No finances or other military-retirement topics today, folks. By popular request from my shipmate Jerome Jolly, it's sea story time. I don't think he's heard this one before. Don't worry-- it's safe for work and it's even family-friendly. My first assignment was the ballistic missile submarine USS JAMES MONROE ...
The last post talked about the first step in retirement planning-- tracking your expenses. Until you track your expenses, you'll have no idea what you're spending now or what you'll spend in retirement. Once you figure out what you'll be spending in retirement, then you'll be ready to determine how big an investment ...
The bad news is that retirement will involve a budget. The good news is that this budget is yours to refine, change, or even occasionally ignore. It can be as simple as the back of an envelope or as time-consuming as a multi-page spreadsheet. The whole point of your budget is to become comfortable with your ...
I seem to spend a lot of time on the finances & lifestyle issues of military retirement and early retirement. Let me shift gears for a bit and talk about the book's creation. Over our years of service we veterans accumulate wisdom, experience, and martial culture that is politely referred to in the Navy as ...
Part one (the previous post) discussed some of the most common financial myths of early retirement, including "why early retirement doesn't work". Here's the conclusion: "Your savings need to be absolutely safe." A huge investing epiphany for most military early retirees is realizing that their personal savings ...
Listen to the early-retirement trailblazers: by far the most common comment of the new posters on Early-Retirement.org and other Internet retirement discussion boards is "I wish I'd started saving and planning sooner!" That's not much consolation if you're reading this during your 19th year of military service, but ...
The military’s retirement system has a number of advantages for retirees, but if so few veterans seek early retirement then you may rightfully hesitate. What are you missing? One element is the approval of society. Test this yourself by telling a few shipmates, neighbors, or relatives that you’re considering early ...
If the military's pension and healthcare benefits solve an early retiree's biggest challenges, then why are military early retirees so hard to find? Have you ever noticed that the people in your command can help you with just about anything? No matter how obscure your question, there's always someone who knows the ...
What's your future? After active duty will you retire from the military to a "bridge career", will you semi-retire to work part-time, or will you retire early and never earn a paycheck again? These questions are tough retirement issues. Like all tough questions, the answer is "It depends". It's not an easy answer, ...
All retirees have to accumulate the resources to last for the rest of their lives, but early retirees (before age 65) have two daunting challenges: paying for healthcare and contending with decades of inflation. Health insurance is largely a workplace benefit, and many civilian workers feel “locked in” to their ...
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