Archives for July 2012

Want to buy a franchise business in Hawaii?

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

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Holy cow, the blog's approaching 300 posts. I've written a lot about financial independence and military retirement over those 300 posts, but I haven't spent much space on bridge careers. I've never had a "real" job, let alone my own bridge career, and after a decade of blissful unemployment retirement I find it hard to imagine … [Read more...] about Want to buy a franchise business in Hawaii?

Sea story: Titanium toilet valves

Author: Doug Nordman Last Updated: June 27, 2018 3 Comments

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It's hard to believe that it's been weeks since the last sea story, but our daughter just finished a month on the USS LOUISIANA for her Navy ROTC summer training. She was at sea for all 30 days, qualified to stand a sonar watch, ran a lot of drills, earned herself a deterrent patrol pin, and is pretty sure this is what she wants to … [Read more...] about Sea story: Titanium toilet valves

The TSP matches contributions for military members?

Author: Doug Nordman Last Updated: June 27, 2018 5 Comments

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This guest post is brought to you by Marine Corps veteran Rob Aeschbach, who's started a new career as a personal financial planner. The Thrift Savings Plan does not offer matching contributions for service members, but the IRS does in some cases. Here is what you need to know about how the government will pay you up to $1,000 if you put away … [Read more...] about The TSP matches contributions for military members?

Book review: “You Are NOT So Smart.”

Author: Doug Nordman Last Updated: June 27, 2018 1 Comment

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After you've spent a few months learning about financial independence, you wonder why people think this is so hard. All you have to do is track your expenses, create a spending plan, save money, invest in a diversified portfolio of low-cost index funds, and rebalance once in a while until you reach your goal. … [Read more...] about Book review: “You Are NOT So Smart.”

More new military retirement and early retirement links

It's been a few months since I wrote about new links. The sidebar links section is getting pretty lengthy and I'm going to move things around a bit based on what you've told me is useful... and not so useful. When I get the blog out to its own host (probably in October) I'll use a verification plugin to check the thousands of links … [Read more...] about More new military retirement and early retirement links

Tricare fee increases coming in October

I've been getting some e-mails, so let me clarify a few health insurance questions before I start the main topic. Last month the Supreme Court upheld the key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that have attracted so much media attention over the last year. (Careful, that link opens the bill's 906-page … [Read more...] about Tricare fee increases coming in October

Guest post: Advice to Stretch Your Military Retirement Pay

(This guest post is brought to you by Vince Ramos and the content team for Debt.org – an online organization dedicated to helping Americans manage their finances and stay out of debt.) Military retirement plans are arguably the best available. Military personnel can retire after 20 years of active service, and those who work … [Read more...] about Guest post: Advice to Stretch Your Military Retirement Pay

The Regulation for Calculating an Active-Duty Pension

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

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I read a good question on a discussion board: Are years of service for retirement rounded by months? For example, if you serve for 20 years and 6 months, is it only 20 years for retirement (or 21 years)? Or is the 2.5 percent per year adjusted a bit higher to account for a half of a year? So for 20.5 years you get 1.25 percent for a total of 51.25 … [Read more...] about The Regulation for Calculating an Active-Duty Pension