Leading with Cents: Recent Episodes

Leading with Cents

Army Veteran, Tim McAndrew, leads you through many topics surrounding your life, personal finance, military personal finance, and leadership.

Personal finance is something that is not properly taught at an early age. Much of the education you get today is actually marketing from lending institutions. Too often people grow up and get their first job without a plan and without the proper guidance.

One of the most targeted demographics is our military personnel. Our military personnel are commonly taken advantage of by lending institutions with everyday purchases.

We need leadership in America, the military, and everywhere else to help their people succeed in life and financially.

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Don't lose your shit right now.  There is a lot going on in the market place and you might be tempted to do something.

In this episode I cover: * Post COVID Market * Housing Market * Supply vs Demand for Goods * Vehicle Prices * Protecting Against Inflation

Connect with me:

www.instagram.com/leadingwithcents

www.instagram.com/timmemak

tmcand22@gmail.com

NEW!! Book your coaching session!!

www.calendly.com/leadingwithcents

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"Those who get rich quick, usually are not rich long" - Somebody Somewhere

So this is the time of the year where we see all the advertisements targeting your tax return or targeting your stimulus money from the government.

Businesses know how much you received through stimulus and they know that a majority of the people in the United States received some sort of tax refund from the IRS.

There are other cases that don’t apply to this time of the year exclusively, such as birthday money, graduation money, maybe you received an inheritance, or maybe you received a gift from a family member… who knows! How will you manage that money?

Money Marching Order Review 1. Head Count- Budget/Will/Life Insurance 2. Helmet Emergency Fund- $1-2k 3. Debt Assault and 5% Blended Retirement System Match 4. Body Armor- 3-6 months E-Fund from Pay Stub Net Pay 5. Pension Plus- 10% if in BRS and under 30, 15% if in BRS under 30, and 15% if not in BRS 6. Save/Invest 10% into NON-retirement savings/investments 7. Assess College Needs- GI BIll/529 Plans etc 8. House Purchase using at least 5% down.

Connect with me:

www.instagram.com/timmemak

www.instagram.com/leadingwithcents

tmcand22@gmail.com

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This is the last Money Marching Order to be covered!

MMO8: Buying a Home

Why is this the last MMO?

  • Need emergency fund before buying a home
  • Have retirement automated
  • Have non-retirement savings automated

When to buy?

  • Stable duty assignment of >2 years
  • Have down payment saved of at least 5%

How to buy?

  • VA Mortgage
    • Funding Fee at closing of 2.15%
    • No down payment required
  • Conventional Mortgage
    • Required at least 5% down payment
    • No funding fee (lower closing costs)
    • Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) if less than 20% down

How much should monthly payment be? * 25-35% of take home pay OR no more than Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH)

When NOT to buy?

  • No down payment saved
  • Unstable duty station (2 years or less)
  • Right before deployment

Connect with me:

www.linktree.com/timmemak

www.instagram.com/timmemak

https://www.veteransunited.com/va-loans/

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Planning for college can be A LOT to think about. In the video I break down a few different things.

Funding College (Where are we getting the money to go to college??)

  1. GI Bill Benefits

  2. Custodial Accounts (UTMA/UGMA)

  3. 529 Savings Plan

Price of College (what can we do to get the price down for college?)

  1. College choice (in-state vs private vs community college)

  2. Tutoring to improve ACT/SAT Scores

  3. Work while in college to offset living expenses

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"For every ten coins thou placest within thy purse take out for use but nine. Thy purse will start to fatten at once and its increasing weight will feel good in thy hand and bring satisfaction to they soul." - Richest Man in Babylon

We are SAVING NOW to build WEALTH and to avoid GOING INTO DEBT LATER!!! In Money Marching Order 6, we are going to be investing 10% of your income into NON-retirement savings/investing. You will now be out of debt, have 3-6 month emergency fund, savings 10-15% for retirement, and now investing into NON-retirement.

In Money Marching Order 5 (Pension Plus) we are putting 10-15% of your income into retirement savings to cover the L O N G term. Now we want to put 10% into accounts for the short to midterm.

We want to invest that 10%: * Savings Accounts for expenses 1-2 years away * 2 years and more we want to have our money working for us! + Index Funds (S&P500, NASDAQ, etc) + Mutual Funds * DO NOT RECOMMEND SINGLE STOCKS for more than 5% of total savings.

Invest 10% in this step to cover future expenses: * Cars * Down payments * Home Upgrades * Vacations * ANYTHING

Connect with me:

www.instagram.com/timmemak

www.instagram.com/leadingwithcents

Tmcand22@gmail.com

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**Combat Zone Tax Exclusion (CZTE) TSP Benefits

Roth while deployed:

"Tax free in, tax free out"**

Contributions provide the opportunities to grow your TSP accounts through tax breaks and higher contribution limits

Contributions to Traditional or Roth TSP account is invested TAX-FREE Difference between Roth TSP and Traditional TSP in CZTE/DSA

Roth- Contributions AND their earnings are tax-free when you withdraw them

Traditional- Contributions are tax-free but their earnings ARE NOT tax-free when withdrawn

Contribution IncreaseTotal contribution limit goes up to $57,000 **Max you can contribute to a Roth is $19,500 even in CZTE/DSA then must switch to Traditional

Connect with me:**www.instagram.com/timmemak

www.instagram.com/leadingwithcents

BRS Guide

https://militarypay.defense.gov/Portals/3/Documents/BlendedRetirementDocuments/A%20Guide%20to%20the%20Uniformed%20Services%20BRS%20December%202017.pdf?ver=2017-12-18-140805-343

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"The military pension gives people an excuse to not contribute toward their retirement, so when they do retire, they have nothing in their TSP."

