About Me
Welcome and thanks for stopping by my site! This blog is all about helping military members achieve financial strength and security.
I am an active duty Ensign in the US Navy, formerly enlisted in the corpsman rating, and am in my mid-thirties. I graduated college with an engineering degree in 2003, and prior to joining the Navy I worked as a test engineer at Caterpillar Inc. I have a somewhat unique perspective in that I had a regular private sector career, then joined the Navy as an enlisted guy, and then earned my commission. I plan to use that experience along with the knowledge I have picked up along the way to teach you about personal finance.
My wife and I enjoy traveling, eating delicious food, biking, SCUBA diving and spending time with our dogs. In the past neither one of us was what you would call frugal or financially savvy, but we both have the goal of being financially independent (but probably not retired) in the near future. If you want more information please check out my introduction post.
Joining the Navy forced us to spend less money, which was a good thing, but the transition was rough. It was at that point I realized I needed to educate myself much better about personal finance, and then apply that knowledge. I read a lot; from books to major websites to small finance blogs. Since taking action we have erased most debt, seen our net worth steadily grow, and most importantly paved the future for financial independence.
About this Site
I started this site for two main reasons:
- Teach and help military personnel with their finances
- Make finance information accessible and hopefully fun and entertaining
I plan to cover a wide range of personal finance topics, both general and military specific. I will go over basic subjects like budgeting, bank accounts, loans, credit cards, car buying and more. I will also delve into more advanced topics such as the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), GI Bill, insurance and investing.
I also plan to teach you through my honest personal experiences. I will show you what I did right over the years, and I will show you what I did wrong. It took me until my late 20’s to realize personal finance is important and worthy of effort, but I wish when I was 20 that someone had explained to me why it was important. If I had been educated back then I would be in a much better position today. If I can pass some of that knowledge on to you then mission accomplished.
If you want to get started with some basic finance topics start here or click on the basic finance category and pick a post that interests you. The basic finance posts are written with the assumption that reader is a finance novice, so the posts start small and build up from there. If you are looking for more advanced topics check out my other categories.
Thank you for visiting the site; I hope your time here is educational and entertaining. If you have suggestions for topics or how to improve the site please let me know via comments or the contact me form at the top of the page.
Pete