Throwback Thursday Classic Post – Why I Started This Blog and How You Can Help Me
After the recent O6 results came out, I received an e-mail that went something like this:
“You don’t know me, but I was selected for promotion. Without your website and promotion board prep, I never would have promoted. I just wanted to thank you for all the work you put into it.”
I received a few more messages that were similar in nature. All I can say is, “You’re welcome. Now it is your turn to help me.”
The Origin of the Blog
In 2014, I became one of the Medical Corps Detailers. It didn’t take long for me to realize a few things:
- There was a lot of good career information out there, but it was on 20+ different websites.
- If I didn’t do something, I was going to be responding to the same questions and typing the same e-mails over and over again.
- There had to be an easier way.
There was. I created this blog. Then I created the promotion prep document. Then the fitrep prep document.
191,374 web hits later (that would be 484,260 now), the rest is history.
The Next Phase of the Blog
As I assume more senior leadership roles in the Navy, I find that my time is the bottleneck in the continuous process of trying to improve this blog. I’ve just got too much going on.
And this is where you come in…I need your help.
I Need People Who Want to Get Involved in the Blog
I periodically get guest posts, but they are few and far between. If you are interested in writing for the blog, send me ideas for guest posts. We will likely publish them.
Did something good happen to you in the Navy? That’s a guest post.
Did something bad happen to you in the Navy? What did you learn from it? That’s a guest post.
Did you figure something out that would benefit others? That’s a guest post.
Get the point yet?
Do you have ideas for where we should take the blog or ways we could improve it? Let me know.
Improving the Navy by Helping Each Other Out
This is really why this blog and all its resources were created. To help each other out and make our lives just a little bit easier. I don’t make any money off of it. In fact, it costs me $99/year to run.
If you’d like to get involved and try to help out your Naval colleagues, making their lives easier and improving their personal and professional lives, contact me and let me know. Maybe we can make this blog better together.
MHS Director of Governance in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs – O6
Here is the advertisement for an amazing opportunity for one of our senior O-6s. A “best fit” would have some Office of Secretary of Defense (OSD)/Pentagon experience, big picture Joint understanding of Air Force, Army, Navy health care current and future priorities, and understanding of the Defense Health Agencies scope of Military Treatment Facility/Markets authority, direction and control. The person needs to be able to accurately interpret and document discussions across the Services’ SGs, DHA Director, Reform/Transition initiatives (OSD Congressionally Directed) and Health Affairs organization (Deputy Assistant Secretaries’ of Defense and Assistant Secretary of Defense four star position). Understanding of big picture and OSD organization is necessary.
Applications should be submitted to CDR Melissa Austin (contact is in the global) by 21 FEB 2020.
New Process to Add Degrees to Your Record
Thanks to the Detailers for sending me this update. Below and in the just updated Promo Prep are the new procedures for adding degrees to your record:
To have your formal education updated, the official transcripts must come directly from the school to the office below. They can be delivered electronically as long as the school uses a secure delivery system such as eScript/Parchment to JST@DODED.MIL or they can be mailed to:
NETC N644
JST Ops Center
6490 Saufley Field Road
Pensacola, Florida 32509
Before sending the transcripts, you must contact the Joint Services Transcript Operations Center (JST OPS) at JST@DODED.MIL, advising them that you are having an official transcript mailed to them directly from the academic institution for the purpose of adding it to your Joint Services Transcript (JST). You are to provide your name, last four of your SSN, and either your e-mail or phone number so that they can reach you should there be any questions.
To see if the degrees have been added, please check the ACADEMIC page or the INQUIRIES tab on the JST website before contacting the office to see if the degree has been added. Please wait a minimum of 10 business days before contacting the JST office to see if they have received the degree.
The JST website can be found at https://jst.doded.mil/jst/.
1st Ever (We Think) Medical Corps Symposium – 3 APR 2020 – NMC Portsmouth
The first ever (we think) Medical Corps Symposium will be held at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth on April 3, 2020. There is no central funding to facilitate attendance, but it will still be awesome as the SG, Corps Chief, Reserve Corps Chief, and RDML Via will all be in attendance and speaking. All of the details that we have can be found here:
https://einvitations.afit.edu/inv/anim.cfm?i=495270&k=0668470B7C57
Basic Medical Department Officer Course Offline Until Spring 2020
The Basic Medical Department Officer Course (BMDOC) is offline until spring 2020. You normally do it because it is a prerequisite for the Advanced Medical Department Officer Course (AMDOC), which was recently renamed the Advanced Readiness Officer Course (A-ROC). Until it is is back up, you won’t need to do it to attend A-ROC, the artist formerly known as AMDOC. Here’s the full memo:
NMPDC Notification of BMDOC Update Jan 2020
The instructions to sign up for A-ROC are in this document.
