The Military Money Manual Podcast

Make sure next year is your most successful year yet with the timeless financial freedom lessons in the Military Money Manual, available now at militarymoneymanual.com/book The end of the calendar year is an excellent time to review your progress, success, and failures over the past year. It's also a good time to look forward and set intentions for the new year. In this episode Jamie and Spencer dissect how Jamie approaches his end of the year review and how he approaches the new year. We discuss: How to use You Need a Budget (YNAB) to quickly generate end of year reports How to track whether you're on pace to FI or need to step up the savings rate Jamie's biggest spending categories and what he wants to do about it next year Various housekeeping tasks like checking your credit report and setting your contributions to your IRAs and TSP Making sure your spending and savings goals align with your values and priorities Learn more at militarymoneymanual.com

Make sure next year is your most successful year yet with the timeless financial freedom lessons in the Military Money Manual, available now at militarymoneymanual.com/book The end of the calendar year is an excellent time to review your progress, success, and failures over the past year. In this episode Jamie and Spencer dissect Spencer's "State of the Money" address to his wife. We also discuss: What's a "sinking fund" and how to use it to stay ahead of infrequent but predictable expenses How Spencer analyses his income, expenses, investing performance, and  How to set financial and non-financial goals for the next year When Spencer rebalances his portfolio and why Focusing on actions that move the needle Using the Pareto Principle to focus on the 20% of efforts that produce 80% of the results Learn more at militarymoneymanual.com

This is the book I wish someone had handed me on my first day in the military. Shipping now at https://militarymoneymanual.com/book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom lays out the road map to achieve financial independence (FI) while you serve in the military. I walk you through how to build your financial foundation, my 9 principles to achieve FI, unique military investments, and the philosophy of military FI. The book is available in a beautiful hard cover printed in the USA, an audiobook, or an e-book. You can find it exclusively on my website at https://militarymoneymanual.com/book

Learn the behaviors and habits of financially independent military troops in my new book the Military Money Manual, available now at militarymoneymanual.com/book/ Paying off debt, especially when it's 5 or 6 figures, can seem insurmountable. A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. The same is true for financial independence. The journey to being a millionaire investor starts with paying off your high interest rate loans. In this episode, 2 Air Force officers Spencer and Jamie walk you through the exact strategies and techniques they used to each pay off more than $100,000 of student, credit card, auto, and time share debt.

Check out my new book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom where I lay out exactly how to achieve financial independence in the military. One of the first steps on the journey to FI is getting your debt under control and getting back to a positive net worth. Whether you use the debt snowball, debt avalanche, or just get it done, getting out of debt is possible! Jamie and Spencer explain how to get out of debt in this tactic filled episode.

Military deployments can be tough. Usually the "98% boredom, 2% sheer terror" rule applies. Learn how to maximize your military money in the The MIlitary Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom If you have downtime on a deployment, you can grow not just your net worth, but your health, fitness, and knowledge as well. A military deployment gives you the unique opportunity to increase your income and decrease your expenses to near zero. You can achieve 90%+ savings rates and make huge improvements to your financial situation. Debt repayment, maxing out your Roth retirement accounts, and saving for financial independence are all possible on a military deployment. If you have down time while your deployed, take the time to educate yourself through good podcasts, books, and articles. Come up with a plan and execute it with ferocity. Pay down your debts, build your investment portfolio, and leave your deployment in a better position than when you started. Military deployment articles: $50,000 Deployment Savings Challenge Traditional IRA to Roth IRA Conversion on Military Deployment Saving and Investing on a Military Deployment 8 Ways to Save Money on a Military Deployment Military Personal Finance Flowchart Savings Deposit Program: 10% Return Savings Account on a Military Deployment

Learn how to build your financial foundation and achieve military financial independence quickly in the Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom. Available now at militarymoneymanual.com/book Cadets and midshipmen at West Point, Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy or in Army, Navy, and Air Force ROTC have a unique opportunity to rapidly accelerate their journey to financial independence. When you're young your most valuable resource is time. Time to educated yourself, time to learn good money habits, and time to start investing so compounding interest has a long time to go to work for you. In this episode Jamie and Spencer recommend several books to start your education and discuss which credit cards to get when you're in college. We also cover investing strategies, opening a Roth IRA, and buying a home at your first duty station. Cadets can also check out our episode on the USAA Career Starter Loan and Navy Federal Career Kickoff Loan.

Read The Military Money Manual book to learn how to achieve financial independence in the military. Available now at  https://militarymoneymanual.com/book/ In this episode, Jamie and Spencer tackle questions like: What's the average net worth of the above average military officer? Can you build wealth as a military officer? What steps can you take to become wealthy as a military officer? Dive deeper into the numbers by checking out the article on the website: https://militarymoneymanual.com/the-average-net-worth-of-the-above-average-military-officer/ We break down the net worths of military officers from lieutenants to colonels, ensigns to captains. In a 20 year career, you could start with a zero or negative net worth and build a million dollar portfolio before you earn a military pension. Learn how to start building your wealth today in this episode.

The Platinum Card® from American Express military benefits include a fee waiver. Learn more at militarymoneymanual.com/amex Learn more about military travel hacking in my Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course available at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3 Check out my new book The Military Money Manual, available to order now at militarymoneymanual.com/book

Soon to commission military officers often ask me: "Should I take out the USAA Career Starter Loan or Navy Federal Career Starter Loan?" I offer my career starter loan strategies in my new book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide for Financial Freedom. The book is available at militarymoneymanual.com/book Articles on military career starter loans: https://militarymoneymanual.com/navy-federal-career-starter-loan https://militarymoneymanual.com/usaa-career-starter-loan/ In this epsiode Jamie and Spencer discuss: West Point, Annapolis, or Air Force Academy can get the Navy Federal loan 1.25% up to $32,000 or USAA 0.75% up to $36,000 Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps ROTC can get the NFCU or USAA loan at 2.99% up to $25,000 Some loan pitfalls to watch out for How to invest your loan to accelerate your path to financial independence How to use the loan to get into military travel hacking early and save money on travel. Learn more in my free course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3 How you can use the loan to pay off auto or student loans How you can pay the loan off early Debt habits to avoid If you like the episode, leave us a review, subscribe to the podcast, and share us with a friend! We grow by word of mouth.