Overseas Retiree Tools

What retiring overseas really costs a US military retiree

Three numbers most budgets get wrong. Built by a retired Army senior NCO living in Thailand on TRICARE and the GI Bill.

$106 a monthRetiree TRICARE overseas is not freeAnd most hospitals make you pay in full first. Run your number $2,522 a monthGI Bill housing at a foreign schoolIt halves if every class is online. Check yours $1,600 a monthThe gap between a 90% and a 100% VA ratingSee if your plan survives the lower one
Free two-page PDF: 10 questions to ask a Thai hospital before you trust your TRICAREThe direct-billing question decides how much cash you keep on hand.
Get the free PDF

All four calculators

TRICARE Overseas retiree cost calculatorEnrollment, deductible, cost-share and catastrophic cap, turned into a monthly line and the cash float you must hold. Overseas retirement budget calculatorMonthly surplus at your expected VA rating and the two below it, with or without the GI Bill. VA disability rates 2026Full table by rating and dependents, with the COLA applied and the base year shown. GI Bill overseas MHA calculatorForeign-school housing allowance by benefit tier and credit load, the online penalty, and the term total.

Why these four

Retiring abroad is mostly the same math as retiring stateside, with three exceptions that nobody puts in one place. Retiree TRICARE overseas is not free and most hospitals will not bill it for you. The GI Bill foreign-school housing allowance is generous but halves if you are exclusively online. And your VA rating, which may not be final when you plan the move, swings the monthly number by more than a thousand dollars. These tools exist to make those three visible before you sign a lease.

Military Retirement Overseas Budget Planner spreadsheet cover
Want the full picture, with your own numbers?

The Military Retirement Overseas Budget Planner is an Excel workbook that runs retired pay, VA compensation, GI Bill, debts and local living costs at three VA ratings side by side, with a 36-month projection where debts fall off on schedule, the TRICARE Overseas estimator, and a loan-payoff calculator. No macros. Works in Excel and Google Sheets.

Get the workbook, $19

Prefer the reasoning over the spreadsheet? The Retire to Thailand on TRICARE and the GI Bill field guide is 19 pages for $17: the money stack, the on-campus rule, TRICARE for retirees, visa tracks, and the phase-by-phase checklist.

Where the numbers come from

Free PDF: 10 questions to ask a Thai hospital about TRICARE Get it