What influenced your decision to join the military, and what's your transition plan to leave active duty? I always knew I’d serve in the military. My Dad and Grandpa both served in the Army. My freshman yearbook says I’ll join the Air Force and my veteran Dad led me to consider the Air Force very ...
I really wanted to use the titles "Hidden Secrets Of The BRS!!" or "Shocking Urban Legends Of The BRS Revealed-- #4 Is Jaw-dropping!!" But this is a serious life-changing decision. I've had a ton of reader BRS questions and feedback. The good news is that a group of us military personal-finance bloggers have ...
How to Choose Your Next Duty Station Choosing your next duty station or even creating a list of potential new homes is possibly the most stressful part of being a military member. For me, on the officer side, I know that I will move every 3-4 years like clockwork and that’s at a junior CGO level. This rate will ...
This post is brought to you by Daniel Kopp, an Air Force officer and founder of MilitaryLifePlanning.com. If you're interested in contributing at The-Military-Guide.com, please see our posting guidelines. For any servicemembers who are transitioning out of the military or perhaps daydreaming about what that ...
Are you considering an enlistment, for military student loan repayment options? When you're facing a mountain of student debt and you don't even have a job lined up after graduation, the military can seem like a pretty attractive option. So should you join the military to pay off your student loans? Maybe. This ...
The other day, I just finished my last spring physical readiness test (PRT) for the Navy. As I finished my second-to-last fitness test, I celebrated to myself—one more PRT, and I’m done! My entire career, I’d thought of the PRT as paying rent—every six months, you pay up. You don’t get credit for doing any more ...
So, today is Monday, May 2. As of yesterday, I officially have one year until my planned retirement ceremony. With that said, I wanted to update you on two significant events since my last retirement journal entry. So, I went in for ringing in my ears, and came out with a broken nose…. Let me explain. As I’ve ...
Here's a summary of a conversation with a National Guard servicemember who's contemplating moving from a drill billet to the Individual Ready Reserve. We talk through all aspects of the decision, how to deal with the IRR, and how the Guard/Reserve military pension is calculated. At the end of the post, I've ...
Effective 1 April 2016, military occupational specialties 11X, 13F, 19D, 19K, will become gender integrated. This unprecedented act will allow women to enlist into Infantry, Armor and Artillery MOSs and serve alongside their male counterparts. Infantry and armor positions will open to women April 1 in the next ...
This article was published a couple of months ago online, but I’ve made some changes specifically to point out how estate planning should matter to you throughout your military career. I was recently at a financial planning conference, when I listened to a presentation by Natalie Choate, a prominent estate planning ...
A reader question has hit my IN box several times this year: "My spouse retired from the military after 20 years of active duty and is receiving their pension. They're in their 40s and they miss it so much. Is there a way for them to get back in? I know they'd be happier serving than just receiving a deposit every ...
Last summer there were many graduation ceremonies, and millions of new employees joined the workforce. In the military version of this milestone, thousands of new O-1s received their commissions and tens of thousands of other new recruits started their basic training. It's a very busy time. These new servicemembers ...
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...
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