Episodes

Colleen Salchow of Salchow Coaching joins Spencer and Jamie to talk about how important it is to include military spouses in any family financial decisions. You can find Colleen on Instagram, email, and the web at: www.salchowcoaching.com colleen@salchowcoaching.com https://www.instagram.com/salchowcoaching/ Colleen works remotely over a year long program to help miltiary families maxizine their military paycheck and benefits. One of her clients was able to save $4700 in the first month of wor...

Listener Will writes "Will Amex and Chase stop waiving my annual fees on my credit cards when I get out of the militay?" Spencer has a great article on annual fees on credit cards after you leave the military. The short answer is no, you will not be immediately charged annual fees on your credit cards when you separate or retire from the military. The longer answer is American Express takes a while to start charging you annual fees again. Chase usually sends a letter to you 3 months after you...

Jamie and Spencer recap Jamie's personal finance discussion with a group of 14 Air Force officers and Government Service civilians. Everyone agreed personal finance needs to be more discussed. Some themes mentioned were budgeting, TSP vs IRA, and investing. Jamie and Spencer point listeners where to find good financial resources for military service members. They explore how financial readiness should be an additional pillar to consider for Comprehensive Airman Fitness, and how financial indepen...

In this Q&A episode, Jamie and Spencer answer listener Dustin's question from a Facebook message: "When you talk about savings rates, are you talking base pay only or do you include BAH and BAS in that percentage?" It's a nuanced question, but in general you should include all of your income when calculating your savings rate. But, the fact that you're even thinking about a complex topic like a savings rate means you are already way ahead in the financial game. If you have a question you would...

Justin, an Air Force captain, reached out to ask: "How do you organize your savings accounts?" Some ideas co-hosts Jamie and Spencer discuss are using separate accounts, bucket accounts, a spreadsheet, or an app like You Need a Budget (YNAB). Automate as much as you can and make your financial life as simple or complex as you need to. Simple is usually the best option. Q&A or "Question and Answer" episodes are shorter and designed to answer a single listener question. If you have a question ...

In this episode Jamie and Spencer discuss Military Lending Act (MLA) benefits for military spouses. Military spouses enjoy the exact same benefits active duty military servicemembers do on American Express, Chase, Citi, and US Bank credit cards: the annual fees are waived on all the premium cards. Spencer and Jamie break down the best credit cards for military spouses including: The Platinum Card from American Express Chase Sapphire Reserve Card American Express Gold Card Best Hotel credit ca...

Rob Shaye is a Coast Guard reservist, Certified Financial Planner (CFP), and military traveler. He's passionate about financial education and helping military servicemembers make the best decisions with their money. Learn more about Robert Shaye's company Fireside Finances on his website. In this wide ranging episode, co-hosts Jamie and Spencer talk with Rob about a variety of topics including: The mistakes Rob made investing his lawn mowing money at 15 How Rob got into travel rewards credit...

Jamie and Spencer attack how to budget your military paycheck. Ideas discussed on this episode include: Classic pen and paper budget Google Sheets and Excel spreadsheets Apps like Mint.com, You Need A Budget (YNAB), EveryDollar The Reverse Budget, or Anti-Budget (set a high savings rate and spend the rest) If you want to maximize your military paycheck, check out my 5 star rated book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom on Amazon at or at shop.militarymoneymanua...

Living paycheck to paycheck can be extremely stressful. It can negatively affect your mental, physical, spiritual, and financial health. Learn how to stop living paycheck to paycheck and to get out of the cycle of never having extra cash in your checking account. If you want to maximize your military paycheck, check out the 5 star rated book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom on Amazon at or at shop.militarymoneymanual.com. I also offer a 100% free course on mil...

Morgan Housel's book the Psychology of Money is an excellent refresher of the core concepts of financial independence and personal finance. In this episode, Jamie and Spencer apply Housel's concepts of personal finance and investing to military life. The 3 main takeaways for today are: Save money for no reason at all. Play your own game. Better to be reasonable with a good enough plan, than rational with a plan you can't stick to. For a military specific personal finance book, check out the...

Travelling in the military doesn't need to be painful! Know your Joint Travel Regulations (JTR) and benefits available to you. TSA PreCheck is free for military servicemembers. Military spouses can use the right credit card to get Global Entry and TSA PreCheck for free as well. With the right travel rewards cards, you can access airport lounges, upgrade your seat, upgrade your hotel room, and earn hotel perks like free breakfast, executive lounge access, and other free perks. Learn how to max...

