272,000+ clients served†
$4.3 billion under management†
We work with investors holding $500K+
First Command Financial Services: a financial advisor for life after service
What you get when retired pay, the TSP and a new career meet:
A written plan showing how retired pay, TSP and new salary fit together
A call from your advisor when markets drop, before you sell anything
A straight answer on keeping your TSP or rolling it into an IRA
A review of your Survivor Benefit Plan election with your spouse present
272,000
households who rely on
First Command Financial Services†
†Client count and assets under management (272,000; $4.3 billion) are as of 10/12/2026.
What makes First Command Financial Services different in a down market?
Most advisors talk about returns. First Command Financial Services talks about the day you'll want to sell. In the first conversation, your advisor asks what you did during the last big market drop and writes your answer into the written plan. When markets fall hard, your advisor calls you first and shows what selling would lock in, set against the cash reserve already put aside for that moment.
Who we serve
Our advisors look after $4.3 billion† for 272,000 client households†.
†Client count and assets under management (272,000; $4.3 billion) are as of 10/12/2026.
Why service members and veterans work with First Command Financial Services
After 20 years of service you leave with something most civilians never get: retired pay that lasts for life and rises with inflation. That income changes how much risk your TSP and IRA can carry, and it shapes the Survivor Benefit Plan choice you make before your last day. Add a second-career salary and a new 401(k), and you have 3 or 4 accounts that need one written plan.
First Command Financial Services builds that written plan with you by video or phone, wherever you settle after service.
Your questions about First Command Financial Services, answered
Yes. First Command Financial Services asks for at least $500,000 in investable assets, and your TSP balance counts toward it, as do IRAs and taxable brokerage accounts. Military retired pay and home equity don't count toward the minimum, though your written plan accounts for both.
You'll see the exact cost in a written agreement before any work begins. First Command Financial Services also shows how the TSP's low expense ratios compare with any fund it suggests, so you can judge whether a move earns its keep or whether staying put is the better call.
An advisor contacts you to set up a first conversation by video or phone, built around your separation or retirement date. Have your latest TSP statement and retired pay estimate nearby. That conversation covers timing, the Survivor Benefit Plan and what you plan to do for work next.
You'll talk with a First Command Financial Services advisor who works through retired pay, the Thrift Savings Plan and Survivor Benefit Plan elections with you. The advisor who builds your written plan is also the person you reach when markets drop and you're tempted to sell.
Not automatically. A rollover widens your fund choices, but you may give up the TSP's low fund costs, so compare both in dollars first. A direct rollover to a traditional IRA is normally not taxed. Check the current IRS and TSP rules before signing any form.
First Command Financial Services lists the Survivor Benefit Plan election among its services. The advisor compares the premium you'd pay with what your spouse would receive, next to other income and insurance. The decision has deadlines tied to retirement, so gather your paperwork early. The final choice is yours.
It can be when a rollover, a large Roth conversion or a second-career 401(k) is coming, because those decisions carry the biggest tax and timing costs. If you hold index funds and never sell in a drop, the added cost may not pay back. A quick test: would you hold through a 30% fall?
The advisor adds up your pension, TSP balance with government matching, Social Security and any second salary, then works out how much the portfolio must supply each month. It also tests whether delaying Social Security is affordable. The result goes into a written plan you can read between reviews.
No. Households work with the team by video conference and telephone from any state, so you don't have to visit the office at 119 Beaver Street. Keep a stable connection and your latest TSP, IRA and 401(k) statements handy for the review.
Many retirees look at the gap years after leaving service and before required minimum distributions at age 73 or 75, because taxable income may be lower then. A pension plus a second-career salary can keep income high, though, so the tax estimate comes first. A conversion adds to that year's taxable income.
What First Command Financial Services plans for after you take off the uniform
Military retirement planning
A written plan that sets retired pay, TSP and new salary against your spending.
TSP rollover to an IRA
A side-by-side cost check before any TSP dollars leave the plan, including the tax.
