The Military Money Manual Podcast

Learn how to get your annual fees waived on premium credit cards from American Express and Chase in the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3.

The Platinum Card® from American Express and the American Express® Gold Card waive the annual fee for active duty military servicemembers, including Guard and Reserve on active orders over 30 days. The annual fees on all personal Amex cards are also waived for military spouses married to active duty troops.

In this episode, Jamie and Spencer Reese chat with Erik Baskin on life insurance, when it's appropriate to hire a financial advisor, and how to start a side hustle or business when you're on active duty. Learn more about what Erik is working on at BLUF Finance and Baskin Financial Planning.

If you have a question you would like us to answer on the podcast, please reach out on instagram.com/militarymoneymanual or email [email protected].

If you want to maximize your military paycheck, check out Spencer's 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 military travel hacking and getting annual fee waived credit cards, like The Platinum Card® from American Express, the American Express® Gold Card, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card in my Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3.

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 servicemembers and their spouse!

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 "podcast24" for $50 off. Plus, for every course sold, we'll donate one course to an E-4 or below- for FREE! If you're an E-4 or bleow, e-mail us at [email protected] for the free promo code.

If you have a question you would like us to answer on the podcast, please reach out on instagram.com/militarymoneymanual or email [email protected].

If you want to maximize your military paycheck, check out Spencer's 5 star rated book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom on Amazon or at shop.militarymoneymanual.com.

I also offer a 100% free course on military travel hacking and getting annual fee waived credit cards, like The Platinum Card® from American Express, the American Express® Gold Card, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card in my Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3.

Learn how to get your annual fees waived on premium credit cards from American Express in the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3.

The Platinum Card® from American Express and the American Express® Gold Card waive the annual fee for active duty military servicemembers, including Guard and Reserve on active orders over 30 days. The annual fees on all personal Amex cards are also waived for military spouses married to active duty troops.

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.

• 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)
• Scholarship awards allow you to take money out of the 529 (up to the amount of the scholarship)
• No one's ever been mad about having too much money saved in a 529
• In general, you can buy into a 529 from any state (doesn't have to be your state of legal residence or where you child may go to college one day)
• 529 Prepaid Plans are also available but not as good of a fit for most families
• When might you have "enough" saved for college?
• Yellow Ribbon program only applies to a semester where you're using GI Bill benefits. You can't use Yellow Ribbon benefits without using the GI Bill.

1. Transfer your GI bill as soon as you can
2. Evaluate which benefits are tied to an individual and which can be transferred around
3. Look for scholarships
4. Consider a 529 for your children after your basic needs are met
5. Research Yellow Ribbon program options
6. Consider working with Kate for 1-on-1 coaching the maximize your college options

• KateHorrell.com
• Kate's Military Family's Confidently Prepared Life Binder
• Yellow Ribbon program
• Find a participating school for Yellow Ribbon program
• Coaching with Kate Horrell

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 "podcast24" for $50 off. Plus, for every course sold, we'll donate one course to an E-4 or below- for FREE!

If you have a question you would like us to answer on the podcast, please reach out on instagram.com/militarymoneymanual or email [email protected].

If you want to maximize your military paycheck, check out Spencer's 5 star rated book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom on Amazon or at shop.militarymoneymanual.com.

I also offer a 100% free course on military travel hacking and getting annual fee waived credit cards, like The Platinum Card® from American Express, the American Express® Gold Card, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card in my Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3.

Learn how to get your annual fees waived on premium credit cards from American Express in the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3.

The Platinum Card® from American Express and the American Express® Gold Card waive the annual fee for active duty military servicemembers, including Guard and Reserve on active orders over 30 days. The annual fees on all personal Amex cards are also waived for military spouses married to active duty troops.

Which is better, lump sum investing or Dollar Cost Averaging? Bottom line, neither is significantly better, although lump sum investing statistically wins slightly. The more important factor in you building wealth is that you invest consistently for the long-term!

Missing just the 10 best trading days between 2002-2022 would cut your returns by 50%. Don't play games when you know it's impossible to win. Just keep investing!

Links from today's episode:

• Vanguard white paper on lump sum vs. DCA
• Military Money Manual blog post on this topic
• How to Time the Market
• World's Worst Market Timer (only investing at the peak)

For a limited time, Spencer is offering one-on-one Military Money Mentor sessions! Get your personal military money and investing questions answered in a confidential coaching call.

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 "podcast24" for $50 off. Plus, for every course sold, we'll donate one course to an E-4 or below- for FREE!

If you have a question you would like us to answer on the podcast, please reach out on instagram.com/militarymoneymanual or email [email protected].

If you want to maximize your military paycheck, check out Spencer's 5 star rated book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom on Amazon or at shop.militarymoneymanual.com.

I also offer a 100% free course on military travel hacking and getting annual fee waived credit cards, like The Platinum Card® from American Express, the American Express® Gold Card, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card in my Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3.

Learn how to get your annual fees waived on premium credit cards from American Express in the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3.

The Platinum Card® from American Express and the American Express® Gold Card waive the annual fee for active duty military servicemembers, including Guard and Reserve on active orders over 30 days. The annual fees on all personal Amex cards are also waived for military spouses married to active duty troops.

Spencer and Jamie explain how to maximize TSP contributions under the Blended Retirement System (BRS), including calculating monthly contribution percentages and avoiding common mistakes that could result in missing matching funds. They break down the 2025 contribution limits and discuss strategies for both BRS and legacy retirement system participants.

Here's the TSP BRS maximizing chart.

Questions discussed:

• What are the TSP contribution limits for 2025?
• How do Roth TSP and Roth IRA limits differ?
• How should you calculate monthly TSP contributions under BRS?
• What happens if you front-load TSP contributions under BRS?
• How do you handle mid-year pay increases?
• What should you do if you over-contribute?
• How do you adjust contributions if starting later in the year?

Resources mentioned:

• MilitaryMoneyManual.com/tsp
• TSP.gov
• MyPay
• r/MilitaryFinance subreddit
• Military Money Manual Instagram (@militarymoneymanual)
• TSP contribution calculator/chart on MilitaryMoneyManual.com
• NDAA 2025 proposed pay increases
• Blended Retirement System (BRS) overview

For a limited time, Spencer is offering one-on-one Military Money Mentor sessions! Get your personal military money and investing questions answered in a confidential coaching call.

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 "podcast24" for $50 off. Plus, for every course sold, we'll donate one course to an E-4 or below- for FREE!

If you have a question you would like us to answer on the podcast, please reach out on instagram.com/militarymoneymanual or email [email protected].

If you want to maximize your military paycheck, check out Spencer's 5 star rated book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom on Amazon or at shop.militarymoneymanual.com.

I also offer a 100% free course on military travel hacking and getting annual fee waived credit cards, like The Platinum Card® from American Express, the American Express® Gold Card, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card in my Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3.

Learn how to get your annual fees waived on premium credit cards from American Express in the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3.

The Platinum Card® from American Express and the American Express® Gold Card waive the annual fee for active duty military servicemembers, including Guard and Reserve on active orders over 30 days. The annual fees on all personal Amex cards are also waived for military spouses married to active duty troops.