Sea story? Sure, it's been a month. However, this one has morals about financial independence, early retirement, and knowing your true values. But it has a happy ending, too! Now that my daughter has finished a year of NROTC, we've started some interesting conversations about work/life balance. Submariners aren't very good at the "life" part of … [Read more...] about Sea story: Looking for an Engineer in all the wrong places
Archives for June 2011
Update on TRICARE and Congress
Six months ago in the Tricare debate between the Department of Defense and Congress, a task force had recommended gradually raising the Tricare Prime annual family fee from $460/year to $1260-$2460/year over the next five years. It's been nearly 16 years since the last Tricare fee increase, and many veteran's organizations are increasingly nervous … [Read more...] about Update on TRICARE and Congress
Chasing yield
Brandi F on Dollar Stretcher asked an excellent question on the "Money Rules to Break" post: I've always wondered if it was prudent for military members to keep a smaller emergency fund, given their job security and health care. I personally keep the traditional 3-6 months of expenses in my emergency fund for a few reasons: 1) if I separate early … [Read more...] about Chasing yield
USAA: Seven Money Rules to Break
A few weeks ago USAA article posted an article on when to break the "money rules". Here's the summary, with my comments in italics: 1. Pay off debt and build an emergency fund before saving for retirement ... ... except when your debt is of the low-rate, tax-reducing variety, such as a mortgage or student loans, and your retirement plan at work … [Read more...] about USAA: Seven Money Rules to Break
How much should you save for college?
After reading the earlier posts on kids & college (see below), some of you have already been thinking about the next question: "How can I save for early retirement and still save enough for my kid to go to a good college?" An earlier post already discussed whether you want to set aside any money for them to go to college. For this post, we'll … [Read more...] about How much should you save for college?
Retirement For Dual Military Couples
Introduction Jan put up a great comment a few weeks back: "I’m curious. The stat on how many dual military couples ACTUALLY retire is amazing to me. Your case is even more unique. How many couples have dual military retirement?" I'm afraid the short answers are "We don't know" and "Probably not very many". A more detailed answer is at the end … [Read more...] about Retirement For Dual Military Couples
Book review: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Social Security and Medicare
I didn't expect to be reading a book like this for at least another decade, let alone writing a review of it. I'm no less than 12 years away from Social Security and nearly 15 years away from Medicare. I have a lot of zeroes in my SS earnings record, so by the time I start collecting the former, it may barely pay the premiums for the latter. … [Read more...] about Book review: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Social Security and Medicare
Early retirement and the kid’s college fund
This is another perennial (and heated) topic on discussion boards like Early-Retirement.org and Bogleheads.org. I'll try to distill years of debate (and thousands of posts) into the most popular suggestions. Before we get into the mechanics of saving & investing the college fund, let's figure out why you'd want to have a college fund in the … [Read more...] about Early retirement and the kid’s college fund
Book Review: Liz Weston’s “The 10 Commandments of Money”
(Note: a shorter version of this review was published last week on the Dollar Stretcher website. Here's the unabridged edition with formatting and more links.) Every generation has a financial author who teaches them how to make their life's money decisions. For readers of a certain age, Sylvia Porter and Jane Bryant Quinn come to mind. You … [Read more...] about Book Review: Liz Weston’s “The 10 Commandments of Money”
Raising a money-smart kid
Our college daughter (just survived freshman year!) spent the last couple weeks at home. As she was reviewing the packing list for next month's NROTC training, she noticed that it included traveler's checks. "Traveler's checks"?!? If you're at least in your 40s then you may have dim memories of using them in your youth. If you're in your 20s … [Read more...] about Raising a money-smart kid