Survivor Benefit Plan election
Your spouse's income worked out at each SBP coverage level before the election deadline.
Investment management for veterans
A portfolio sized around your pension, plus a call before you sell in a slump.
Military retirement planning
A written plan that sets retired pay, TSP and new salary against your spending.
TSP rollover to an IRA
A side-by-side cost check before any TSP dollars leave the plan, including the tax.
Survivor Benefit Plan election
Your spouse's income worked out at each SBP coverage level before the election deadline.
Investment management for veterans
A portfolio sized around your pension, plus a call before you sell in a slump.
Why military households hire First Command Financial Services as their financial advisor
First Command Financial Services is a financial advisor firm that helps military service members and veterans with a military pension, the Thrift Savings Plan and a second career after service build a written plan. It reads those pieces together and writes down which account pays you first.
Say you retire from the Army at 42 with a pension, then take a job that comes with its own 401(k). You now have several accounts and one real worry, which isn't where the market goes next but what you'll do on the worst day. The damage in retirement rarely comes from a mediocre fund. It comes from selling after a 30% drop. So the firm puts behavior over forecasts, and the job is keeping you on the written plan when the headlines say otherwise.
What does working together look like for a retired service member?
Most of the work lands on five things: the military pension, the Thrift Savings Plan, the Survivor Benefit Plan election, Social Security and whatever 401(k) your second career offers. We read them together and write down how they should pay you, in what order, and what happens if stocks fall in year 2.
The services cover military retirement planning, Blended Retirement System planning, a TSP rollover to an IRA, the Survivor Benefit Plan election, Social Security planning for veterans, Roth conversion strategy, second-career 401(k) planning and investment management for veterans. You can use one or several. Meetings run by video conference and telephone, so your duty station or your new home state doesn't matter.
As of 10/12/2026, First Command Financial Services serves 272,000 clients and $4.3 billion in client assets. The account minimum is $500,000 in investable assets. You read the exact cost in a written agreement at home, and you sign only if it suits you.
Is First Command Financial Services right for your situation?
It's a fit when you have $500,000 or more to invest, a pension that covers part of your spending and a gap the portfolio has to fill. Picture a retiring O-5 with $700,000 in the TSP and a spouse who wants a firm answer on the Survivor Benefit Plan before the paperwork deadline.
It isn't for everyone, and saying so early saves you time.
- Good fit: a TSP rollover decision is coming and you want the cost checked before you sign anything.
- Good fit: you've sold during a drop once and suspect you might again.
- Good fit: your second career added a salary and a 401(k), and nobody has looked at all of it together.
- Probably not: your investable assets are under $500,000, because the minimum is firm.
- Probably not: you enjoy picking every holding yourself and only want a quick opinion.
- Probably not: you want a prediction of where the market is headed. We don't make them.
A bad month shows what the written plan is for
Nobody's retirement is paid for by a correct forecast. The expensive event is a sale at the bottom, and that's what the written plan at First Command Financial Services is meant to prevent.
Here is a hypothetical. A retired Air Force major, age 52, has $800,000 invested: $480,000 in stocks and $320,000 in bonds and cash. His pension covers most bills, and the portfolio pays him $2,000 each month, or $24,000 each year. The written plan keeps $48,000 (2 years of withdrawals) in cash.
Now stocks fall 30%. His $480,000 becomes $336,000, a paper loss of $144,000. Nothing has to be sold at that price, because the next 2 years of withdrawals sit in cash.
Suppose he sells the stocks in a panic and the market later climbs back to where it started. The major who held has $480,000 again. The one who sold holds $336,000 in cash, which is $144,000 less. Investments can lose value and recovery is never promised, so the example shows what selling costs, not what will happen.
The same habit applies to smaller choices. Before we suggest changing a fund in a taxable account, we work out the tax on selling it.
Six checks before you pick a financial advisor
Before you hand over a TSP balance, put these to any firm, including this one. The answers should be specific enough to write down.
