Episodes

It's okay to rent on active duty! You don't need to buy a house to build wealth. You can safely ignore the push from VA loan sellers, real estate agents, and mortgage brokers. In this episode of the MMM podcast, Spencer and Jamie challenge the common belief that buying a house is essential for building wealth, especially for active duty military personnel. We explore why renting might be a smarter financial decision for those who move frequently, and debunk popular myths about homeownership. W...

Listener Brian joins us today to share how he used annual-fee waived credit cards to save about $6,000 on his honeymoon by saving big on his flights and hotel. Learn how to get your annual fees waived on premium credit cards from American Express in the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course for FREE at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3. Big take-aways: If you're expecting a big expense, open a new credit card like we recommend to easily meet your minimum spend requirements for your welcome offer T...

New enlisted servicemember's guide to personal finance! In this episode, Spencer and Jamie share all the financial advice they'd share with a new enlisted troop in their unit. It is possible to accumulate and save while on active duty as an enlisted service member! If you're an officer, go check out episode #132 covering all the personal finance advice for a new officer! Topics include: Money mindset Banking Tracking spending Debit vs Credit Emergency Fund Keeping up with the Joneses Pri...

New officer's guide to personal finance! In this episode, Spencer and Jamie share all the financial advice they'd share with a new officer in their unit. You CAN become rich on active duty as a military officer! If you're an enlisted servicemember, go check out episode #131 covering all the personal finance advice for an enlisted member. Topics include: Career starter loans Tracking your expenses Balancing enjoying your new life with keeping expenses down Buy a car (use the lemon lot to loo...

Taxes can be complicated. Military families have a number of unique concerns when thinking about their taxes- which state(s) to file in, how to withhold taxes, how a gig economy or side hustle affects the plan, how to handle rental property, etc. Today's main points include: Common tax problems for military families Important tax implications for families with a rental property or side hustle Warning signs when looking at financial advisors Filing in multiple states Filing wholly on your ow...

For a limited time, Spencer is offering one-on-one Military Money Coaching sessions! Get your personal military money and investing questions answered in a confidential coaching call. Real-estate returns, disability insurance, time-blocking techniques, and more! Erik Baskin is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Air Force veteran. He's a fee-only, fiduciary financial planner and entrepreneur. Main points: Separating from the military and lessons learned during the transition Military veter...

For a limited time, Spencer is offering one-on-one Military Money Coaching sessions! Get your personal military money and investing questions answered in a confidential coaching call. Confused about continuation pay? Join the club. Unfortunately, too many servicemembers and their leaders are confused about the continuation pay benefit in the BRS. In today's episode with Brandon Lovingier, ChFC®, MQFP® aka The Enlisted Money Guy™, we share all you need to know to understand the benefit. For acti...

For a limited time, Spencer is offering one-on-one Military Money Coaching sessions! Get your personal military money and investing questions answered in a confidential coaching call! 12% annualized return in my TSP?? Take an inside look at Spencer's actual TSP numbers to show exactly how quickly your account can grow once you start contributing to your TSP and then eventually maxing it out. Spencer and Jamie both got off to a slow start and didn't max out their TSP accounts right away. But n...

For a limited time, Spencer is offering one-on-one Military Money Coaching sessions! Get your personal military money and investing questions answered in a confidential coaching call. You can easily explore flight upgrades on your TDY travel flights. It's 100% legitimate and in line with government regulations and JTR. After using government contract flights and booking on your GTC in DTS, you can check your upgrade options. On this flight, Jamie was able to see United upgrades on an 8-hour fli...

For a limited time, Spencer is offering one-on-one Military Money Coaching sessions! Get your personal military money and investing questions answered in a confidential coaching call. Finance advise doesn't have to be confusing and depressing. Most of the "financial advisors" are actual salesmen. (Check out the 4 types of financial advisors.) So how does a military family find good help? Well Jeremy Schneider of Personal Finance Club (@personalfinanceclub on Instagram), Shane, and Vivi, the min...

For a limited time, Spencer is offering one-on-one Military Money Coaching sessions! Get your personal military money and investing questions answered in a confidential coaching call. How to maximize your GI Bill, save using 529 accounts, and explore the Yellow Ribbon program? Kate Horrell tells us all about it in this episode where we discuss: 529s are more flexible than most people realize (transfer to other family member, transfer $35,000 to a Roth IRA, other uses than just college) Scholar...

For a limited time, Spencer is offering one-on-one Military Money Coaching sessions! Get your personal military money and investing questions answered in a confidential coaching call. Military families can earn 1 million points without annual fees?! You're not going to earn a lot of points from spending. You need to focus on earning welcome bonuses. We'll teach out how in the free Ultimate Military Credit Cards course. Main points today: How to earn 1,000,000 credit card points without annual...

