The Military Money Manual Podcast

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.

To get started with travel hacking in the military, go to the Ultimate Miltiary Credit Cards Course and sign up today. It's 100% free, there's nothing to buy, and I only need your email to send you the 5 day course. In this episode, Spencer and Jamie reveal their personal credit card portfolios with over 50 credit cards between them. We talk about our points accumulation strategies, the path to 1 million Amex points, and some of our favorite features of the cards. You can see Spencer's current credit card lineup here. Head to MilitaryMoneyManual.com to see the best credit card offers for military this month. Cards mentioned in this episode include: Amex Platinum Amex Gold Chase Sapphire Reserve Chase Sapphire Preferred Compare the Amex Platinum vs the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Chase Sapphire Preferred vs the Chase Sappire Reserve.

Learn more in the 100% free, 5 day, email based Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course. Spencer and Jamie continue to answer frequently asked questions about military travel hacking. Learn how to get your annual fee waived on the most popular card for military servicemembers, the Amex Platinum card for military. Head to MilitaryMoneyManual.com to see the best credit card offers for military this month. Cards mentioned in this episode include: Amex Platinum Amex Gold Chase Sapphire Reserve Chase Sapphire Preferred Compare the Amex Platinum vs the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Chase Sapphire Preferred vs the Chase Sappire Reserve. Questions from this episode: How to get military spouse annual fees waived on Amex and Chase military credit cards How to use the MLA database Spouse referral links Do contracted ROTC and military service academies (Air Force Academy, West Point Military Academy, Annapolis Naval Academy) get their Amex and Chase annual fees waived? The optimal order to open military credit cards in No annual fee cards to age your account Why you should open Chase cards before American Express Are credit card bonuses once per lifetime? What to do with your annual fee waived cards when you leave the military? What should you do if you get an Amex SCRA denial letter? Which credit card should you start with? Can you use points and miles to upgrade government purchased travel or hotels?

Learn more about military travel hacking in the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course! Questions we cover in this episode: What is military travel hacking? Why do banks and credit card companies waive annual fees on credit cards for active duty, Title 10 Guard/Reserve, and military spouses? Do all banks and credit card companies do this? (Credit cards that waive annual fees for military) What about credit card debt? What about your credit score? Do miles and points have an expiration date?

New book, the Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom, available soon at https://militarymoneymanual.com/book/

Learn more about the 9 principles to achieve financial independence in my new book The Military Money Manual, available for pre-order now!