Archives for December 2011

Should You Join The Reserves or National Guard?

Author: Doug Nordman Last Updated: July 13, 2018 4 Comments

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Fair warning: this is a long post, even by my standards. Hey, it's Thursday, it's a holiday weekend, and (for a change) it's not financial. There's not even any math. But let's get to the post. Ironically for being one of my personal writing milestones, most of this one is written by other people! A couple months ago a Navy Reserve recruiter … [Read more...] about Should You Join The Reserves or National Guard?

Book review: “A Bittersweet Season”

Author: Doug Nordman Last Updated: June 27, 2018 2 Comments

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Jane Gross' mother died in 2003 after several years of declining health. Jane and her brother spent those years moving Mom from Florida back to New York, settling her in one assisted living facility and then moving her to another, working through a number of medical problems, and finally helping their mother decide … [Read more...] about Book review: “A Bittersweet Season”

Infographic on Drawing Down the Troops from Iraq

Author: Doug Nordman Last Updated: December 16, 2018 5 Comments

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First, some background. As a newbie niche personal-finance blogger I've learned a lot (more) about the seamy financial side of the blogosphere. A whole cottage industry is swapping links and posts for SEO & money, and it's going corporate. I've been surprised to learn how many bloggers have literally sold out to companies that … [Read more...] about Infographic on Drawing Down the Troops from Iraq

Parent’s letter to an 18-year-old

Author: Doug Nordman Last Updated: June 27, 2018 Leave a Comment

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After those last two blog posts, it's time to lighten things up a little. Let's talk about figuring out the "new rules" when your fledgling leaves the nest. Our daughter has given me permission to blog about an e-mail that we sent her a few weeks after she started college. Until she turned 18, her checking account and her credit … [Read more...] about Parent’s letter to an 18-year-old

Five reasons to NOT retire early

"Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." -- Henry Ford A Yahoo! Contributor recently posted an article explaining five reasons why she'll never retire early. She's going to work as long as she can, and well past "traditional" retirement age of her 60s. The author is one of Yahoo's more popular writers and has considerable … [Read more...] about Five reasons to NOT retire early

Military Drawdown Predictions

Author: Doug Nordman Last Updated: February 5, 2019 Leave a Comment

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A reader posted some great questions the other day: What do you think is going to happen with the “retired benefit” debate within the greater context of the DoD portion of the Federal Budget? Will it be another ... slash and burn? What does your financial sense say? The 1990s military drawdown was about the end of the Cold War. Remember the … [Read more...] about Military Drawdown Predictions

Update to “Just Write It”

I'm writing my first post from our new familyroom. The construction is finished and 99% of the interior painting is done, so yesterday my spouse and I spent a couple of hours moving back in. (We bribed a neighbor's teen at $10/hour to help us haul the boxes and move the big pieces of furniture.) For the last four months, after squeezing all our … [Read more...] about Update to “Just Write It”

Covering a Mortgage in Retirement – How Not Paying Off Your Mortgage Can Lead to More Financial Flexibility and a Larger Investment Portfolio

Author: Doug Nordman Last Updated: November 30, 2021 4 Comments

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(This post has been updated with 2021 data!) Conventional wisdom claims that retirees shouldn't carry debt. If you're going to enjoy retirement then you want to minimize your non-discretionary expenses and maximize your entertainment!, er, I mean, discretionary spending. However, military retirees (and any retirees with annuities) … [Read more...] about Covering a Mortgage in Retirement – How Not Paying Off Your Mortgage Can Lead to More Financial Flexibility and a Larger Investment Portfolio

Retirement planners and calculators (part 2 of 2)

This is the final post on the choices of retirement planners and their strengths/weaknesses. If you're new to this blog (or if you've discovered this post through a search engine) then you might want to read about the problems with retirement calculators. They all have advantages & drawbacks (no matter how well they work or how user-friendly … [Read more...] about Retirement planners and calculators (part 2 of 2)