Archives for August 2013

Out Of Debt & Heading For Financial independence

Author: Doug Nordman Last Updated: June 11, 2019 2 Comments

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A reader writes: "After seeing a couple of your posts on the Mr. Money Mustache forum I checked out your book from the library and finished it in a day. It was great but I would love your opinion on what to do in my own situation. My spouse is a junior officer. We married nearly six years ago with significant debt. This month we are debt free. Now … [Read more...] about Out Of Debt & Heading For Financial independence

Book Review: “Soldier of Finance” By Jeff Rose

Author: Doug Nordman Last Updated: February 12, 2019 3 Comments

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I've been blogging for "only" three years, and back in 2010, Jeff Rose was already several years into it. Yet even while he was building his blog and his financial-planning business (and raising a family and helping his spouse with her own blogger business), he was working on a book project. It's been a pleasure to watch the book grow as he's … [Read more...] about Book Review: “Soldier of Finance” By Jeff Rose

Military Veterans Rate A FREE One-year Linkedin Premium Upgrade

Author: Doug Nordman Last Updated: August 6, 2019 2 Comments

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[May 2018 update: Linkedin has now partnered with ID.me to speed up the military verification process. I’ve met Blake Hall, the ID.me co-founder. He’s a military vet and the startup has been around for a number of years. (He tells quite the story about how the military developed his entrepreneurial skills.) ID.me has plenty of experience, their … [Read more...] about Military Veterans Rate A FREE One-year Linkedin Premium Upgrade

Maximizing TSP Contributions From A Combat Zone

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

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A reader writes: "The goal: We are trying to reduce my taxable income while increasing my Roth contributions. I am in a combat zone through August, so my pay has been tax free, but will soon change. We have converted my spouse's traditional IRA to a Roth IRA and expect a tax bill. The question: Will my Jan-Aug tax-free pay's contributions to … [Read more...] about Maximizing TSP Contributions From A Combat Zone

Protecting Your Military Benefits In A Divorce

Author: Doug Nordman Last Updated: February 16, 2019 16 Comments

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[Note: some of the details have been edited to hide the reader's identity.] A reader writes: "In my divorce decree I was awarded part of my husband's Reserve "disposable military retirement pay". My portion is 50% of the time for which we were married, and only for the Reserve points that he earned during our marriage. But the problem is not … [Read more...] about Protecting Your Military Benefits In A Divorce

Military Reserve Retirement Points and “Good Years”

Author: Doug Nordman Last Updated: June 11, 2019 4 Comments

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Can you readers help another reader? I'm stumped on this military retirement question: "So I have gotten conflicting information. I commissioned in 1994. My Leave and Earnings Statement has 31 October 1994 as my Pay Entry Base Date. I spent three years in the Chaplain Candidate program with Reserve designation 1305. All three years were 50-point … [Read more...] about Military Reserve Retirement Points and “Good Years”

Extreme home improvement: DIY photovoltaic array

Author: Doug Nordman Last Updated: August 11, 2021 4 Comments

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[Note: Hover your cursor over the images for the metatext.] Last week's post on photovoltaic systems presented the finances without much engineering. We had a guest post this week on more photovoltaic "rent vs own" decisions, but this post will focus on the construction. When I describe the system that we built, our choices were mostly … [Read more...] about Extreme home improvement: DIY photovoltaic array