide for you: Whether the deposit is worth it for you is your decision with a retirement counselor. We do not compute your annuity.
That's 1 of 7. The other 6 come the same way in the kit: steps, words to send, a habit to keep each one closed.
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What people in this work look up
When air traffic controllers go looking for answers, they search things like “air traffic controller salary”, “air traffic controller pay”, “air traffic controller overtime” and “air traffic controller retirement”. Those searches turn up forms, averages and other people's numbers. This kit starts from your own records instead: the 7 places money leaks in this work, where to look first and the words to send to close each one.
What you get for each leak
- Numbered steps to close each leak
- Your part, spelled out
- Words you can use: letters and scripts, ready to send (fill in the brackets)
- A habit that keeps each leak from coming back
- An honest line on what the kit can't decide for you
A page from the kit
Questions people ask
Military time never bought back, so it does not count toward retirement: where do I start?
Start here: Get your DD-214 and list each period of active duty. To keep it from coming back: Check your service computation date on every retirement estimate you receive.
Contributing under 5% and leaving part of the TSP match unpaid: where do I start?
Start here: Look at your TSP contribution percentage on your leave and earnings statement. To keep it from coming back: Re-check the percentage on the first statement of every year.
Retirement date never checked against the mandatory separation age: where do I start?
Start here: Find your service computation date for controller service and your date of birth. To keep it from coming back: Request a fresh estimate every two years and after any break in service.
What it can't decide for you
This kit works from your own records. It doesn't give legal, tax, licensing or financial advice, and it never tells you what to charge. Where a CPA, attorney, insurer or state board makes the call, the kit says so and gets your records ready for them.
14-page PDF · instant download after payment · Code VYR-KIT-ATC-01
Opens secure checkout. Instant download after payment. 30 days to ask for a refund — refund policy · terms
Next step
- Run your free LeakReceipts check — it reads your own receipts and records and shows where money is leaking out, line by line.
- TrueNET — the whole-picture money truth: what you actually keep after every cost, across everything you earn and spend.
Use Jobber or Housecall Pro? Run the free leak check — it reads your job export in your browser and shows the money leaks the software doesn't flag. Nothing is uploaded.