SECDEF’s Guidance on Ethical Conduct and Political Activities
Tis the season of politics, so the SECDEF put the following 2 pager out regarding ethical conduct and political activities:
Chem-Bio-Radiologic Courses at Aberdeen
Here is a flyer with some Chemical-Bio-Radiological courses available on Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland:
There is also a website, available here:
NDAA Expands Military Spouse Scholarship
Here’s a link to this article, which would only be applicable in this audience to spouses of ENS or LTJG officers. If you are one of these ranks and you have a spouse working on obtaining a “license, certification or associate degree to pursue any occupation or career” you might want to check it out:
White Coat Investor Tip on Pensions and Finance Friday Articles
I’m including this tip of the month from WCI’s newsletter (with permission) since it is relevant to just about everyone who reads this (subscribe to his newsletter here).
White Coat Investor’s Newsletter Tip of the Month – Pensions and Your Asset Allocation
A lot of people wonder how to incorporate their various sources of guaranteed income into their asset allocation. These include:
- Social Security,
- Pensions, and
- Immediate Annuities.
They wonder if because of their low risk that they should consider them “bond equivalents” and increase the stock:bond ratio in their portfolio to make up for the presence of these guaranteed sources of income. I believe there is a better way to look at this dilemma.
Rather than including them in your asset allocation and calling them bonds (which they are not), I recommend you leave them out of your asset allocation entirely. That’s right. Just leave them out. But when you go to calculate how much income you need from your portfolio, subtract the guaranteed income first. Let me explain:
Let’s say you need $120K to live on in retirement and are getting $40K from your Social Security. Instead of trying to calculate the present value of your Social Security income stream and adding that to your portfolio, just subtract that $40K from the $120K you need. Now you need your portfolio to provide $80K of income. Using the back of the napkin 4% rule to make the calculation you need a $2 Million portfolio in addition to Social Security. Easy peasy. If you also have a military or other pension or have purchased a Single Premium Immediate Annuity (SPIA) or two, you can subtract those too.
- $120K income need minus
- $40K Social Security minus
- $20K Pension minus
- $10K SPIA equals
- $50K needed from the portfolio. ($50K/4% = $1.25 Million)
So how should the presence of this guaranteed source of income affect your asset allocation? Well, it can go two ways. First, you could decide that now that you have all or most of your fixed income needs covered by these guaranteed income sources that you now have the ability to take on more risk. Or, alternatively, you might decide that since you have guaranteed income sources covering so much of your spending needs that really don’t need as much from your portfolio and can afford to take less risk with it. Perhaps these two factors cancel each other out and it doesn’t change your asset allocation at all.
What about other assets? Should they go into your portfolio? A lot of people wonder about their home and their mortgages in particular. While a mortgage acts like a very safe, very short-term “negative bond” (paying off a mortgage provides a guaranteed return equal to the after-tax interest rate), I wouldn’t include it in the portfolio. Nor would I include the house. Or your practice. And maybe even not your side gig small business. The main reason why is that it really complicates portfolio management. You know, the buying and selling and rebalancing you do periodically. For example, let’s say you included your house. When you are young and relatively poor, that is going to make up a massive portion of your portfolio. And later, when you are older, hopefully it will make up a tiny portion. How’s that going to work with trying to keep percentages equal? Same thing with a mortgage or a small business. And imagine trying to rebalance? What are you going to do when stocks poorly, take out a HELOC? Do yourself a favor–leave that stuff out of your portfolio and just let the presence of those things affect your overall asset allocation only as they change your need, ability, and desire to take risk. Don’t try to actually put them into your asset allocation.
Here are my favorites this week:
Practice Minimalism To Improve Your Financial Health And Quality Of Life
THE BEST CREDIT CARDS FOR ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY
When Does the Federal Deficit Matter?
Here are the rest of this week’s articles:
7 Things I Still Love About Turbo Tax in 2020
Considering a Syndicated Real Estate Investment Opportunity? What You Should Know
Crash Course in the Japanese Stock Market Collapse
How one decision can help you save for retirement
How Should I Save for College? Plus a 529 Plan Hack
How to Generate Over $5,000 Per Month With One Airbnb Property
Important Details Investors Should Know About The Coronavirus
Stop worrying about where the stock market goes from here and read this post
The Worst Money Decisions I Could Make
Top States To Buy Real Estate In The New Decade
What Counts as Compensation (Earnings) for IRA Contributions?
Joel Schofer's Career Planning Blog 