Author Archives: Doug Nordman

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About Doug Nordman

Author of "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement" and co-author of "Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence."

Military Survivor Benefit Plan – An Overview to Help You Decide if You Should Buy in or Not

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Doug Nordman

This “simple little SBP summary” mutated into a two-part description. Today we’ll cover Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) for active-duty retirees and in the next post we’ll cover the Reserve Component SBP. The SBP will cost you up to 6.5% of … Continue reading →

Posted in Insurance, Money Management & Personal Finance | 13 Comments

Lifestyles in Military Retirement: Learning to Surf in Hawaii

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Doug Nordman

Here’s an amazing statistic: I’ve blogged for over six months on just about every aspect of military financial independence and early retirement. In nearly 80 posts, what’s been the most popular topic for over a week?:  Surfing. Are you people … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | 4 Comments

Asset Allocation Considerations for a Military Pension

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Doug Nordman

Here’s my in-depth answer with the nitty-gritty details of the following question: If you’re receiving a military pension, then how should you invest the rest of your portfolio? Frankly, to the majority of you readers, this will be a boring … Continue reading →

Posted in Investing & TSP, Military Retirement | Leave a comment

Military Pension Inflation Protection – How an Inflation Indexed Pension Keeps Up with Cost of Living

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Doug Nordman

Let’s consider some of the details behind a military pension and its COLA. First, just like active duty pay or drill pay, the pension is paid in arrears. In this case it doesn’t show up until the first of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Military Retirement | Leave a comment

Living with Inflation – How to Handle Inflation in Your Investment Portfolio

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Doug Nordman

The last post described the long-term effects of inflation and explained how a COLA pension (plus a portfolio of equities) can stay ahead. One of the issues with the COLA system is its reference: the Consumer Price Index, or CPI. … Continue reading →

Posted in Military Retirement, Money Management & Personal Finance | Leave a comment