Mid-Career

NCO with a growing family. Insurance, benefits, and saving for college.

How to Vet a Financial Advisor (Before They Farm Your Base)
Anyone can print "advisor" on a business card. Here's how to check the ones who did.
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DIC and What Your Family Gets Beyond SBP
SBP is one layer. DIC and survivor benefits are the rest, if your paperwork is right.
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Your First Taxable Brokerage Account
No contribution limits, no withdrawal rules, and a tax bill that works differently.
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Capital Gains Taxes: The Basics
Hold longer, pay less, and on military pay, sometimes pay nothing at all.
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Military Divorce: What Happens to the Money
Pensions, SBP, TSP, and BAH: divorce touches all of them, and deadlines don't wait.
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The Accidental Landlord: Renting Out Your Home After PCS
PCS orders don't care that you bought a house. Here's the math of renting it out.
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HELOCs and Home Equity: Borrowing Against Your House
Your equity is real money, and every way of tapping it puts your house on the line.
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Securities-Backed Lines of Credit: Borrow Without Selling
Your portfolio can back a loan. Here's when that's smart, and when it can wipe you out.
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Marriage in the Military: The Money Talk
The wedding's the easy part. What actually changes in your pay, benefits, and paperwork.
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Enroll Your Family in DEERS
DEERS turns "we got married" into real benefits. No DEERS record, no ID card, no TRICARE.
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How Much Life Insurance Do You Actually Need?
SGLI gives $500,000 by default. How to tell if that's plenty or your family needs more.
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FSGLI: Covering Your Spouse and Kids
If you carry SGLI, the military can cover your family too. What they get, and the cost.
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TRICARE Prime vs. Select: How to Choose
Referrals, costs, and when each fits, for families choosing Prime or Select.
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TRICARE Dental and Vision Coverage
Active-duty dental, family dental via TDP, and how vision works via TRICARE and FEDVIP.
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Military Childcare and Fee Assistance
On-base childcare scales to your income; full slots? The military helps pay off base.
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WIC and Family Food Assistance
Pregnant spouse or little kids? WIC is built for you, and BAH usually doesn't count.
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EFMP: Support for Families with Special Needs
EFMP keeps a family member's medical or educational support in reach as you move.
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Tax Credits for Military Families: EITC, Child Tax Credit, and AOTC
Three credits worth thousands to military families, plus the combat-pay choice.
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529 Plans and Saving for Your Kids' College
What a 529 is, the flexible 2026 rules, and how it pairs with a transferred GI Bill.
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Behind on Your VA Loan? The New Partial Claim Program, Explained
The VA's Partial Claim pays missed mortgage payments, repaid with no interest.
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Wills, Power of Attorney, and a Healthcare Proxy
Young and about to deploy? That's exactly when these three free documents matter most.
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TSP Loans & Withdrawals
When borrowing from your TSP makes sense, and what it costs your retirement.
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Save for Your First Home
Build your down payment and closing-cost cash.
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Buying Your First House
From pre-approval to closing, step by step.
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First-Home Pitfalls to Avoid
The costly first-home mistakes to sidestep.
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Refinancing Your VA Loan
When refinancing your VA loan pays off.
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TRICARE for Guard and Reserve
TRICARE Reserve Select, what activation changes, and the drill-weekend question.
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VA Home Loans: No Down Payment, No PMI, and the Funding Fee
A VA loan skips the down payment and mortgage insurance, plus a funding fee some skip.
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