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Listen to The Military Money Manual Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible, YouTube, or Stitcher.
The Military Money Manual Podcast covers military personal finance, TSP Investing, military credit cards, traveling on points and miles, and lots more.
Your co-hosts Spencer Reese and Jamie explain the tactics, techniques, and procedures of investing, saving, and building wealth in the military.
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Good morning, Gentlemen,
My name is JP, I commissioned in 2005 and left AD in 2013 to pursue anesthesia school. I decided to stay in the USAR and work on the civilian side where compensation is great. However, after the reallocation of slots (spaces) from USAR MED to combat arms, a lot of us found ourselves in an overstrength position and failing to promote. To include having to serve CPTs (some at 12-14 years of service) pink slips due to being 2x non-selects. I found myself if in the same boat as a MAJ (with 16 years, they say you finish out 20 but..) and decided to leave my lucrative practice and jump back on AD (a higher sense of service, I suppose, or mere idiocy). And now on the ramp deck to deploy, my questions are should I have opted in for BRS? or stay Legacy (high 3), and how do I maximize my TSP with my deployment income? I know you just had that recent podcast with the military wallet, but that additional investment to the traditional TSP, that taxable upon withdrawal yes? Any advice would be great! Thanks!
If you’re going to do 20 years active duty, Legacy High-3 is probably the way to go. The additional contribution to Traditional TSP would be marked as tax free, but the growth would be subject to income tax when withdrawn after age 59.5. However, you can convert the contribution to a Roth TSP starting in the next few years. Just not yet. So could be worth getting some money in there.
Gentlemen,
I’m Nitro, a fellow USAF aviator of 8 years. Between a cross-country TDY back-to-back with a PCS, I’ve spent approximately 69 hours driving in the past month. I happened upon your podcast and instantly got hooked. After hearing a couple of your later episodes, I determined the value was worth starting from the beginning. In a crash course manner, I managed to plow through every episode of the Military Money Manual Podcast and your audiobook over the past few weeks, mining so many precious gems along the way. I’m now going back and listening to the episodes I starred along the way that were especially relevant to me. I’ve learned so much about personal finance and the credit card Points Game from you two and your team. To pay it forward, after rating and reviewing on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and graduating The Ultimate Military Credit Card Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3, I’m gradually teaching my Airmen the lessons I’ve learned from you and vectoring them toward the podcast. I’m also going to purchase a few extra copies of the Military Money Manual to leave around the squadron and let organic curiosity work its magic.
Thank you so much for your consistently relevant and valuable insight to the unique world of Military Money. I’m looking forward to your 100th podcast milestone and beyond.
-Nitro
Nitro, that’s amazing. Thanks for indulging us and listening to us prattle on for 69 hours. Comments like your’s make all the work worth it. I’d be interested in what those starred episodes are. Makes us super proud to hear you passing on the lessons to your airmen. Cheers!
Hey there, I published a book on mental health after leaving the Army in 2022 (combat engineer). I had a Soldier in my platoon who survived his suicide attempt and this inspired me to write a book to educate incoming leaders on the importance of proactively strengthening mental health & resilience.
Please let me know if you or anyone you know is open to putting me on their podcast!
Dan Z Joseph, M.S.
COMBATPSYCH [dot] COM
Author of “Backpack to Rucksack: Insight Into Leadership and Resilience By Military Experts”
Hi, just discovered your podcast and I’m learning a lot. What are your thoughts on student loan debt with PSLF as military. Is it worth it to put money in TSP Traditional to lower income for income driven repayment? Especially higher loans, at O3 now.
Thanks for any direction on how to maximize this. I know in episode 27 you were saying don’t step over dollars for pennies in not paying off loans, just wasn’t sure if that applied with PSLF too
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is a mess. I wouldn’t count on it at all. I would much rather be debt free years earlier and choose what happens with my paycheck, rather than wait 10 years for a forgiveness program from the government that may not even work. However, if it’s part of your plan, then go for it. Income based repayment and driving your income as low as possible with tax free deployments and Traditional IRA and TSP contributions could be a good way to go. Remember that Public Service Loan Forgiveness is only for government backed loans. If you have private loans, it doesn’t work.