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Warrior

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Posts posted by Warrior

    Saddle up for Syria? Or Op Deny Christmas '13

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    This whole scenario has "Sum of All Fears" written on it. Instead of crazy Nazi who uses nuclear bomb as a catalyst for war between Russia and US, it is Al Qaeda that (could have) used chemical weapons as a catalyst of war between Russia and the US.

    You mean like this guys claim?

    (Caution it's from infowars)

    http://www.infowars.com/exclusive-high-level-source-confirms-secret-us-nuclear-warhead-transfer-to-east-coast/h

    Promotion and PRF Information

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Ok I'll repost it. Currently at SOS, briefed by the AU/CC 3 star... he gave us a preview and told us it's coming. The whole system is changing, not simply a masking of whatever, but from my memory:

    1) SOS being shortened to 5 weeks because of the 100% requirement

    2) SOS Correspondence eligibility potentially moving until after in residence criteria has passed (have heard this one for a while)

    3) Promotion boards will require a certain amount of credits instead of mandatory PME completion. PME in res will fulfill required credits for that perspective board, however if you got a Masters in say, International Security Studies, and a PME class is International Security, you will get PME credit hours for taking that Masters class

    4) He said a lot of the senior leaders think the AAD should be masked until the O-6 board, however gave no indication on how Gen Welsh thought about that or what direction they were going, but hinted at changes for it.

    That's all I can remember right now...

    I was in the last class before they lengthened (sta) SOS to 8 weeks. They said the same stuff then...at least your points 1, 2 and 4. Not arguing with you, just saying the color and vintage of the koolaid at maxwell never changes.

    Do they still have the gallon jugs of beer at the shopette?

    "How to fix the Army: Sack all the generals"

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    Ricks' article from 2012 was discussed here wasn't it? My tapatalk-fu isn't good enough to search and paste the link.

    BL: I don't think this guy has anything new to say. Not that I disagree with him, just that it's not news. He'll retire and the machine will move on-what happened to the system after the Minot WG/CC who failed his PT test?

    Edit: that last post sure makes me sound like part of the problem. I despise the risk averse nature of the current AF. We talk ORM and it results in "ohh, that sounds dangerous. Don't go". It drives me up the wall. In other words, I think Davis and Thom ricks are correct in their assessment but in this case, calling a spade a spade isn't going to fix anything. Catch-22 much?

    VA Loans

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I'll throw my 2 cents in as well: I got a quote from nbokc when I bought my house last summer and it was competitive and the customer service was first rate. I ended up going with a local credit union whose terms blew away everyone else's.

    Mostly wanted to add that USAA's mortgage service is terrible. I use them for almost everything else but I won't be getting another mortgage from them. (Had a USAA mortgage on my last house).

    Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Q&A

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Jughead - I think we're on the same page as far as the benefits of different types of contributions.

    My real problem is getting DFAS to take money out of my paycheck and deposit in in TSP. Maybe I'll try making a traditional contribution for next month since I can't seem to get them to let me make a Roth contribution. It would be much easier if I could write a check....but I'm starting to get irritated that I won't be able to contribute as much as I'd like based on the fact that 3 months have passed with zero deposits and it's my understanding that I can't "back date" or otherwise contribute money that has been deposited in my checking account.

    Thanks again.

    Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Q&A

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    This is basically what I'm trying to do. So far my execution has been poor.

    https://www.tsp.gov/...oth/index.shtml

    My thoughts (other investment vehicles not considered):

    I dump $5k into my Roth IRA. In an ideal world, this $5k comes from tax free sources such as CZTE pay or left over TDY money so that it is never taxed. My next goal is $17k into the TSP. In the past (and until they finally open the Roth TSP), this contribution would serve to reduce my taxable income. If my ability to contribute is limited to $17k (i.e. I am unable to take advantage of the CZTE additional limit of $50k), there is only marginal advantage to putting tax free money into the Traditional TSP (this advantage being that the contribution will never be taxed). However, there is significant advantage to using tax free money in a Roth TSP.

    So, let's say I wind up with a six month CAOC tour later this year after the Roth TSP is available (assume May-Oct deployment for shits and giggles). Let's also say I'm terrible at managing my tax free trips and don't manage a cha-ching for the remaining six months. Also, let's say I have everything set up so that I contribute monthly to both my IRA and TSP ($416.67 and $1416.67 respectively). Since I'm deployed so long, I plan to max out my SDP as well.

    So, at the end of April I have $1666.68 in my Roth IRA and $5666.68 in the Traditional TSP. Before I deploy, I change my TSP allocations to the Roth TSP (same account) effective 1 May. I continue contributing throughout the deployment in this manner and prior to rotating home I change my allocations back to 100% into the Traditional TSP. So my balances at the end of the year are Roth IRA: $5000 (of which $2500.02 is never taxed and $2500.98 is post-tax); Traditional TSP: $8500 (all tax deferred); Roth TSP: $8500 (of which the entire amount is never taxed); SDP: $10000.

    That is how I envision the Roth TSP being useful to most of us...sheltering tax free money for life.

    Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Q&A

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Warrior

    Thanks for the responses. Brevity fail on my part, didn't include some pertinent info: Roth IRA is already maxed for the year, looking for more Roth savings due to low taxes this year. I'm a mid-level Capt/no bonus so exceeding CZTE isn't a factor.

    Shooting for a lower tax bracket may not be worth it in your situation. Remember that it's only those dollars above the line that get taxed at the higher rate. If you are $1 over the 25% bracket, only that last dollar is taxed at 25%.

    It also doesn't matter when you make your contribution as long as it's in the same tax year. You dont have to time contributions to coincide with deployed months.

