MilitaryToFinance
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Posts posted by MilitaryToFinance
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I think Tebow is an absurdly overrated quarterback. However if this signing has something to do with the fact that Gronkowski is about to get back surgery I think it could make sense.
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Negative. Get an MBA from DL if you are an engineer.. so you can get a real engineering masters and a crap MBA.
You are making the assumption he is an engineer and wants an engineering Master's degree. That's why I asked what he means by value. Personally after my BS in Mechanical Engineering I had no desire to ever get a MS in any engineering related field. If you think at some point in time you want to actually get out and not be an engineer having a real MBA will help. Having a crap, distance learning MBA nobody is going to take seriously. If you want to just check the box then get whatever crap degree is cheapest. Don't waste your 1 and only chance at an MBA on a garbage program.
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Depends on how you define value. It's above University of Phoenix online MBA but nowhere near the caliber of UNC's online MBA program. However if you want a cheap MBA that is a step of the usual for-profit crap military people go for then it's a decent "value." I still wouldn't waste the time/money on it though. If you want to check the box then take the easiest route to checking the box, just go to AU or Toro and get a stupid military history masters. If you want an MBA because you want a real education/degree then go get a real MBA. You only get one chance at an MBA.
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Looks like he's got a job offer to match his skill level.
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Ugh. It doesn't matter whose rights you care about at this point, the new precedent has been set. Constitutional rights are no longer rights, they are privileges, to be assigned and revoked at will. Oh the plus side, we'll have great stories to tell our grand kids about living through the systematic dismantling of one of the most seminal documents in human history and the subsequent demise of the republic.
Sorry Ben, but I think you knew we wouldn't be able to keep it for long...
Rights, what rights?
http://politicker.co...have-to-change/
My favorite part has to be this
“Look, we live in a very dangerous world. We know there are people who want to take away our freedoms. New Yorkers probably know that as much if not more than anybody else after the terrible tragedy of 9/11,”So instead of worrying about terrorists attacking us to take away your freedom the government is just going to go ahead and let you know you have no freedom. That way the terrorists won't attack us anymore. I swear this guy must have a pair of lightning bolts tattooed on him somewhere under those suits.
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The scary thing is I posted that on Facebook and almost every one of my friends said they see no problem with it. Apparently the Constitution only matters when you feel like it.
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Young guys: if you are reading this thread, you are trying to maximize your income to secure a comfortable retirement. Owing people money, even for a "short" time and even if you can "afford" it does not contribute to your net worth. Millionaires don't get to where they are and say, "Man, those credit card rewards really helped me get here." They got there by living within their means, which means they did not BORROW MONEY.
It continues to blow my simple mind as to why this such a difficult concept to grasp.
It's amazing to me how such supposedly smart people are so incredibly stupid when it comes to money.
As one of the "young guys" I'm very glad I have enough financial knowledge to know how shitty Champ's advice is. At least JS seems to understand things like opportunity cost and interest rates. These are probably the most basic things in finance.
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5000 years of human history would vehemently disagree with you. Gold is actually the only substance humans have used as currency with intrinsic, timeless value. No it does not generate cash flow, but if you think creating a currency backed by gold is worse than creating a currency out of thin air, than I think you probably read too much from Paul krugman. I would argue that the value of gold doesn't really change, it's actually the value of the fiat currency that we use to measure the value of gold that changes.
You are confusing an "ideal" world and the real world. You misunderstood my point about creating a currency entirely. The reality is we have a fiat currency that is legal tender. That currency will not go back to the gold standard. Even if it is more beneficial in the long term that doesn't matter, our government will not impose that restriction on itself. So that leaves you with 2 options. 1) Buy physical gold and attempt to barter with individuals by paying them in gold like we did thousands of years ago. It's not legal tender so nobody can be compelled to take it and the feasibility of that is slim. Option 2, you create a new currency backed by physical gold to compete with the USD. This is what the Liberty Dollar was which was started in 1998 and shut down in 2009. Despite assurances from Treasury that it was legal as long as he didn't call it "legal tender" once the idea gained popularity the Feds raided them, arrested him and seized all the gold and silver backing the currency. THAT was my point about not being able to create a currency backed by gold.
