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I'm an E-1 (Private) in the U.S. Army. After taxes I bring home about $16,000. I just started a Roth IRA and have a few CD's. What help can you offer me for saving and banking/investing money?
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Thanks for serving from US ARMY veteran!
Do you plan to stay in or get out and use the GI Bill?
The reason I asked is if you are going to get out, you want the following.
1. low amounts of debt.....if any
2. retirement savings
3. and easy to access savings to help pay for school
If you plan to stay in
1. low interest debt is more acceptible
2. retirement savings is more important
3. savings in the form or emergency fund rather than education fund.
What I found interesting is that when I was enlisted. I joined with 32 guys with Hawaii as our guaranteed duty station. 90% said they were getting out to use the college money.
The way it actually worked was several got out because of injuries, two got out to go to college, and the vast majority (25 or more) stayed in for another 3 years due to the signing bonuses and so much debt they couldnt afford to get out.
So rather than looking at where to invest your money. I think the most important thing you can do is be honest with yourself and decide if you want a military career not and go from there. Either way, I suggest you build a 6 month emergency fund first and keep that in a 1% savings account for now. -
Long time lurker here, but I figure I'd finally throw in my two cents, since I am a USMC veteran that EAS'd a year ago (I'm 23 now). First off, thank you for your service, and good job on starting off on the right track. If you have not already done so, be sure to invest in you TSP. If you stay in, or decide to seperate, you can keep all your money that is in the TSP and allow it to grow without having to roll it over. Likewise, if you stay in, you can continue to invest in the TSP. It's a great vehicle that has low expenses. Also, if you plan to take advantage of tuition assistance, which I highly reccommend, be sure to utilize it to take you general education classes at a REGIONAL accredited school...this means that they will most likely transfer; and look into taking CLEP'S and DSST, your education office should be able to provide more information on these matters. I'm not too sure what your MOS is, but if there is transferrable skills to the civilian side, try to get a certification that can convert over. Feel free to message me if you have any other questions, of course USMC and Army may have different requirements, etc.Comment
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