- Is the full cost in a written agreement you can read at home before work begins?
- Can the advisor explain what your spouse receives if you die first, and what the Survivor Benefit Plan premium costs you?
- On a TSP rollover, what would you give up, such as the TSP's low fund costs, and what would you gain?
- How does each review happen, and who is on the call?
- What does the advisor do when stocks fall 30%? Ask for the behavior, not a forecast.
- Is the tax estimated before any sale or Roth conversion is recommended?
What do you keep doing yourself after you hire help?
If you already run your TSP and an IRA, you have most of the skills. What a firm like First Command Financial Services adds is the work where one wrong click costs real money, plus a second voice when markets fall. The table shows the same four tasks done alone and with help; the gap is mostly who carries the tax estimate and the paperwork review.
You still pay the bills, tell us when life changes (a new job, a move, a death in the family) and make the final call on every trade-off. And if your accounts are simple and you'd never sell in a drop, the cost of help may not pay back. A quick test: would you hold through a 30% fall without touching anything?
| Task | On your own | With the firm |
|---|---|---|
| TSP rollover | You compare costs yourself | Costs and timing reviewed first |
| Survivor Benefit Plan | You weigh it alone | Spouse's needs modeled in the written plan |
| Roth conversion | You estimate the tax | Tax estimated before converting |
| Bad month in markets | You decide alone | Written plan sets the response |
What does a review meeting cover, and what do you take home?
A review covers how the accounts moved, whether withdrawals are on schedule, what changed in your life or income and what taxes are coming. For a retired household, that could mean the pension, the TSP, an IRA and a second-career paycheck on one screen.
You leave with an updated written plan and a short list of actions, each with a date. One might be a Roth conversion to finish before year-end; another might be a call to your employer's 401(k) administrator. Often the answer is change nothing, and the meeting is about why.
Households work with First Command Financial Services from any state, and the office is at 119 Beaver Street, Jacksonville, FL 32202. The form above starts the first conversation.
- Clients
- 272,000
- Assets under management
- $4.3 billion
- Minimum to start
- $500K
- Services
- 8 focus areas
- Coverage
- Across the United States
Data as of 10/12/2026.
What First Command Financial Services does
Military retirement planning
A written plan that sets retired pay, TSP and new salary against your spending.
Military retirement planning →TSP rollover to an IRA
A side-by-side cost check before any TSP dollars leave the plan, including the tax.
TSP rollover to an IRA →Survivor Benefit Plan election
Your spouse's income worked out at each SBP coverage level before the election deadline.
Survivor Benefit Plan election →Investment management for veterans
A portfolio sized around your pension, plus a call before you sell in a slump.
Investment management for veterans →Blended Retirement System planning
Matching, lump-sum and continuation pay choices under BRS, weighed with real numbers.
Blended Retirement System planning →Roth conversion strategy
A year-by-year conversion schedule that uses low-income gap years between careers.
Roth conversion strategy →Second-career 401(k) planning
Contribution and fund choices for your new 401(k), set beside retired pay and TSP.
Second-career 401(k) planning →Social Security planning for veterans
Claiming ages compared against retired pay so you know which year to start.
Social Security planning for veterans →Recently published
- How First Command Financial Services Approaches Selling TSP Funds in a Market Crash
- How Much Cash a Retired Navy Commander With Retired Pay Should Hold Before the Second Career Ends
- SBP vs. life insurance for a retiring couple (a Walkthrough from First Command Financial Services)
- The First Command Financial Services Guide to TSP G Fund vs. C Fund Safety
- How to Work Through a Financial Checklist for Military Separation, Month by Month
- Is a financial advisor worth it for veterans? Break-even in 6.7 years
Wherever you live in the US, First Command Financial Services can work with you remotely; in person at 119 Beaver Street, Jacksonville, FL 32202, United States. Contact →
Get in touch with First Command Financial Services
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