Happy 2019 everyone! I read somewhere recently that we should make goals and not resolutions at New Year’s, which brings me to the inevitable question:
What are your goals for 2019?
Wait a minute, does one of those goals say “kill Grumpus Maximus”?
Since we’ve officially entered the last calendar year that I’ll be a part of the U.S. military, my goal for 2019 should come as no surprise. In October 2019, I’ll begin terminal leave, and on 01 January 2020, I’ll be officially retired … if all goes according to plan. I’m excited but also nervous. I got a lot of work to do in order to retire on the best terms possible from the military and to make sure my family and I are financially prepared. Continue reading →
I’ve had a draft version of this article sitting in my inbox for some time. It never gelled, so I left it alone. However, a blogging friend and mentor of mine, Doug Nordman, recently published an excellent article at his blog The Military Guide entitled “Don’t Buy A Home When You Leave Active Duty“. The article challenged several of my planning assumptions and acted as a catalyst to complete this post.
I consider challenges to my retirement plan a good thing. They force me to re-examine and update it as I gain more knowledge, and as facts on the ground change. As such, this article isn’t so much a riposte to Doug’s article, as it is an acknowledgment of it. It’s a confirmation that Doug’s article contained great points which forced me to re-examine my planning assumptions, but despite the challenge, my plan still passes scrutiny. It’s a healthy, Bayesian inference exercise that everyone should conduct with their plan routinely. Continue reading →
For those veterans in the audience, Happy Veteran’s Day 2017. Veteran’s Day in the U.S. is celebrated on 11 November, which in many other parts of the world is celebrated as Remembrance Day or Armistice Day. While originally designed to commemorate the sacrifice of those who served in, and the devastation caused by, World War I; there are nuanced differences in how the holiday is marked presently. The most obvious difference in the U.S. is that Veteran’s Day is not designed to celebrate those who died (that’s what we call Memorial Day), but those who currently serve and formerly served in the military. It’s meant to provide the nation an opportunity to pause, be thankful for, and engage with its veterans.
The Census Bureau’s latest info graphic for Veteran statistics.
Given that less than 1% of the U.S. population currently serves in the military, and as little as 9% have previously served; a holiday like Veteran’s Day provides a rare but important mechanism for renewing the Nation’s commitment to both its current and former military members. Conversely, it also provides those in the U.S. military the opportunity to connect with and renew their commitment to the populace it protects and the democratically elected civilian-run system which guides it. It’s most appropriate to thank a veteran for their service on Veteran’s Day.
Controversially, perhaps, I believe it’s less appropriate to thank current serving members for their service outside of Veteran’s Day. Not that I believe it’s wrong to thank service members on all occasions outside of Veteran’s Day. There might be plenty of good reasons from the ultra-personal to the ultra-obvious for a person to do so. But, I believe as a U.S. citizen you shouldn’t feel pressured into thanking service members simply because you think it’s the required thing to do, or because you believe we require it from you. You shouldn’t and we don’t. It’s neither healthy for a democracy’s citizens to feel pressured into supporting its military blindly, nor is it healthy for a democracy’s military to believe your thanks is some sort of right to be demanded from its citizenry.
“Thanks” should be genuine and not built off some misinformed interpretation of what it means to be patriotic, or a mistaken belief that your military requires it from its citizens. Furthermore, while your thanks is appreciated, your obligation as a voting citizen runs deeper than simply thanking service members. We are, after all, a military 16 years into the Nation’s longest conflict. We are overseen and run by civilians appointed by the President and the Congress. Your tax money pays our salaries. Your elected officials decide if and when we go to war. The constitution we swear to uphold and defend provides all us the liberties we enjoy and love. Thus, we are your military. As a result, I believe it’s important that taxpayers and voters engage at a more intimate level with the military than what a simple “thank you” conveys.
In that vein, I pulled the following story out of the Grumpus Maximus historic annals to provide you just that opportunity to engage more intimately with one military member. Given that this is a personal finance blog, I kept it related to my experience with the interplay between remuneration, service, and the issue of “thanks”. You might think the three have nothing in common, but my experience will hopefully change your mind. Continue reading →
Anyone who read my previous posts, An Unintentional Meander Up Grumpus Avenue Part 1 and Part 2 understands the cost associated with my decisions to either work with a money management professional, or go it alone. While I can’t promise that I will never use a professional service again, currently I am a dedicated DIY investor. However, it is not like I forgo all professional advice. It is simply that these days I do not pay for it. In this post I intend to show you how I saved thousands of dollars over the last three years, while obtaining professional level money and investing advice. I will also point you in the direction of where you might be able to obtain the same level of advice for free, or almost free. Continue reading →
Since the day I met her, Mrs. Grumpus has insisted that men cannot multi-task effectively, unlike women. My typical Confucian-like retort used to be something along the lines of, “the woman who splits her attention among multiple tasks does none of them well”. These days though I believe I’ve harnessed my inner woman enough to master the art of listening to podcasts while doing other more menial tasks. Work and family demands mean time is too precious to let self-improvement opportunities slip by while commuting, cutting the lawn, gardening, cleaning the garage, driving the Grumpus Minimi (pronounced min-nee-my) to swim lessons, or listening to Mrs. Grumpus talk (just kidding honey!).
Confucius had nothing on me
In fact not only do I double-up on tasks, I now triple-up by commuting on my bike with a pair of earbuds. For you math challenged out there: commuting, exercising, and listening are the three tasks.
Wonder what she is listening to?
I discovered the value of podcasts while stationed in Europe. I was cut off from my standard commuting radio selection of NPR, NPR, and more NPR.
