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  1. Getting The Most Out Of Military OneSource

    The Department of Defense offers military families a comprehensive resource for all aspects of readiness, resilience, and even recreation. The program, called Military OneSouce, is meant as a virtual extension of on-base services. It offers one source of easily accessible information, resources, and services for military families. For example, Military...
  2. Five Tax Tips for Military Families

    It’s tax time again, and that means my phone will be ringing with friends who ostensibly want to say “hello” but in reality have a tax question. Sit for the CPA exam and see if you don’t get the same treatment! Being a military family offers some tax advantages, but...
  3. Annuities 201: Do They Belong In Your Financial Plan?

    Annuities are some of the most heavily marketed investment vehicles available. And as I said in Annuities 101, annuities are neither good or bad.  It depends on what your financial goal is. Once you set the financial goal, you’ll be able to determine if an annuity is right for you. Since...
  4. Annuities 101: What Are They?

    With the stock market “crash” of 2008, annuities have gained a lot of attention in the last few years. But what is an annuity? First of all, annuities are a life insurance product. Second of all, annuities are complicated and difficult to understand. Let me see if I can help clear up...
  5. The Goldman Sachs Letter and You

    The letter from a resigning Goldman Sachs executive has become quite the Internet rage. Most of us will never deal with Goldman Sachs and the letter may seem to be nothing more than an interesting “rant”. But, is that necessarily true? Maybe not. The letter spends a fair bit of time...
  6. Should You Take Advantage of the TSP’s G Fund?

    Are you invested in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)? If so, did you realize that you have access to an investment vehicle that others can’t access? You do. The humble G Fund is unique and it is only available to those who invest through TSP. Let me explain… The Treasury Department issues...
  7. Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance May Help Some, But Not Many

    Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard of the Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance (FSSA) Program. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? You, gentle readers with your hands in your laps, are not alone. The program, outlined in Department of Defense (DOD) Instruction 1341.11, isn’t very well known. The website used to determine...
  8. Major Defense Budget Cuts A Possibility…or Are They?

    As you may be aware, the Congressional “Super Committee” recently failed to meet their deadline to come up with a plan to cut the Federal budget. Congress has until the end of December to come up with and pass the committee’s plan, otherwise $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts (“sequestration cuts”)...
  9. The 9th Wonder of the World

    I’ve been told that Albert Einstein stated that compound interest was the 8th wonder of the world. My 6th-grade teacher, Mr. Rast, helped demonstrate that to me more than a few years ago. He asked me if I would prefer $100,000 or one penny doubled every day for a month....