ADF Transition: Your Complete Financial Guide to Leaving Defence

Whether you’re leaving the ADF in six months or have already transitioned, this guide walks you through the financial decisions that matter most … from superannuation and DVA entitlements to housing, insurance and building long-term financial security.

Where are you on your Defence journey?

Considering Transition

Thinking about your future options and what life outside the ADF looks like.

During your ADF transition

Preparing to Transition

You're planning to leave the ADF and want to understand your finances, super, entitlements and what comes next.

After leaving Defence

Settling into Civilian Life

Establishing a new routine, housing, community connections, and family stability.

About your super on transition

Finding Civilian Work

Translating your skills, updating your resume, and securing your next career move.

Learn more

DVA PI or DVA SRDP offer

Navigating DVA claims, medical discharges, and your ongoing health care.

About DVA permanent impairment

Retirement

Maximising your super and DVA compensation and preparing for a comfortable post-work lifestyle.

Common mistakes before retirement

Your ADF Transition questions answered

Transitioning from the Australian Defence Force is about more than simply leaving your role. It often raises questions about your finances, family, superannuation, leave entitlements, DVA benefits and what life looks like after Defence.

We’ve answered some of the most common questions below to help you better understand the transition process.

What happens during transition from the ADF?

Transition is a structured process designed to help you prepare for civilian life, but it also involves important financial, superannuation and personal decisions. Understanding what happens before your discharge can help you avoid costly mistakes and make the most of the support available.

→ Read: What Happens During Transition from the ADF?

What happens after I leave Defence?

Once you’ve left Defence, you’ll need to navigate changes to your income, superannuation, insurance, employment and potentially your DVA entitlements. Planning ahead can make the adjustment much smoother for you and your family.

→ Read: What Happens After I Leave Defence?

What if I have service-related injuries when I transition?

If you’re leaving the ADF with service-related injuries or a medical condition, there may be additional considerations including DVA compensation, rehabilitation, income support and long-term financial planning.

→ Read: What if I Have Service-Related Injuries When I Transition Out of the ADF?

How will transition from the ADF affect my family?

Transition affects the entire family. Changes in employment, income, routines, schooling and lifestyle can all have an impact. Taking time to plan together can make the transition much easier.

→ Read: How Will Transition from the ADF Affect My Family?

What happens to my leave and final pay when I leave Defence?

Many members are unsure how annual leave, long service leave and final payments are calculated when leaving Defence. Understanding your entitlements can help you budget and plan for the months ahead.

→ Read: What Happens to My Leave and Final Pay When I Leave Defence?

What happens to my DHOAS when I leave the ADF?

If you’ve used, or plan to use, the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme (DHOAS), it’s important to understand how leaving Defence may affect your eligibility and subsidy. Learn what happens to your DHOAS benefits after transition and the key considerations when buying or refinancing a home.

→ Read: What happens to my DHOAS when I leave the ADF?

Can I get financial advice paid for through the Defence Force Transition Program?

The Defence Force Transition Program may provide eligible ADF members with funding towards professional financial advice before they leave Defence. Find out who may be eligible, what’s included and how financial advice can help you make informed decisions about your superannuation, entitlements and life after service.

→ Read: Can I Get Financial Advice Paid for Through the Defence Force Transition Program?

Not sure where to start? Book an ADF transition planning meeting and we’ll help you understand your next financial steps.

Your financial journey after Defence

Every Veteran’s journey is different, but the financial decisions you make at each stage can shape your future. Choose where you are today to find the guidance most relevant to you.

Read: About Incapacity Payments
Read: About Permanent Impairment and read the PI case studies
Read: About SRDP and read the SRDP case studies
Read: About the Service Pension
Read: About DSB and the Douglas Decision
Read: About the new Veteran’s Act and what it means to you

ADF Transition Financial Planning Case Study

After 15 years of ADF service, Jason has decided to transition into a civilian role.

The motivation for Jason and his partner Fiona was so they can help settle down their young family and utilise his acquired ADF skills in the civilian sector coupled with the increased salaries available to him in civilian life.

We met with Jason and Fiona to go through the first of two Transition meetings where we had the opportunity to help them understand the following issues:

MSBS – On exit from the ADF Jason’s MSBS will move to preserved mode

This means that his Member and Ancillary will continue to be invested in his chosen invested option.
His Employer benefit will be increased each year to keep pace with the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
We discussed the likely MSBS Lifetime Pension in today’s dollars that will be available to Jason at age 60. This helps to identify any gap that needs to be filled between now and then to achieve a comfortable retirement at 60.
The inbuilt prospective insurance will cease, including invalidity and life.