Money Marching Order 4: Body Armor

3-6 Months of Net Pay from LES

Money Marching Order 5: Pension Plus

If in Blended Retirement System

  • 30 y/o > Invest 10% into TSP

  • 30 y/o< Invest 15% into TSP

If in Traditional Retirement System

  • 15% into TSP

TSP Funds to invest in

70% in the Common Stock (C Fund)

20% in the Small Cap (S Fund)

10% in the International Fund (I Fund)

Stay away from Lifecycle and G/F Funds!!

Blended Retirement System

  • Defined Benefit- 40% pension @ 20 yos

  • Defined Contribution (match)- 5%

  • Continuation Pay- Paid between 8-12 yos

  • Lump Sum Option at retirement age

SEE my interview on About Face Podcast

https://youtu.be/JuJFpu9gQEs

Connect with me

www.instagram.com/timmemak

BRS Guide

https://militarypay.defense.gov/Portals/3/Documents/BlendedRetirementDocuments/A%20Guide%20to%20the%20Uniformed%20Services%20BRS%20December%202017.pdf?ver=2017-12-18-140805-343

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"That's when I drew the line in the sand and I said, enough is enough! That is when I started to snowball in the other direction."

We all have our story with finances.  We have all failed.  For every success story we have, we also have many more stories about how we did not succeed.

This is my story and when I decided to take responsibility and control of my financial picture.  There is still a lot of work to be done! 

Connect with me:

www.instagram.com/leadingwithcents

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Debt is the largest things holding people back from becoming successful financially.

Car loans, credit cards, and personal loans inhibit service members from saving money, putting away from retirement, and can put them into a revolving bad situation.

In this episode, Brian Brantley and I discuss the different kinds of debt and the traps surrounding our military personnel.

Connect with me:

www.instagram.com/leadingwithcents

www.instagram.com/timmemak

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"While in the service, you are pawns of the government. We serve our nation against enemies foreign and domestic...when you decide to exit the military, either transition out or retire- the military is DONE with you."

In this episode we cover bad debt and how to pay off debt along with the Blended Retirement System match.

-Pay off debt using Debt Snowball (smallest to largest)

  • Each car should not be more than 25% of your yearly income or no more than 3 months of pay

  • If in Blended Retirement System, turn on your 5% match.

  • Contribute into ROTH TSP 70% C Fund/20% S Fund/10% I Fund within your TSP

  • Stay out of G Fund and Lifecycle Funds

Connect with me:

www.instagram.com/leadingwithcents

www.instagram.com/timmemak

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Emergency funds are important!

Did you have one pre-covid? Do you have one now? Why or why not?!

In this podcast I cover MMO #2 which is your Helmet (starter)Emergency Fund

-Need for emergency savings

-Savings behavior

-$1,000-$2,000 for initial emergency fund

If you are just joining me this episode, please go back and listen as these episodes are foundational and cumulative!

Connect with me:

www.instagram.com/timmemak

www.instagram.com/leadingwithcents

www.facebook.com/timmemak

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"I want my financial goals to outlive me in the circumstances in which I am no longer around to fulfill them."

Brian is a former licensed financial planner, now an active duty Army Officer and is experienced in the different financial products on the market today. 

In this episode we cover some good, bad, and ugly of the life insurance area.

Connect with me:

www.instagram.com/leadingwithcents

www.instagram.com/timmemak

Watch the Podcast @ https://studio.youtube.com/video/LHVMN2_7KIs/analytics/tab-overview/period-default 

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2020 was definitely a hard year for everyone. You may have issues that started before 2020, that were simply exposed by the hardships of 2020.

You need to identify your struggles and show up everyday to overcome these struggles. Everyone has them, but not everyone shows up to work on them.

Financial wellness and mental health go hand in hand. We need to show up for our soldiers, our leaders, and our people. 

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In this episode we cover Money Marching Order (MMO) #1

STOP MOVEMENT AND GET YOUR HEADCOUNT

  1. Cancel Subscriptions

  2. Credit Card Shred/Freeze

  3. Service Member Civil Relief Act Application

  4. Life Insurance Assessment

  5. Will/Estate Plan

  6. Budget

Links for this episode

SCRA https://scra.dmdc.osd.mil/scra/#/home 

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In this episode, I go over my structure and steps for the military financial plan, Money Marching Order.

The Money Marching Order is:

  1. Stop Movement

  2. Helmet Emergency Fund

  3. Pay off Debt AND BRS Match (sorry Dave)

  4. Body Armor Emergency Fund

  5. Pension Plus

  6. Save + Invest

  7. College Planning (GI Bill, 529, etc)

  8. Buying a Home

Each step has their own sub steps! Very important to listen. We will cover each step in detail later on!

Connect with me:

thenewaveragejoe@gmail.com

www.facebook.com/newaveragejoe

www.instagram.com/timmemak

www.linkedin.com/in/timmemak

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I dive into my "WHY" and point out the flaws in the military personal finance arena.

Mainstream financial gurus and shows fall short in regards to military members and military personnel. They fall short because they've never walked a day in your shoes.

Connect with me:

thenewaveragejoe@gmail.com

www.facebook.com/newaveragejoe

www.instagram.com/timmemak

www.linkedin.com/in/timmemak