Category Archives: Money Management & Personal Finance

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

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 →

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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 →

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During retirement: take small financial steps (part 2 of 2)

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Doug Nordman

  The first post of this series talked about small financial steps to take during the first few months of retirement.  We’ll close by considering how to handle your tax-deferred investments in the Thrift Savings Plan and what other adjustments … Continue reading →

Posted in Military Retirement, Money Management & Personal Finance | 2 Comments

During retirement: take small financial steps (part 1 of 2)

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Doug Nordman

When you’re planning and saving for early retirement, your ER budget is only an estimate of your ER spending. It may be a very good estimate, and you’ll adjust it as you get closer to retirement, but only when you’re … Continue reading →

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