San Antonio, Texas
Planning for San Antonio households, where a military pension is often the first line.
About 40,000 San Antonio households earn $200,000 or more, in a city of 1.48 million people where Joint Base San Antonio alone employs 74,713 and the nickname Military City USA is earned. Add USAA, Valero, H-E-B, the South Texas Medical Center and Toyota’s truck plant, and the balance sheets here hold pieces that rarely appear together anywhere else: a military pension next to a corporate 401(k), VA compensation next to private-company stock.
The situation
A big city whose wealth arrives in unusual forms
Joint Base San Antonio, made up of Fort Sam Houston, Lackland and Randolph, carried 74,713 direct employees in 2025, including 33,256 active-duty members and 27,112 civilians, and the Texas Comptroller puts its output at $53.5 billion a year. Bexar County is home to roughly 156,000 veterans, the second-largest veteran population in Texas and the fifth-largest in the country. Households built around that service arrive at the same choices: a pension under the legacy High-3 formula or the Blended Retirement System, the Survivor Benefit Plan election, the Thrift Savings Plan, a VA rating, and a second career that starts while the first pension is already paying.
The civilian side is just as particular. USAA was founded here in 1922 and runs from a 286-acre campus; it is member-owned, so its more than 38,000 employees earn benefits without employer stock. Valero is headquartered on Valero Way with 9,811 employees, pension plans and a 401(k) match. H-E-B has run from San Antonio since 1989 and counts more than 175,000 Partners as owners through a stock plan launched in 2016. The South Texas Medical Center supports about 97,000 jobs, and in September 2025 UT Health San Antonio and UTSA merged into UT San Antonio. Toyota has built trucks on the south side since 2006 and has committed $3.6 billion to a second assembly line by 2030. The city’s 40,348 households above $200,000 cluster on the north side, in the Stone Oak area, and in the inner-ring cities of Alamo Heights, Olmos Park and Terrell Hills, where roughly 45 to 48 percent of households clear that line.
Why it’s complex
Five San Antonio decisions that reward coordination
Retiring from JBSA: the elections come first
A 20-year retirement pays 2.5% of High-3 pay per year of service under the legacy system, or 2.0% under the Blended Retirement System with a TSP match of up to 5%. The Survivor Benefit Plan pays a spouse 55% of the elected base for a 6.5% premium, and since 2023 that annuity is no longer reduced by VA dependency compensation. We model the elections before the paperwork is signed.
Planning for veterans and military familiesThree kinds of employer stock in one city
USAA is a member-owned exchange with no stock to grant. Valero grants public shares that trade daily. H-E-B Partners hold private stock through the Partner Stock Plan, with value and liquidity set by the company rather than a market. Each calls for a different rule on how much to keep, when it can be sold, and what happens at separation or retirement.
Equity compensation and concentrated stockThe city exempts 20%, and $85,000 more at 65
The City of San Antonio removes 20% of a homestead’s value from its levy of $0.54159 per $100, adds an $85,000 exemption at 65 or if disabled, and has frozen the city bill for those owners since 2005. Bexar County exempts 20% and $50,000 on its own $0.276331 rate. On a median-value home the city’s 20% is worth about $255 a year; the over-65 exemption removes about $460 more.
North side or center: the school rate decides
North East ISD, which serves much of the Stone Oak area, levies $0.9822 per $100 in 2025; Northside ISD $1.0049; San Antonio ISD $1.1552. With the city, county and county-wide districts added, a San Antonio home in North East ISD pays about $2.27 per $100 before exemptions, and one in San Antonio ISD about $2.44. Inside the ring, Alamo Heights pays its own city rate of $0.370147.
Physicians at the Medical Center
A physician at a UT San Antonio institution can contribute to a 403(b) and a 457(b) in the same year, and faculty in eligible positions get one 90-day window to choose the Optional Retirement Program over the Teacher Retirement System, a choice that cannot be undone. Practice income and a late start on saving belong in the same plan.
Planning for physiciansSources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates; Texas Comptroller, Joint Base San Antonio economic impact (2025); Bexar County, veteran population; City of San Antonio, property tax exemptions; Bexar Appraisal District, 2025 tax rates and exemptions; Texas Comptroller, homestead exemptions; DFAS, SBP-DIC offset phased elimination; Texas Comptroller 2025 city and ISD rate reports.