Sure if you are one of those nut-jobs who believes that the whole US government will collapse, the country is about to degenerate into complete anarchy, nobody will accept USD as currency anymore and gold will be THE currency, then by all means hoard your gold. But if you recognize that the likelihood of that happening is so slim as to be totally ignored then I suggest you focus your investments on real investments. It is meaningless to say that gold holds it's value and the fiat currencies fluctuate when you can't actually SPEND that gold on anything. Ultimately it's value as denominated by legal currency is what matters. So if the gold you bought in 1987 is worth half the purchasing power in USD today as it was then I would say you made a very poor investment choice.
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All I know is that USAGX (Precious Metals) has not been so kind in the last 6 months. Some analysts are saying gold is going to keep dropping to pre-bubble values, some say it will bounce back.
Buy a shit ton at a discount rate? Bail? ugh, I should have just buried cash in my back yard.
Discount to what exactly? The huge bubble from the last decade? Gold is nothing but a hunk of metal we dig out of the ground in poor countries, ship it to rich countries and then bury it in the ground again and say it has value. Gold will never generate free cash flow, gold will never produce value in the economy. It isn't an actual currency and you can't create a currency based on it in the US (if you think you can then you need to read up on the Liberty Dollar and what happened to the $7 million in bullion backing it). Despite what people try to tell you it is not an inflation hedge. In fact the inflation adjusted high from the 1980's is about $2,700/oz. Not a great hedge if it has lost 50% of it's value in 30 years. There are some precious metals that have uses and value but gold isn't one of them.
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Yeah I love my SV, it was my first bike and I'm going to miss it. The V-twin is nice for commuting since you don't have to rev like crazy to get torque and the 650 is enough power to have fun but not stupid fast for a first time rider. It was also pretty affordable. Hopefully I'll have the money to get a Ducati at some point in the future.
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Anybody in Colorado Springs looking for a motorcycle? I'm going to be looking to get rid of it this spring/summer. I love it but I feel like it would be a death-trap when I move to Manhattan in the summer. Has an almost brand new chain and sprocket and I'll be putting on a new set of tires here shortly.
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Yeah and of course my broker has a nice easy form to fill out but TSP says, we will not accept broker forms you must use ours. So I sent both to my broker and asked them to fill them both out and mail them. We'll see how long it takes, I'm sick of the crap options TSP offers.
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Has anybody rolled their TSP over to an IRA before? I'm attempting to do that now and it seems to be taking forever. I got their form notarized then sent it to my new broker since they have to sign it as well. My broker sent me an email last Wednesday saying they had processed the paperwork and sent it to TSP. As of now TSP hasn't even acknowledge that I sent the form let alone started processing it. Is this unusual to take so long or standard procedure for TSP?
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Fear mongering.
Ok Tonka, I can't totally disagree with that. But partially...
1st, post-911.
2nd, I would just wager that those young grunts would do better if we gave them a skill, not a degree. It is a brutal rat race out there for jobs and a degree from Podunk U isn't going to do a whole lot for you.
Now...if we could just teach them all to fly airplanes!
I couldn't agree more, especially with #2. And when you separate they tell you about all the different programs available to get your skills recognized. Since we know the military can't ever use a tried-and-true civilian certification system there are lots of programs that will help you get the civilian equivalent certification for the skills you gained on AD. And if you don't want to use the skills you learned while in the military then you have the GI Bill to go and learn something totally new at a real institution not AMU/Toro/Webster U.
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Did USAA break their Deposit@Mobile functionality on their newest update or am I the only one having problems? If you click the deposit button it brings up a screen saying "Acquiring your location, this could take up to a minute." And then gets stuck there. Never goes anywhere. Talk about a pain in the ass, I don't think I have any of their mail-in deposit forms since I haven't used them in years.
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Wasn't it ARMs that got us into this mess? Good luck, hope you sell, or you will regret it.
Www.daveramsey.com
Dave Ramsey is only good for people who don't understand money and got themselves buried in debt and can't get out. His methods aren't good for growing long-term wealth. No ARMs did not get us into this mess. People buying houses they couldn't afford with mortgage terms they couldn't understand got us into this mess. Adjustable rate mortgages are actually a great tool for those who understand exactly what they are getting into. Read the fine print, know what your interest rate is allowed to reset to and how often. Make sure you can afford that payment as well. If you are using the ARM because you can't afford the final payment rate then you are wrong. If you are using it because you can afford the loan either way but want to take advantage of the lower rate in the near term that is why they exist.