New Job – New employer Default super fund

We discuss the need to replace the lost Life and Invalidity cover with the civilian version.
Life Insurance – Fixed and Unitised Cover.
TPD Insurance – a fixed level of cover paid as a lump sum vs the MSBS version of an Invalidity Pension.
Income Protection Cover – cover that provides a replacement to lost income through illness or injury.
TPD and Income protection are a replacement to Invalidity.
Investment options available including the default option of their new fund and how this compares to MSBS.
The impact of additional contributions via Salary Sacrifice.
We are able to model this live in the meeting on a 72-inch TV to show the long term impact on both extra contributions and also the difference in outcome from having a good performing fund vs a poorly performing fund. A 1% difference over a long period of time can have significant impacts.
We also discuss Fiona’s super and use the ATO’s YourSuper website to check how it performs.

Buying a new home

We were able to run cashflow modelling assuming different loan and interest rate amounts to help with how much can be borrowed, including the new Civilian income to purchase a property.
We were able to discuss DOHAS with regard to the new property.

Cashflow and Asset modelling

Given the capacity of the software we have available in our office we were able to run a number of different modelling scenarios for both Jason and Fiona so they could see.
How much they could probably afford to borrow given different interest rates.
How long it would take to pay out there mortgage.
How much super Jason is likely to build up in his new role to work alongside his MSBS Pension at retirement.
How much super Fiona is likely to have at retirement using a number of future work assumptions.

Given their Life Stage, Jason and Fiona did not require comprehensive advice at this stage, they just needed to understand the basics of how everything was going to come together. General and Factual advice took care of this.

Given the new fund Jason went into we were able to direct him to that funds resources where simple advice relating to his new fund, is available at no cost to Jason or Fiona.

We have scheduled a second meeting for twelve month’s time to see how the issues discussed have been managed.

If personal advice had been identified as being needed, we would have provided a quote for this however in this case, as is often the case, Jason and Fiona just needed someone to take the time to talk them through the number of questions that they had about a lot of simple issues.

The ADF Transition Centre programme allowed them to get clarity on these and move forward into their next stage with confidence.

* Please note the client’s names in this case study have been substituted to Jason and Fiona.

Why Use a Specialist ADF Transition Financial Planner

Leaving Defence involves financial issues that are very different from civilian employment. A specialist ADF transition financial planner understands Defence-specific systems, benefits and risks that can easily be overlooked.

Key areas where specialist advice matters include Defence superannuation schemes (DFRDB, MSBS and ADF Super), the loss of military allowances, changes to tax treatment, replacement of in-service insurance, and the interaction between civilian income and potential DVA benefits.

ADF-Funded Financial Advice – $1,000 Contribution

To help ADF members deal with this transition we provide a service that involves a meeting prior to exit to explain the issues that need to be considered and then we conduct a follow up meeting 12 months after exit to ensure the process have been completed with all issues considered.

There are a number of factual advice issues that we will discuss in these meetings along with general advice.

The fees of this transition program is $1000 and covers the two meetings.

You may be eligible to access $1,000 towards professional financial advice through the Defence Force Transition Program. Talk to your transition coach for more information and approval.

If personal advice is required, this will be identified and quoted on separately. If any personal advice is identified to be limited in nature it may be covered as part of your new funds normal fees and we will direct you to take advantage of these benefits where required and available.

What ADF Transition Financial Advice Covers

ADF transition financial advice typically includes:

Superannuation decisions when leaving Defence, including preservation, rollover and beneficiary planning
Cashflow and budgeting for your first 12–24 months post-service
Tax considerations when moving from military to civilian income
Insurance review and replacement planning after leaving ADF Cover
Debt management and emergency fund planning
Goal setting for employment, retraining, housing and long-term wealth building

Our ADF Transition Advice Process

Our ADF transition advice process is designed to align with Defence transition timelines and funding requirements.

Initial consultation to confirm eligibility for ADF funding and clarify transition priorities
ADF transition financial planning meeting providing structured general advice
Follow-up review after separation to ensure decisions remain appropriate and implemented correctly

Why CTWealth?

CTWealth operates on a genuine fee-for-service basis with no commissions or percentage-based investment fees. This structure aligns with Defence requirements and ensures advice is free from product conflicts.

It is not about us. It is about you. It is about your family. It is about your ideal life.

We are a listed adviser with the ADF Financial Services Consumer Centre and have assisted Army, Navy and Air Force members across Australia transition confidently into civilian life.