    Would traditional contributions made in a tax free month still be deductible? I understand what you're saying about the margin, and that last $ taxed at 25% would be the point of diminishing returns for traditional contributions. You and I don't care what month that dollar showed up, but will my W2 show the sum of all traditional contributions made this year or only the contributions made in months that aren't tax free?

    Can't put CZTE money into the Roth TSP.

    That would explain the rejection. I'm assuming you're not senior enough to exceed the CZTE limit (i.e., all of your pay is tax-exempt while you're deployed to a combat zone).

    Source? That explains a lot, but I missed that bit of info in all my reading on the TSP website...

    ETA: Reading comprehension fail. So does this mean I can put money in traditional TSP then when I get home I can put up to $17500 in Roth? Not to exceed a total of $51k for the year?

    https://www.tsp.gov/planparticipation/eligibility/contributionLimits.shtml

    $17,500 limit Applies to combined total of traditional and Roth contributions. For members of the uniformed services, it includes all traditional and Roth contributions from taxable basic pay, incentive pay, special pay, and bonus pay, but does not apply to traditional contributions made from tax-exempt pay earned in a combat zone.

    $51,000

    An additional limit imposed on the total amount of all contributions made on behalf of an employee in a calendar year. “All contributions” include employee contributions (tax-deferred, after-tax, and tax-exempt), Agency Automatic (1%) Contributions, and Matching Contributions.

    But the website says this below the table:

    If you are a member of the uniformed services, you should know that Roth contributions are subject to the elective deferral limit ($17,500 for 2013 and $17,000 for 2012) even if they are contributed from tax-exempt pay. If you want to contribute tax-exempt pay toward the annual additions limit, you will have to elect traditional contributions for any amount over the elective deferral limit.

    So now I'm more confused?

    and FG - I did set up through myPay. Finance here told me that Roth TSP contributions are set up as allotments. But I've been wrong before...

    Again, thanks for ya'lls help. I'll do some more digging on CZTE pay not being eligible for Roth.

    Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Q&A

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I'm deployed since January, wanting to put money in ROTH TSP while I'm out here then make traditional contributions after I get home (this summer) shooting for the next lower tax bracket (married, mil-mil, she's not deployed).

    Cliffs notes version of the last few months: Allotment gets rejected, deployed finance office says they don't have anything to do with TSP and I need to talk to DFAS. I call DFAS, press 3 for TSP and get transferred to the TSP thriftline. TSP folks are nice, but not helpful - their answer is to talk to my payroll office. Around and around we go - anyone had similar experience/ideas on how to get it fixed?

    Only reason I haven't punted on TSP and gone to vanguard is without TSP (or a roth 401k equivalent) offered by your employer, I don't know of any other way to save after tax money that will be tax free when I withdraw it.

    Military in Uniform at Airport

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    I'm sure that most may know this but for those who don't.....Most, if not all, TSA checkpoints will let military go through the employee's line (whether in uniform or not). If they don't have a special line labeled for "military/employees" go through the First Class line. I travel through SLC quite often and they recently put up a sign in their "employees" line that says something to the effect "ONLY uniformed crews and airport employees". I asked the TSA ID checker girl and she scoffed. She said something to the effect..."F that sign. If you are in the military and I am working the only thing I am going to say is 'thank you for serving our country'" She went on to say that if the regular line is long for me to just go through the first class line. :salut:

    It's real tough to get frustrated when people are hooking us up like this - but I'll throw a little grip out anyways: I fly through DIA fairly frequently. Same situation as what you outlined above - some TSA ID checker/line guarders were cool as hell and sent me through the employee line. Next week I (being a reasonably intelligent person) learned from past experience and got in that line again. New ID checker calls me out and sends me to the long line. I don't really mind standing in line but it's nice to get in the shorter one (sts). But I really don't like being called out like that - it looks like I'm trying to scam perks like the D-bag Col mentioned earlier in this thread and I don't want to be that guy. The best part though is when you get to the front of the line to the TSA dude who is actually checking ID's and he says "Why the F didn't you come through that line?>points at the employee line"

    TSA - America's Finest

    Execs

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    If anybody hasn't figured it out yet, I'm a Sq exec. And though I wish I and the others like me had more time to concentrate on flying, I actually like my job because it gives me a chance to streamline the bullshit process a little better so we all go back to flying better. My Squadron leadership has the same goals. But bureaucracy is a tough bitch to undo.

    This was my attitude when I was a Sq exec. I did it solo and still found time to fly - but it helped that my CC gave me a lot of leeway to streamline the BS. I'm not sure when it became "not kosher to negative reply" because I did it all the time. Granted, I never did that in order to pass on doing something, and I would have had no problem explaining to the Sq/CC, OG, Wg or anyone else who asked why we didn't do XYZ. But if we didn't have anyone who could compete for the Sijan award, we didn't submit one. If we had someone who had a legitimate shot (sts) then we did - and this filtering out of BS allowed us to write better packages (sts) when we did submit one - I'd argue that putting real effort into awards that our guys could win is the better way to "take care of people" than the shotgun approach of submitting everyone for something.

    Join Spouse Info (Married military couples)

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Anyone (pilots) married to a doc? I married my flight doc and we're trying for a joint spouse assignment for her to complete residency while I keep flying. My CC is on board and we've been fortunate to personally meet with my functional. She's been accepted to an AF residency program - but we can't figure out when she has to commit (there's a contract associated with residency that we've been told is different from an ADSC). We're hoping that I'll get an assignment before she has to sign the paperwork because she'll punt on it and punch in 2 years instead of incurring the additional ADSC if we don't get stationed together.

    Bottom line: If you thought the Med Group was screwed up last time you showed up for some more Motrin, you haven't seen anything yet! It's the most un-military, military organization I've ever seen.

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