Moshe Milevsky's book "Are You a Stock or a Bond?" suggests that military on active duty can invest much more aggressively than many civilians. Milevsky's concept of "human capital" grew out of his studies of investment and retirement plans. He noted that every worker has the lifetime potential to earn different ...
Everyone in the service knows a military real-estate mogul. They're shipmates or other veterans who always seem to be looking at real estate, working on their home, and maybe even renting out a house as landlord or investing in commercial property. They may not care about the cars they drive or the best restaurants, ...
Now that your budget has money to save, where should you put it? There are two basic concepts that should guide all of your investment decisions: minimize taxes and minimize expenses. There are hundreds of different investing techniques and asset classes, and thousands of different types of investments, but study ...
Short post today, folks. It's a straightforward topic and you're probably busy getting ready for the holidays! Before we start, here's another reminder about getting on the road to financial independence: are you tracking your spending yet? If you've been doing that for a few months, then have you put together a ...
The military teaches everyone how to live an extraordinarily frugal lifestyle. No matter what reputation your service has, at some point you've lived in a very small room with a narrow bed and little storage. Maybe you did without a room or even a bathroom for quite a while, let alone a bed, and all your possessions ...
Military compensation and the lifestyle One of Early-Retirement.org's more prolific posters, SamClem, has a very insightful comment on the military's care and feeding of its members: "The military has a highly paternalistic compensation and social structure. The medical needs of you and your family are tended to. ...
By now you've noticed a trend in the chapters from the "simplest" type of military early retirement (staying on active duty for at least 20 years) to the most difficult (separating as soon as your obligation ends). Financially, the best early retirement choice is staying on active duty until eligible to retire. But ...
This topic isn't tied to "The Military Guide" chapter on the Reserve/National Guard, but those military retirees frequently confront a retirement consisting of multiple sources of income. Veterans who retire from active duty will go straight to a pension, but Reservists/NG have to find some other source of cash flow ...
I try to plan these posts a week or so in advance, and I've been following "The Military Guide" table of contents. (Of course there are detailed discussions and analyses in the book which are too long & complex for this blog-- you'll only be able to read those if you get the book!) Occasionally I'll change the ...
TRICARE health insurance is one of the military's best benefits for active-duty servicemembers and their families. Depending on the duty location and the specific plan, a family's out-of-pocket expenses are among the world's lowest costs for healthcare systems. What about the Reserves and National Guard? Well, not ...
When you're trying to balance the Reserves/NG with a civilian career, an extended deployment can be a crippling drawback-- or a unique opportunity. For active-duty servicemembers, deployments are just another part of the lifestyle that includes extensive support and assistance for both the deployer and their ...
Another way to get to 20 years for the pension & TRICARE Everyone who approaches the end of a military obligation has a tough decision: Stay in or get out? The decision is even tougher after the first 10 years: Stay in for retirement, or get out while it's still easier to transition to a bridge career? ...
We're military veterans, not financial advisors. We're trying to share what we've learned and to pay it forward – but you have to make your own decisions.
What worked for us will probably work for you, but unfortunately, we can’t guarantee it. Let us know if something’s not working for you, and we’ll try to figure out a better way... Continue Reading...
Doug Nordman