An E-4 with over $50,000 in savings in one tour?! Devin is an E-4 in the USMC who shares tips about military life, budgeting, and saving money on social media. He's done a superb job of transparently showing how a young, enlisted servicemember can cut costs and save for their future. He also challenges the mindset that you don't make enough to save anything and shares how he combats peer pressure and how his sidehustle income provided extra savings opportunities. Plus, as a bonus, Devin allowe...

For a limited time, Spencer is offering one-on-one Military Money Coaching sessions! Get your personal military money and investing questions answered in a confidential coaching call. Highlights of this episode include: How to ensure spouse feels like they're contributing financially, even as a stay-at-home spouse Setting goals as a spouse Does a stay-at-home spouse need life insurance coverage? Both spouses can contribute to their Roth IRA (if married filing jointly) How are you treating y...

Want help refining your strategy for military credit cards? For a limited time, Spencer is offering one-on-one Military Money Coaching sessions! Get your personal military money and investing questions answered in a confidential coaching call. American Express recently updated the requirements for earning a welcome bonus by adding family language restrictions to their cards. Learn all about what a "family" is and how to adjust your strategy for annual-fee waived cards for military servicemember...

Spouse residency rules can sometimes feel very confusing. But today, Kate Horrell helps understand the rules and requirements regarding which state servicemembers and their spouses can use for tax filing purposes. We cover things like: What is the SCRA? What is the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act? What have the recent laws changed regarding military taxes? How does my home of record impact my state taxes? How do spouses actually have more protection in this area that the servicemember ...

For a limited time, Spencer is offering one-on-one Military Money Coaching sessions! Get your personal military money and investing questions answered in a confidential coaching call. High-income, high net worth, or dual military couples, this episode was made for you! While not all of our audience will directly relate to today's topics, we hope that it will at least give you things to think about, topics to become aware of, and ideas of what your wealthy future holds for you. Tax planning, w...

New (and positive) I Fund changes coming to your TSP in 2024! The I Fund update during 2024 will include more emerging markets, increasing and diversifying your international exposure. This is a positive change. In this episode we explain the benefits of the change, what it means for you, and what action is required on your part to take advantage of it. It now represents 90% of non-US market cap now. Best way to take advantage of this? Automatic contributions to your TSP each month! When you ...

Roth limits? IRA limits? TSP limits? We get this question often: "How much can I contribute to my Roth each year?" There are several DIFFERENT limits at play here and lumping them all as "Roth" isn't quite correct. Public Service Announcement: Roth IRA is not the same as Roth TSP. You can contribute your maximum to your Roth IRA and still the maximum to your Roth TSP. Or you can do traditional. Bottom line- IRA and TSP limits are NOT the same. IRAs are not the same as employer-sponsored retire...

Want elite status with Hertz for free? Want to skip the line at the rental car counter? Want a free upgrade? Easy! As a military servicemember or spouse, you get top-tier credit cards with amazing benefits like this with no annual fee. Today we discuss: What is Hertz President's Circle? How do military servicemembers and spouses get this elite status for free? How do you maximize Hertz President's Circle benefit on your next TDY or vacation? Our new TSP course is live! Check out the Confide...

In this episode, Jamie transparently shows how he profited over $14,000 from his last PCS by doing a full PPM (Personally Procured Move). The government will pay you 100% of the amount they would pay a contractor to ship your HHG. It's not easy, but you can earn a lot of money with this strategy. We talk through the pros and cons of handling yourself, what a DITY/PPM means, exactly how the reimbursement works, and what it means to my taxes. Our new TSP course is live! Check out the Confident TS...

The DoD now allows up to $500 for a CONUS move and up to $2,000 for an OCONUS move for one pet per household. This benefit begins for any PCS effective dates of 1 January 2024 or later. We discuss exceptions, mil-to-mil benefits, documentation requirements, and more! Our new TSP course is live! Check out the Confident TSP Investing course at militarymoneymanual.com/tsp to learn all about the Thrift Savings Plan and strategies for growing your wealth while in the military. Use promo code "podcas...

Today, Spencer talks with Zac Hood, founder of TravelFreely.com and CashFreely.net and their amazing apps that are free! We personally use these apps to find the best offers on cash-back credit cards and travel cards. Zach's apps even monitor your Chase 5/24 status, recommend which card to get next and when, and track your annual fees (while accounting for the Military Lending Act waivers on credit card annual fees for military servicemembers and their spouses). The apps are secure with no ban...

It's tax season! Start collecting your 1099s, W-2s, and charitable donations. Whether you do your own taxes or not, you'll need all the documentation ready to go. Most military families should be able to do their own taxes via MilTax from MilitaryOneSource, especially if you have W-2 income only with a simple tax situation. The software is FREE, our favorite one, and what we've personally used when our situations were more simple. Once you start having multiple rental properties, side hustles, ...