personal finance
Finance Friday Articles
Here are this week’s Finance Friday articles:
3 Questions That Will Get Your Finances — and Life — on Track
7 Secrets To Financial Freedom Every Doctor Should Know
10 Financial Tips for New Attending Physicians
How to Make the Most Out of Your Emergency Fund
Is Your Risk Tolerance Too High?
New year, new tax laws. But what’s really different?
My White Coat Investor (@WCInvestor) Guest Podcast and Finance Friday Articles
Here’s a link to my guest spot on the White Coat Investor site and podcast:
Being a Military Doctor – Podcast #92
Here are this week’s articles:
4 Simple Ways to Include a Pension in your FI Plan
4 Ways to Accelerate the Power of Compound Interest
10 Things More Productive Than Whining About Job Satisfaction (and the doctors who did them)
Emergency Fund: How Much Should I Save?
How To Overcome The 5 Barriers To Financial Success For High-Income Professionals
I am a Doctor and I Hate My Job: The Cure for Burnout
I am Burned Out Now What? Causes and Solutions
Putting All Your Eggs In One Basket
Stop Thinking Like a Dog, It’s Killing Your Future!
The case for global equity investing (and a happy marriage)
Free Personal Finance Book, Changes to the TSP L Funds, and Finance Friday Articles
The Physician Philosopher is offering his new book, The Physician Philosopher’s Guide to Personal Finance, for free if you sign up for his e-mail list. I haven’t read the book yet, but his blog posts are quality which portends well for the book.
Here is the Jan – Feb 2019 edition of the TSP Highlights newsletter. It mentions the changes to the Lifecycle funds that started last month and will give them a more aggressive asset allocation. They include:
Effective in January 2019, we will increase exposure to international stocks (the I Fund) from 30% to 35% of the overall stock allocation in all L Funds. The L Income Fund stock allocation (C, S, and I Funds combined) will increase from 20% to 30% over a period of up to 10 years. The L 2030, L 2040, and L 2050 overall stock allocations will hold steady for a period of years before resuming their transitions from stocks to bonds. In addition to improving investment outcomes, this pause will align the L 2030, L 2040, and L 2050 Funds with the L 2060 Fund, which will be introduced in 2020 with an initial stock allocation of 99%.
Here are this week’s personal finance articles:
7 Risks of Investing in Real Estate
Military tax tips: New tax law is (mostly) good news
Should You Invest in Real Estate Over a 401(k)?
Stocks Got You Down? How to Stop Worrying
Stop Whining About Job Satisfaction
Student Loan Management When Both Spouses Work
The Reality of Real Estate Investing: It’s Not as Easy as It Seems
Why the Future of Life Insurance May Depend on Your Online Presence
Finance Friday Articles and the Government Shutdown
First, everyone reading this needs to look at the government shutdown and the fact that the Coast Guard wasn’t getting paid and come up with their own plan for how they’d handle a financial emergency. Here are some articles I’ve written on the subject:
1st Step to Financial Freedom – Establishing an Emergency Fund
Here are this week’s articles:
Personal Capital’s 2019 Tax Guide
A Rough, General-Purpose Retirement Plan
How Will Tax Law Changes Affect Me in 2019?
Official Explains Federal Tax Changes for Military, Spouses
Planning For The Predictable & The Unpredictable
Saving for college now could help you avoid financial pitfalls later
VITA Connects Service Members to Tax Support
WASHINGTON (NNS) — The 2019 tax season is underway, and, once again, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program is open to eligible Navy personnel, dependents, and retirees at select locations around the globe.
VITA links active-duty and retired service members and their dependents, as well as deployed civilians, to free self-service tax software via Military OneSource.
“VITA is designed to accommodate the increasingly busy lives of Sailors and their families,” said Lt. John Schwietz, the Navy’s VITA program manager at the Office of the Judge Advocate General in Washington, D.C.
As the trend toward self-service tax preparation gains more momentum, VITA has evolved, and the Navy no longer requires Region Legal Service Offices (RLSOs) to stand up brick-and-mortar tax centers. Therefore, Schwietz advises those interested in filing their taxes in-person to first consult the below list of VITA tax centers, and also contact their local RLSO for more information about availability and hours of operation.
“While VITA tax centers are an excellent resource, many find it more convenient to simply access the very same tax filing software used at the tax centers and file on their own,” Schwietz said in reference to the software provided via Military OneSource.
“Customers can securely file their taxes from anywhere in the world as long as they have an internet connection,” he added. Users in need of assistance also can call the Military OneSource helpline to reach tax counselors seven days a week.
The following VITA tax centers are offering self-service VITA services to eligible customers. Customers eligible for VITA under 10 U.S.C. section 1044 can locate the nearest RLSO.
RLSO Midwest VITA Tax Center
Great Lakes
RLSO Southeast VITA Tax Center
Guantanamo Bay
Key West
Gulfport*
Meridian*
Pensacola*
RLSO Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia VITA Tax Centers
Bahrain
Naples
Rota
Sigonella
RLSO Japan VITA Tax Centers
Guam
Sasebo
Yokosuka
RLSO Northwest VITA Tax Centers
Bangor*
Bremerton*
Everett*
Whidbey Island*
RLSO Southwest VITA Tax Centers
Lemoore*
San Diego*
Ventura*
* A site that limits VITA services to E1 to E6 service members and their dependents.
Customers are advised to have the following items on-hand when preparing their taxes:
Valid identification for taxpayer/s
Social Security Numbers (including spouse and children)
Child care provider tax I.D. or Social Security Number and address
2016 adjusted gross income from last year’s tax return (if you have a copy, VITA volunteers can show you where this amount is)
IRS E-filing PIN (you can get one at irs.gov or call IRS at 866-704-7388
Income data (W-2s)
All end-year tax documents (1099s)
Student loan payment information
Receipts for child care payment
Receipts for educational expenses
For more information about VITA and tax preparation, read frequently asked questions at http://jag.navylive.dodlive.mil. For more news from Navy Judge Advocate General, visit www.navy.mil/local/jag/.
Get more information about the Navy from US Navy Facebook or Twitter.
For more news from Navy Judge Advocate General, visit www.navy.mil/local/jag/.
TurboTax® Deluxe Online Federal Free Until 15 MAR 2019
LIMITED TIME OFFER
USAA active-duty military and reservists can get TurboTax Deluxe Online Federal at no charge until March 15, 2019. Read about the details here:
Personal Finance for the Military Physician: A 2019 Update
I updated my Personal Finance for the Military Physician talk for 2019 and have this week’s articles listed below:
Here are this week’s articles:
1 in 3 eligible active-duty troops signed up for DoD’s new retirement system
10 Ways To Know You Are Competent to DIY Your Investments
12 Things You Should Know About Choosing a Financial Adviser
Diversification is (Almost) Undefeated
Here’s How the Stock Market Has Historically Performed After a Down Year
Mil Money: Here’s how you can get the most out of the new military retirement system
MILTAX: FREE TAX SERVICES – THE ESSENTIALS
My Money Is Worth More Than Your Money
Nursing Dollars (a discussion on long-term care insurance)
The Gift of Life (a discussion of life expectancy and the financial implications)