Jamie and Spencer talk about a few of their favorite things in this episode. Learn how to maximize your military paycheck in my new book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom available directly from me on my website or on Amazon. The book has dozens of 5 star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. It's available as a: Amazon Kindle Ebook Amazon Prime Hardcover Audible Audiobook If you enjoyed the book, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads so other military ser...

Learn how to maximize your military paycheck in my new book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom available directly from me on my website or on Amazon. The book has dozens of 5 star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. It's available as a: Amazon Kindle Ebook Amazon Prime Hardcover Audible Audiobook If you enjoyed the book, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads so other military servicemembers and spouses can find it.

Don't have a good asset allocation or investment strategy for when the stock market crashes? Learn how to self-invest your military paycheck in my book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom. available directly from me on my website or on Amazon. The book has dozens of 5 star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads: Amazon Kindle Ebook Amazon Prime Hardcover Audible Audiobook Three main takeaways from today's episode: The stock market has normal cycles of ups and downs ...

To learn how to maximize your military paycheck, check out my book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom. available directly from me on my website or on Amazon. Dozens of 5 star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads: Amazon Kindle Ebook Amazon Prime Hardcover Audible Audiobook Buying a car is usually the largest purchase of a young servicemember. Take some time to think through the decision. Even saving 10% can add up in a big way. I cover buying your first car in the...

Active duty, guard, reserves, and military veterans are all eligible for VA loans if certain conditions are met. I built the VA Loan Ultimate Guide to explain the confusing VA loan process. What is a VA loan? How to determine if you are eligible for a VA loan? How to get a VA loan Certificate of Eligibility? What credit score do you need for a VA loan? What is the VA loan process, from start to finish? Who are the best VA loan lenders? What is a VA cash-out refinance loan? In this episo...

To learn more about my LADS investment strategy and how to apply it to the TSP, check out my book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom. available directly from me on my website or on Amazon. Dozens of 5 star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads: Amazon Kindle Ebook Amazon Prime Hardcover Audible Audiobook Changes are coming to the TSP! Learn all about the June 2022 changes to the TSP in this episode. New TSP app New TSP website Mutual fund window

To learn more about my LADS investment strategy and how to apply it to the TSP, check out my book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom. available directly from me on my website or on Amazon. Dozens of 5 star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads: Amazon Kindle Ebook Amazon Prime Hardcover Audible Audiobook In this episode Jamie and Spencer discuss several TSP investing strategies and why you may want to go with a particular strategy. The most important thing is to a ...

To learn how to select TSP funds for early financial independence, read The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom. The book is available as a hardcover, ebook, and audiobook. With 20+ 5 star ratings, the book is available directly from me on my website or on Amazon Amazon Kindle Ebook Amazon Prime Hardcover Audible Audiobook Jamie and Spencer break down the 5 Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Funds: C Fund - the S&P 500 fund S Fund - The rest of the US stock market I Fund ...

Learn more about building a financial legacy for your family in my book The MIlitary Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom. In this episode Jamie talks about his recent experience as the executor of the estate of an extended family member that passed away. We cover building a "legacy box," why you should buy term life insurance over whole life insurance, and things to think about if you're ever the executor or administrator of an estate.

The American Express® Gold Card military benefits include an annual fee waiver for active duty servicemembers and military spouses. The American Express® Green Card military benefit is the same, with an annual fee waived for anyone in the MLA database, which includes military dependents and active duty troops. Both the active duty servicemember and the spouse can be primary users on the card and do not need to be authorized users on each other's accounts. Both cards can add tens of thousands ...

The Air Force announced the Fiscal Year 2022 Air Force Pilot Bonus on 11 April, 2022. You can see the bonus chart and all the details in my article on my website, Military Money Manual. If you're eligible for a bonus, this can be an amazing opporuntiy to accelerate your journey to financial independence. Learn more about achieving financial freedom in the military in my book, The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom The book is available as a hardcover, ebook, and audi...

Learn more about the amazing military benefits in the Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide t Financial Freedom now available on Amazon, Kindle, Audible, and directly from the author on MilitaryMoneyManual.com in ebook, audiobook, and hardcover. Jamie and Spencer talk to their friend Luke about Space-A travel, also known as space available travel. Luke estimates he has saved over $40,000 in flights for his family over the years. This is a program opened to active duty servicemembers on leav...

Learn more about achieving financial independence in the military in The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom. Now available on Kindle, Audible, and soon on Amazon. Always available on MilitaryMoneyManual.com Jamie and Spencer break down how to build a plan, how to overcome winner's guilt, how to be generous with your windfall, and how to avoid windfall errors.