Our approach
One plan across the pension, the paycheck and the house
We start with the income streams and their tax character, because in San Antonio they differ more than in most cities: taxable retired pay, tax-free VA compensation, a civilian salary, stock that may or may not be sellable. Property tax gets its own line. A worked example on a home at the city’s median value of $235,700: the $140,000 school exemption leaves $95,700 subject to school tax, about $940 a year in North East ISD ($95,700 × $0.9822 / $100). For the city portion, the 20% exemption leaves $188,560, or about $1,021 at $0.54159 per $100; at 65 the $85,000 exemption cuts that to about $561. On a north-side home worth $480,500, the median in ZIP code 78258 around Stone Oak, the North East ISD figure is about $3,344 ($340,500 × $0.9822 / $100).
Model the military elections
Legacy or BRS lump-sum options, the SBP base amount against the spouse’s own income and coverage, the TSP rollover question, and the VA rating’s effect on the household bracket.
Stack the incomes deliberately
Retired pay under a USAA, Valero, H-E-B or hospital salary sets the bracket; we size the 401(k), the Roth window and any employer-stock rule against that combined number.
Use what the city and state allow
The over-65 city and school exemptions and ceilings, the 100% disabled-veteran homestead exemption where it applies, Social Security timing beside a pension, and a withdrawal order taxed federally only.
The work
What you’ll work through with us
- SBP, BRS lump-sum and TSP decisions modeled before the retirement date
- A tax map of retired pay, VA compensation, salary and any employer stock
- Written rules for Valero shares, H-E-B Partner stock or other concentrated positions
- 403(b), 457(b) and ORP-or-TRS coordination for Medical Center households
- Homestead, City of San Antonio over-65 and disabled-veteran exemption filings
- A line-by-line read of a Bexar County appraisal notice: seven taxing units
- Roth conversion sizing in the years between the second career and required withdrawals
- Investment management coordinated with your CPA and estate attorney
Planning is led by Theo Halbardier, CFP®, CIMA®, CAIA®, the firm’s founder. We are fee-only: no commissions, no product sales. About Theo
Questions
Common questions from San Antonio households
Do you have an office in San Antonio?
We work with San Antonio households by video and, by arrangement, in person. We do not maintain a public office location.
Is the Survivor Benefit Plan worth it now that the DIC offset is gone?
For many JBSA families the answer changed. Until 2020 a surviving spouse’s SBP annuity was reduced by VA dependency and indemnity compensation; Congress phased that offset out over 2021 and 2022 and ended it in 2023, so a spouse can now receive both in full. SBP pays 55% of the elected base amount, inflation-adjusted, for a 6.5% premium taken before tax. We compare it with the spouse’s own pension, Social Security survivor benefits and any private coverage before the election is made.
Most of our net worth is H-E-B Partner stock. How much is too much?
There is no single number, but private stock deserves a stricter limit than public stock because you cannot sell it on your own schedule. We start from the plan document: when shares can be sold, how they are valued, and what happens at separation or retirement. Then we size the rest of the household’s savings so the plan works even if the shares stay locked longer than expected. The same review applies to Valero shares, with the added question of when a sale is taxed best.
I am rated 100% by the VA. Do I owe property tax on our home?
Generally not on the residence homestead. Texas exempts the total appraised value of the homestead of a veteran who receives 100% disability compensation, whether by a 100% rating or individual unemployability, and the exemption continues for a surviving spouse who has not remarried. File with the Bexar Appraisal District. Partial exemptions apply at lower ratings, and VA compensation itself is excluded from federal income tax.
Why does a north-side home pay a different rate from one downtown?
The school district. San Antonio homes are taxed by whichever district serves the address: North East ISD at $0.9822 per $100 in 2025, Northside ISD at $1.0049, San Antonio ISD at $1.1552, among others. The city, county, hospital district and college district rates are the same everywhere in the city. Homes in Alamo Heights, Olmos Park or Terrell Hills pay those towns’ own city rates and Alamo Heights ISD’s $0.9572.
How are you paid?
We are fee-only. Our clients pay us directly; we do not earn commissions on products, and no insurer or plan provider pays us for the SBP, TSP or employer-stock reviews.
Reviewed by Theo Halbardier, CFP® · Updated September 2026 · Figures current for 2026
Tell us which pension, which employer, and which date.
The first conversation is 30 minutes, by video. Bring the dates you know; nothing to prepare.
We work with individuals and families across San Antonio and throughout Texas, meeting by video or in person by arrangement.
Meet with usWe do not maintain a public office at this location; San Antonio is part of the area we serve. Figures reflect law and published rates as of September 2026 and may change.