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Remem­ber­ing June Wal­bert: Tips to Hang Your Hat On
June Wal­bert was a men­tor, a sound­ing board, a team­mate, and above all, a trusted resource.
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Bud­get­ing Can Help You Weather Tough Times
When it comes to money, do you feel like you’re always com­ing up short? Well, you’re not alone.
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Auto Financ­ing: 5 Ways You Could Pay or Save Thousands
The pur­chase of a new vehi­cle involves a tan­gled web of finan­cial deci­sions that can make even an expe­ri­enced car buyer’s head spin.
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I wanted to let June’s many friends and fans know that today June lost her dif­fi­cult, but coura­geous bat­tle with can­cer. We will all miss her. She was a true friend, a great co-worker, and of course, a source of finan­cial wis­dom that touched many. In the com­ing weeks, we’ll rename this page but, in her mem­ory, never for­get June’s pas­sion for help­ing folks make sound finan­cial deci­sions. May 14, 2013
–Joseph “J.J.” Mon­ta­naro, CFP®, USAA Finan­cial Planner

May 14, 2013 • J.J. Montanaro

 Thanks for all the well wishes for June and her fam­ily dur­ing this dif­fi­cult time. We miss her already! In lieu of flow­ers June requested that con­tri­bu­tions be made in her name to the San Anto­nio Ani­mal Defense League or to your local no-kill shel­ters. JJ As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ with USAA June served as a per­sonal finan­cial expert

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Survivor Benefit Plan and remarriage

May 8, 2013 • J.J. Montanaro

  Q: When I retired I did not elect SBP for my wife. I later elected under the open enroll­ment plan and she was cov­ered for a few years. She passed away 3 years ago and I am fix­ing to remarry. Will my new wife be eli­gi­ble for SBP? Thanks. –James, Pol­locksville, North Car­olina A: As I’ve noted here, there,

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Reservists must coordinate contributions to TSP and 401(k)

May 1, 2013 • J.J. Montanaro

It’s impor­tant for Reserve Com­po­nent Ser­vice­mem­bers to syn­chro­nize con­tri­bu­tions to the Thrift Sav­ings Plan and their civil­ian employer’s retire­ment plan.

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TRICARE coverage different for young adults

April 29, 2013 • J.J. Montanaro

Q: My father has retired from the Air Force a while ago, and I have been able to con­tinue to have Tri-Care for health insur­ance, since I am in school. My ques­tion is, how long can I remain as a depen­dent under my dad’s health insur­ance? I have heard at the age of twenty-three, I have to pur­chase my own

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Former spouse’s retirement payments and remarriage

April 19, 2013 • J.J. Montanaro

Q: I am receiv­ing a por­tion of my ex-husbands army pen­sion due to a divorce. We were mar­ried 13 years. If I remarry, do I lose the pen­sion? –Lori, Sal­is­bury, Mary­land A:  This is a great ques­tion to review with your attor­ney. Gen­er­ally, remar­riage will not impact the for­mer spouse’s receipt of their awarded por­tion of mil­i­tary retire­ment. The Uniformed

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Credit counseling could help

April 15, 2013 • J.J. Montanaro

Q: I am a retired marine. Our credit cards debt is about $30,000. We have some sav­ings in mutual funds and retire­ment accounts. What would be the best way to get rid of our credit card debt? We have thought about get­ting a per­sonal loan, debt con­sol­i­da­tion, going through a debt relief agency but we’re not sure what to do.

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Roth TSP & IRA a dynamic duo

April 9, 2013 • J.J. Montanaro

Q: I love the Roth IRA because I can save on taxes on inter­est gained but can also remove my con­tri­bu­tions with­out penalty. I will con­tribute to a tra­di­tional IRA when my tax­able income goes up. Right now I’m deployed to Afghanistan so I don’t pay a lot of taxes. Ques­tion: Can I max my TSP ROTH at $17,500 per

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Death doesn’t eliminate mortgage debt

April 4, 2013 • J.J. Montanaro

Q: Dad has a VA loan he is con­sid­er­ing refi­nanc­ing to lower rates through the VA. This would help him with more income each month. His home is val­ued at around 100K and the loan will be 75K. My Dad is 68 and ok health wise, but if some­thing were to hap­pen to him, are me and my sis­ter going

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Make the most of tax refund

March 29, 2013 • J.J. Montanaro

Q: Help me decide!!! I am going bonkers here crunch­ing num­bers and think­ing in hypotheticals…but there has to be a bet­ter way. We are hav­ing a hard time decid­ing what to do with our tax refund and TDY that we will be soon acquir­ing. We are look­ing at hav­ing roughly $10,500 com­ing to us total. We have about $8,300 in

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Push up your credit score

March 25, 2013 • J.J. Montanaro

Q: Hi, I was won­der­ing if you could help me with a cou­ple ques­tions. First, my credit is very poor, what’s the best way to build up my credit? Sec­ond, how do I go about pay­ing off my debt? What would you rec­om­mend I do to clear all of it up? Thanks in advance. –Alberto, Mays Land­ing, New Jer­sey A:

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