KateHorrell - Helping Military Families Make The Most of Their Money

Maintaining All Your Stuff In One State: Why It Matters Now More Than Ever

20 February 2019

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Legal offices and financial counselors have been saying it for years: try to be consistent in demonstrating your state of legal residence. And there are always some military service members and family members who insist that it doesn’t matter, that no one has ever challenged them, and that the legal and financial folks are just… | Read More…

When Is The Next Military Payday?

18 February 2019

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We’ve got quite a series of regular, two week pay periods going on right now. Let’s take advantage of this opportunity to get our finances in order, okay? The next regular, active duty payday is Friday, 1 March 2019. When are you going to see that paycheck? Most military members will have their military pay deposited… | Read More…

Blue Star Family Survey : Spouse Employment Is Important

6 February 2019

This post may contain affiliate links, from which I may earn revenue to support this free site. All opinions are my own, and I only promote products that I use and love!

While you’re reading this, I’m on my way to the official release of the Blue Star Families annual survey of military families. While I’ve only seen the highlights (more to come!), the one piece that jumped out at me is that 70% of military millennials think that two incomes are vital to a family’s well-being…. | Read More…

What’s Your GI Bill Strategy?

30 January 2019

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Families across the country are knee deep in figuring out the best way to pay for college for their now-seniors, and the GI Bill is part of many of those conversations. Being able to transfer the Post 9/11 GI Bill to a kid is a huge benefit. When you have more than one child (we… | Read More…

2018 Tax Issues For Military Families

25 January 2019

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This morning, I had the pleasure of sitting in, via telephone, on a conversation about the biggest tax changes affecting military families and veterans. The primary speaker was LTC David Dulaney, Executive Director of the Armed Forces Tax Council. The Armed Forces Tax Council advises the Department of Defense (DoD) on taxes issues that affect… | Read More…

What Military Moving Expenses are Tax-Deductible?

21 January 2019

This post may contain affiliate links, from which I may earn revenue to support this free site. All opinions are my own, and I only promote products that I use and love!

PCS moves are expensive. Even with all the allowances, you’ll sometimes have some out-of-pocket expenses, especially if you have pets. Thankfully, unreimbursed moving expenses can be deducted from your income taxes, and they’re a most valuable type of deduction. Disclaimer: I am not a tax professional. Do not make any decisions based solely on the… | Read More…

We Can’t Really Have It All

16 January 2019

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“You can’t have it all, all at once. Who – man or woman – has it all, all at once? Over my lifespan, I think I have had it all. But in different periods of time, things were rough. And if you have a caring life partner, you help the other person when that person… | Read More…

Kate Rants: If Your Rental Is Not Making Money, Stop Saying “It’s A Good Investment”

13 January 2019

This post may contain affiliate links, from which I may earn revenue to support this free site. All opinions are my own, and I only promote products that I use and love!

As a financial educator, and a military landlord myself, I spend a lot of time talking to military families about their rental houses. In almost all cases, these are houses that the family bought at a duty station, and then rented out when they PCSed away from the area. Maybe that was the plan all… | Read More…

New Law Will Make Tax Time Easier For Military Spouses

4 January 2019

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This post has most recently been updated on 4 February 2019. The president has signed the a bill that permits military spouses to use the legal residence of their service member for purposes of taxes (and voting.) S. 2248 (115th): Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 2018 has a provision that states: “For any taxable year… | Read More…

How To (Maybe) Fix A Blended Retirement System Opt-In Mistake

4 January 2019

This post may contain affiliate links, from which I may earn revenue to support this free site. All opinions are my own, and I only promote products that I use and love!

You may remember that last January, there was a flurry of concern about folks who had accidentally opted-in to the military’s new Blended Retirement System (BRS) when they were just trying to check their Leave and Earnings Statement (LES). While that particular problem seemed to have decreased as the year went on, there were other… | Read More…

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