Smart Military Money
Personal finance tips andadvice for the military lifestyle.
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Talking about retirement rattles some people, but it’s the focus of this week’s military personal finance roundup. We’re not talking exclusively about retiring from the military, but retiring for good. Leaving the workforce may be decades away for you, which is why it’s smart to think about retirement now. Don’t wait too long to start putting money aside in the Thrift Savings Plan or other individual retirement accounts.
This probably isn’t the first or last time a roundup’s theme is retirement. Nevertheless, peruse these blog posts about retirement and get aggressive about preparing for it.
Travel is a common answer when you ask people what they want to do during retirement. While they’re in the workforce, Americans often feel too busy or too strapped for cash to travel. At the same time, you’re more energetic when you’re young and when you have work, you have money to save for and spend on vacations. So why wait?
Well, we asked Army National Guard veteran Jeff Rose what he thinks about retirement and travel. He’s also a certified financial planner who manages Good Financial Cents, a blog packed with tons of personal finance knowledge. Take a look at what he had to say.
Well, it’s Military Saves Week so why not theme the military personal finance roundup in saving money? It’s a no-brainer even if it’s a topic that gets tons of attention across all personal finance blogs.
There’s no bad time to save and there’s hardly a wrong reason to save. In fact, you should be budgeting to save money. Ideally you’ll at least have an emergency fund and retirement account(s) set up. But you may also want to save for college if you have young children. As Military Saves Week comes to a close, give these blog posts a read. Tell us, why are you saving money?
A new retirement investment option for military members — the TSP Roth — continues to gain popularity since its creation last spring.
By December of last year, 24,695 military members had Thrift Savings Plan Roth accounts. That figure is almost quadruple what it was in November 2012 when there were 6,364 enrollees in the TSP Roth, according to the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board.
No, we’re not talking about compact discs. Certificates of Deposit, better known as CDs, are one of the most common banking services available. But what exactly are they, and would they make a smart investment for you? It depends.
They are more complicated than a conventional savings account, but they could be worth researching.
If you’re new to the military, chances are you have a lot to learn about a lot of things. It’s a new way of life that comes with significant changes, including financially. You want to be sure to start your financial life in the military off right in order to set yourself up for success in your continuing career. And you certainly want to avoid any big rookie mistakes that might come back to haunt your wallet.
So what should new military members know about managing money in the military? “If we could offer one piece of advice to military members — new and old alike — it would be to focus on frugal living,” said Mark Leach, Vice President of Media Relations at First Command Financial Services.
Each of us has our own idea of the ideal retirement. Does yours consist of traveling the world? Do you want to spend the rest of your days fishing? Do you just want to spoil your grandkids to death?
Retirement is that state of life when we are be able to leave the workforce permanently and live with financial independence. Two elements of retirement to consider are how to prepare for retirement and when to retire. What you do now will help determine how and when you retire.
Emergency funds may not be the most exciting topic in personal finance, but it is one of the most crucial if you want to avoid unnecessary debt. The main reason financial planners give for creating an emergency fund is to pay for the necessities in case of a job loss.
However, don’t let a stable job keep you from creating or maintaining your emergency fund. Check out these reasons to have an emergency fund beyond paying for necessities after the loss of a job.
Is leaving the service the right thing for me to do? This question poses a dilemma for military service members when they reach a financial impasse in their military careers — typically at 20 years in the armed forces — to stay in the military or get a civilian job.
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A recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report shows that the average cost to maintain an active duty soldier is now $158,000 a year, a 50 percent jump since 2001. Military personnel costs per service member are expected to continue to increase by approximately $4,700 a year for the foreseeable future.
The Department of Defense has been scrambling to cut costs, but the report predicts that it’s not going to be enough. In fact, per-person costs are expected to rise as the drawdown continues. See More
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