Just like those scary credit cards that Dave Ramsey tells you are the spawn of satan. Well used debt is actually a very strong tool to utilize. You shouldn't be afraid to do things just because somebody else got themselves screwed by not understanding what they agreed to. Using leverage appropriately will lead to a much higher net worth in the end than being so terrified of debt you won't ever invest in your future.
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Sector Carpets are your friend. You can drill down to each sector and see the leading stocks if you want to get to that level as well. Just click on the sector you are interested in.
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Looking to start another mutual fund.
Any reason not to just throw it all in a S&P 500 index fund? Any good websites anyone would recommend to do a little research? Thanks.
How much time do you have to do research and keep track of the market? Also how much do you care about having above average returns?
If you have the time, with ETFs these days you should, at a minimum, focus on more specific sectors within the SP500 and rotate between them. Which sectors are performing better at any given time depends on the economic cycle and a number of sectors move inversely to each other(like consumer staples and consumer discretionary). If you buy the SP500 as a whole you get the winners and the losers. Focusing on sector takes a lot less time than trying to pick individual stocks but still gives you the benefits of more focused investments.
If you have the time I highly suggest reading The Visual Investor by John Murphy.
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Investment Banking is by far the worst. Analysts will work 80-100 hours a week, Associates(after MBA) don't usually work the 100 hour weeks but 80 hours isn't that unusual. It depends a lot on how your VP and MD are. Consulting the hours are more like 60 a week but you will be on the road all week, ie leave Monday morning, fly home Friday evening, for the majority of your weeks. The buy-side roles, like hedge funds and private equity you actually have much better hours to go along with the better pay. That's why they are so competitive. Most folks I've talked to in private equity usually work 60 hour weeks, weekend work isn't that common. Hedge funds you really can't say because it varies so much depending on the type and size of the fund and what your role is in that fund.
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I get the feeling that the 150k+ a year harvard MBA guys all did something PRIOR to going to get their MBA, and are simply making a touch and go at the school and back to their same company or similar at least. More of a stepping stone than a 'hey I just done graduated now I get paid a gizillion bucks'...
Very few students at M7 schools go back to their original employer. Occasionally somebody from the M/B/B consulting firms will get sponsored to a top tier MBA but it is rare these days. In banking if they like you that much they'll direct promote to Associate without the MBA because they don't want to lose you for 2 years and fork over the money. And if you leave a buyside firm you will rarely go back to that same company because they only care about making money and they will fill your spot as soon as you leave for school. Now those people who leave a bulge bracket bank or consulting firm might go back to the same company or a similar company after school but there is no guarantee of a job.
That being said, in terms of the salary amounts $150k doesn't require previous experience in those fields. Starting pay for Associates at bulge bracket banks is basically the same across the street, $125k base salary and ~$80k performance bonus, and does not require previous banking experience. Obviously the performance bonus will vary but last year for first year associates the range was $65k-212k, so even at the low end your total pay was $190k. Consulting firms also hire people with no consulting experience right out of top tier MBA programs with fairly standardized pay scales. Current pay is about $125k base salary but bonuses are usually between $25-50k.
You are correct though for those huge numbers you hear, like the guy from Wharton's 2012 class who had a $200k signing bonus or the Stanford grad in 2012 who's pay package was over $500k. That requires previous experience. Those are the people going to buyside firms getting huge performance based bonuses. Pay at those firms is highly negotiable and if you show you are worth it they will pay you absurd amounts of money. But in order to have that worth you need previous work experience on the buy-side which none of us will have. I'm a huge proponent of getting a top MBA, in fact that is why I separated from the AF, but don't look at the numbers and think you can go to Harvard and land a private equity job at KKR making $300k just because you're smart and went to Harvard.
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Is it not true that most schools will not let you do an MBA program if you already have completed an MBA at another school? For exmple, I heard that if you get a bullshit MBA from one school and then try to go to a top University like the University of Chicago, you are not allowed to be admitted into their MBA program.
