Finance Friday Articles
- 4 smart ways to find balance as an investor
- 5 common investing myths
- Challenging My Retirement Assumptions by Reading “The Deficit Myth”
- Don’t Succumb to Fear of Missing Out with Your Investments
- How to Get Wealthy Investing in a Bear Market
- If You Don’t Know Whether A “Target Date” Mutual Fund Is For You, It Is!
- Live Like a Resident
- The Future of Bear Markets & Recessions
- Why I Keep My Rusty Car
What’s New in the FY22 O5 Promotion Board Convening Order?
TL;DR BLUF
- O5 promotion results will be delayed by 5-6 weeks because the board started late.
- Do Joint Professional Military Education.
- Be operationally relevant.
- Be a model of Honor, Courage, and Commitment and don’t get in trouble.
- Going to Guam or Japan certainly can’t hurt.
- Get board certified as soon as you can.
- Move seamlessly across domains by starting a blog in your free time.
What’s a Convening Order?
Convening orders tell promotion board members what to look for when selecting people for promotion, so it is usually a good idea to examine them for changes. I’ll give you a summary of what is new. Here are the FY21 and FY22 documents:
Date of the Board
The board was delayed from March 24th to May 3rd. Expect the promotion results to be delayed by a similar interval.
Promotion Opportunities
The promotion opportunities changed:
- MC – increased from 77% to 90%
- DC – decreased from 83% to 75%
- MSC – decreased from 55% to 50%
- NC – stayed the same at 70%
Pages 3-6 (all page numbers from here on out reference the FY22 convening order)
They inserted language emphasizing awareness of the Great Power Competition (GPC), education, operational support, competence, character, and diversity.
Pages 8-9
They inserted a new concept to me, the 10 Signature Behaviors of a 21st Century Sailor:
They also inserted some language about commitment to personal and professional growth, connecting with yourself and others, loyalty to the Navy’s core values, and championing a culture of excellence.
Fitrep Impacts Due to COVID
They inserted a paragraph cautioning board members that COVID stop movements may have adversely impacted fitness reports and that these fitrep impacts:
“…should not be viewed adversely and the COVID-19 impact must be taken in context when viewed with the totality of the record. The board must take extra care to not disadvantage members for their inability to transfer as a result of the stop movement.”
Page 10
They inserted language emphasizing expertise in the Indo-Pacific Region.
Pages 11-13 – Medical Community Considerations
These were largely unchanged, but they qualified the importance of board certification by inserting the italicized text:
“Strong consideration should be given to board certification when a board certification exists for the specialty, provided they have had sufficient time to meet the requirements.“
They also inserted at the bottom of page 12:
“Special consideration should be given to those officers who have demonstrated the ability to move seamlessly across domains.”
Traditional domains include air, land, and maritime with recent additions of space and cyberspace. Hopefully blogging in your free time is one day seen as “moving seamlessly across domains.”
Translation Please?
What does this mean for an O4 in Navy Medicine? I think it means the following:
- O5 promotion results will be delayed by 5-6 weeks because the board started late.
- Do Joint Professional Military Education.
- Be operationally relevant.
- Be a model of Honor, Courage, and Commitment and don’t get in trouble.
- Going to Guam or Japan certainly can’t hurt.
- Get board certified as soon as you can.
- Move seamlessly across domains by starting a blog in your free time.
Why are the TSP Investment Expenses So Low?
The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is known for its low cost investments, and the lower your costs the more of your investment gains you get to keep. But why are the investment costs in the TSP so low?
Check out this table from the January/February 2018 TSP newsletter:
Let’s examine the fine print, using the C Fund as a good example because it is equivalent to an S&P 500 index fund you would find at Vanguard, Fidelity, or any other investment firm.
First, note that the C Fund had gross administrative expenses of approximately 0.052%. The gross expenses are the costs of administering the TSP and include:
- The costs of operating and maintaining the TSP’s record keeping system.
- The cost of providing participant services.
- The printing and mailing of notices, statements, and publications.
That, however, is not what investors get charged. We get charged the net admin expense of 0.038%, which is highlighted by note #3.
Note #3 reads:
“Net administrative expenses are the expenses charged to TSP participants per dollar invested in the respective funds after offsetting gross administrative expenses with account forfeitures and loan fees.”
After “offsetting gross administrative expenses with account forfeitures and loan fees.” In other words, people who forfeit their account and borrow from their TSP help lower the fees for those who don’t.
Another portion of the TSP website provides more details:
“Expenses are offset by the forfeitures of Agency/Service Automatic (1%) Contributions of FERS and BRS participants who leave Federal service before they are vested, other forfeitures, and loan fees.”
When someone gets out before their federal contribution vests or they pay loan fees, they are lowering the investment costs for the rest of us. This is a major reason why the TSP’s expenses are so low.
For example, while we get charged 0.038% for the C Fund, the expense ratio of the Vanguard S&P 500 Index Admiral Fund is 0.04%. This is higher than the TSP C Fund, and we can thank those who take out loans from their TSP balance or get out and forfeit their government contributions.
Navy Guidelines Concerning Pregnancy & Parenthood
This Powerpoint is from the 21st Century Sailor Office and is a good summary of the management of pregnant Sailors and what commands can do for them. It provides a lot of valuable information to properly guide and mentor Sailors regarding parenthood and pregnancy:
BUMED Videos of Interest
You can see some videos shared during the SG’s Leadership Conference yesterday at this link. The videos discuss the SG’s Four Ps, various personnel and roles (including multiple MC Officers), COVID-19, and innovations in Navy Medicine:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/296252232120229
In addition, you can see the SG’s interview about COVID vaccination on the TODAY show here:
Joel Schofer's Career Planning Blog 