Here’s our capstone post for the year: our family's estate plan. I’ve spent the last 11 months writing about the ways that our Nords family financial independence is changing. Now we’re reaching far into the future to simplify not just our lives, but our legacy for the next few generations. Christmas 1995, ...
The 2019 VA Disability Compensation Rates are effective as of Dec. 1, 2018. If you receive VA disability pay, you will notice the increased amount in your first check in January 2019. There was a 2.8% increase from 2018, the largest such cost of living adjustment (COLA) since 2012. The government uses the same COLA ...
USAA is cutting the rates on their new life insurance policies. Let me explain why in less than 1800 2000 words-- but it’s all good. I’ve learned a lot about insurance over the last 30 years, and it’s a necessary evil. We buy it to help ourselves (and our families) recover from disasters, and we only keep it as ...
The Veterans Administration approved my "fully developed" disability claim-- in less than three months of processing. This post stands by itself, but I'm going to skip the beginning of the story. If you want to read the earlier posts in this series then you can click on these links to learn why you should file your ...
This is the final part of a three-post series on why you want to file a VA disability claim (even if you think you're not disabled) and what goes on behind the scenes. The first post explained why you want to file your disability claim, not just how to file it. The second post explained why you should prepare as ...
Last week's post explained why you want to file your disability claim, not just how to file it. Now we'll get into why you should prepare as much of your claim as possible up front as a "fully developed" package. It's time (once again) to visit the Veteran Service Officer. Why you want a fully-developed claim The VA ...
"Learn From My Mistakes... Without Repeating Them!" There are roughly eighty-two gazillion websites which will tell you HOW to file your disability claim with the Veterans Administration. (I'll link to some of them.) This post explains WHY you want to file your claim (even when you feel 0% disabled), and why you ...
[This post is brought to you by "Crew Dog" of OneSickVet.com. If you're interested in contributing at The-Military-Guide.com, please see our posting guidelines.] In a previous post on One Sick Vet, the blogger "Die Fledermaus" showed us a good example of how to prepare for a VA disability claim while still ...
David McCauley is back with another great post! You can see his other post, "Surviving An Involuntary Separation", in the Related Links section below. If you're interested in contributing at The-Military-Guide.com, please see our posting guidelines. The waiting game of collecting ...
In the Fall of 2010, my Navy career was finally blooming. My promotion was in the pipeline, I had received new orders, and had managed to save up a modest nest egg. I enjoyed my job and was excited about deployment. One day while running (not long after a successful PFT), I momentarily blacked out. My Chief ...
Most of my e-mail this month has been about military retirement and disability compensation. Three different readers write: Reader #1: I am a Reserve member with 18 yrs 10 months of qualifying service. 12+ years are active duty time. I was just mobilized and was injured during training. The injury is listed as a ...
This post is brought to you by Army veteran James Hinton. (If you're interested in contributing at The-Military-Guide.com, please see our posting guidelines.) In early 2007 things were looking pretty good. I had just redeployed back to Ft. Hood after my third combat tour. I was an E-6 who had just become eligible ...
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...
Doug Nordman 
Ryan Guina