I have spent all morning reading posts in the finance section and there are a lot of off the wall questions, some good questions and some great info.

So that leads me to my question, im wondering if any readers have advice on my own situation.

21, single, enlisted (E-3), currently deployed, but only for a few more weeks.

Here are my numbers:
I make under 2,500 a month. (deployed pay)
$9,500 in liquid savings
$18,000 in a ROTH IRA, fully funding each year
$7,000 in TSP with a 20% monthly contribution
$10,000 in the SDP for deployed members, that will be paid to me with intrest, so about $10,400 in December.
Approx $3,000 in a brokerage account with USAA that I use to play the stock market.

I have no car bill, and only pay about 200 in monthly bills (including insurance and cell phone).

After this deployment I will be PCS'ing to Okinawa and moving into the dorms, so I will say goodbye to my BAS and BAH,(losing about 1,000 a month there, but gaining COLA) and buying a car, spending about 2,000.

So you may be wondering if there is ever a question in this post. Yes, what can I do to better myself financially for the future?

I have worked a second job from time or two, for the spare income wich is nice but not needed. I want to find more ways to make my money work for me.

Thoughts? Tips? Suggesstions? All are welcome and appreciated.

quote:

So you may be wondering if there is ever a question in this post. Yes, what can I do to better myself financially for the future?

Marry well and get a pre-nup

quote:

Originally posted by MortgageGuru:

quote:

So you may be wondering if there is ever a question in this post. Yes, what can I do to better myself financially for the future?

Marry well and get a pre-nup

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

You know, it sounds like you are doing remarkably well for a 21 year old. I would just continue with your smart decisions, keep saving and working hard. You might want to figure out what your medium term goals are: to be able to buy a house, go to school, or have a certain amount of money in investments. That way you'll have something to be striving for.

I must say, your current accomplishments are pretty impressive! You should be quite proud of yourself.

I quite agree with Kate, keep it up if it is working for you. Your working hard now to ensure a great future for yourself and maybe future family. You are thinking outside of the box. This is all going to pay off and you will be able to one day say, "I am working now because I want to and not
because I "Have" to."

Edited for advertising

This message has been edited. Last edited by: pipedreamsandbabies,

I wish I was as well off as you when I was your age. All I can tell you is that once your consumer debt is paid off, the rule of thumb for order of investing is this:

* 401k/403b up to the company match
* Max out Roth
* Max out 401k/403b
* Taxable Investing

This does not take into consideration whether or not you have an adequate emergency fund built up or not. Based on your initial post, you may need more in your liquid savings as you move forward, to account for lifestyle changes, family additions, etc.

Thanks for the good tips! I am angry that the TSP doesn't get matched for uniformed personnel, hopefully one day that get's changed.

Thanks for all the good information.

The majority of 401K's in the civilian world don't get matched either.

I have worked for several companies over the years and they didnt have any programs like this at all and if they did they wouldn't match it at all.

While it might not seem fair, remember Military is one of the only jobs out there were you can retire after 20 years and still have all the benefits including a pension and disability pay. Not many companies out there with this many employees offer that program at all.

quote:

Originally posted by 4a1x1Doll:
Thanks for the good tips! I am angry that the TSP doesn't get matched for uniformed personnel, hopefully one day that get's changed.

Thanks for all the good information.

Be careful what you wish for. I truly believe that the reason the Government opened up the TSP to military in the first place was for preconditioning of the removal of the current Military retirement plan. This will happen over the next twenty years.

I can assure you that was not the intent. The TSP was supposed to be opened to the military in 1990, unfortunately Sadaam Huessin invading Kuwait put an abrupt halt to that. It took 10 more years and a quality of life study by the Army listing some type of 401(k) savings, second to better housing like the Air Force gets, for DoD to take action and dust off the original legislation.

When it was reintroduced into the DoD Authorization Act of 2000, it was expanded to all of the services, then additional sources to contribution from versus what civilians can do, plus tax-exempt contributions while in a combat zone.

That's how it started. Fast forward to today, with the ever decreasing pensions out there that are very expensive to fund, there will likely be a change in the uniformed services pension plan. But it's not because of the TSP, it's in spite of it being offered to the uniformed services.

Anyone who doesn't think it will happen because of what we are asked to do, please ask the Canadian forces and UK (they are undergoing their shift right now along with the civilian pensioners) what kind of retirement plan they now have.

Good night all!