Does anyone know the accuracy of this statement?
This is 100% correct. That is why I advise people to not get a bullshit MBA because you lose out on that opportunity to get a real one with a real network later. If you want a BS degree go to TUI or AMU and get a degree in military studies or some crap like that. No reputable MBA program will accept a student who already has an MBA.
Just don't tell them.
And ignore this horrible advice. Lying on your application is not going to get you into school. If you do get accepted every major program uses background check services to make sure you were honest in your application. This includes the question they all ask to list any education and advanced degrees.
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Has anybody used the Movers Advantage service? I'm going to be selling my house but and moving into a rental. I used the USAA car buying service and it was great but I've heard nothing but bad things about USAA mortgages. Since I'm just selling and not buying a house then I wouldn't have to worry about the mortgage part. The cash back sounds nice and I like sending business to USAA if I think I'm going to get something quality out of it.
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This might be old news to some but it was new to me so I thought I would share. I'm separating in a few weeks and had my JPPSO appointment last week to plan my final PCS. I entered active duty in Atlanta but I am moving to Connecticut for my final move so I assumed I would be paying money out of pocket for the extra distance. However the payment is calculated differently than I realized. First they calculate your Max Government Obligation, which is based on the total amount you are allowed to move for your rank. So in my case as a Capt with dependents I'm allowed 14,500 lbs to move to Atlanta and that is the MGO. In reality I'm going to be moving around 6,000 lbs to Connecticut. I assumed that they would calculate the cost for moving my 6,000 lbs to Atlanta then I would have to pay the difference for moving further. Since they use the MGO not my actual weight that means that since moving 6,000 lbs to Connecticut is less expensive than moving 14,500 lbs to Atlanta I actually won't have to pay anything. That was pretty good news for me. Just thought I would add the info to this thread in case others were under the same impression I was.
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More writing on the wall: Much in line with the report I posted from the "liberal think tank" that some believed wasn't to be taken seriously, The Congressional Budget Office just released a detailed report effectively saying we enjoy too much pay and too many benefits.
http://www.cbo.gov/s...itaryComp_0.pdf
Apparently, the military retirement system is approaching $1 Trillion in unfunded liabilities.
Also,
Hear me out on this one before you attack me, I think the problem is that we are paid based on rank and TIS not AFSC. For the majority of Air Force officers I would argue we are fairly paid if not over-compensated for the amount of work done. I'm talking about support roles, not pilots/navs here. Looking at acquisitions officers, scientists, finance officers, personnelists etc the pay and benefits are above industry standards. As an engineer my Lt pay was certainly lower than what I would have gotten in industry but by the time you make Captain the pay and benefits are actually higher than comparable civilian jobs. I'm in the process of separating so I've looked at this quite a bit. The average work-week in my office is 40 hours, 45 hours is a "long week," even for the O-5/O-6's more than 45 hours would be outside the norm. If you include tax benefits, medical benefits and actual pay I'm making the equivalent of about $90,000 salary at a civilian company. Not to mention 4 weeks of vacation and thousands a year in tax free per diem. So I work less hours, have better benefits and equal or more pay than if I left and took the same type job at a civilian company. And that is in a low cost of living area. I know Captains at LA AFB making around $110,000/year working 40 hours a week. That is just speaking for acquisitions but seeing how often all the "support" functions on base are closed and I think it is safe to say that most of those officers aren't working 50+ hour weeks.
Then you have pilots who deploy all the time, work longer hours in worse conditions than civilian pilots for less pay. But in order to give pilots a pay raise you also have to give the rest of us a raise too because of how the pay system works. Unless you go towards AFSC-specific bonuses instead of actual pay raises. As much as I love money it would be hard for me to explain why I need a pay raise. I'm not trying to diminish the incredible amount of suck that some career fields go through nor am I saying that everybody is overpaid. I'm just trying to highlight an example of why it is easy for people to think that. Most people here are pilots, surrounded by other pilots, who feel justifiably under-paid. But when I look around my office or the MPF I see lots of overpaid individuals and wasted dollars and sadly you're stuck with us.
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Posted · Edited by mappleby
I'm looking forward to this one. Let's see we've got hot chick strapping millions in cash to her body and tossing midgets as darts for an office party, what more do you need?