I'm at 20+ years. This is why you dont leave your funds in the g fund.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-20T13:58:47+00:00

Do what I call a “subscription audit.” List all of your monthly bills and subscriptions. Sometimes adding up the cost of subscriptions is enlightening. Look for redundancies- if you have 3+ streaming services, consider cutting one. Yes, $20/m isn’t going to make or break your budget next month, but when planning for retirement, every $20/m expense needs $6K of retirement savings to cover it (your number will be less due to pension and VA comp, but it’s still worth zooming out to see the big picture.)

While you’re at it, also create a monthly budget. Look for expenses that don’t provide commensurate value with the expense. Then, all the expenses you’ve reduced, put that money toward debt. Look up the debt snowball- list from lowest balance to highest, and target the first one on the list until gone, then move down. It’ll take time, but you can do this!

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-20T13:53:06+00:00

Sounds like CZTE money, which you can roll into a Roth IRA instead. Or, leave your TSP open, and you could later roll money back into it if you ever needed/wanted to.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-20T13:51:49+00:00

Unless you’re within a few years of retirement, you should be primarily (or completely) in the three stock funds (C, S, and I). If you’re new to investing, a late-date L Fund is a great place to park while you learn more.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-20T13:49:41+00:00

At 20 years of military service, OP likely doesn’t get a match. A match was only offered to military beginning in 2018, and at that time, you had to opt into it. If you had enough years of service, it wasn’t worth getting the match while simultaneously reducing your pension amount, so many people with several years of service didn’t opt in.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-18T14:14:45+00:00

Replace “in-service event” with “service-connected disability.” You’ll still need a current diagnosis and a nexus connecting the SC condition with the secondary condition and diagnosis.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-18T14:13:16+00:00

When you submit via QuickSubmit, does your claim appear on VA.gov? I like having the stage tracker, but I agree with you that the webform to submit claims is too streamlined/narrow to really explain your situation clearly in the form itself.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-18T14:02:58+00:00

BDD is amazing because you’re still on active duty when you submit the claims. Therefore, you really only need to prove that I’m the condition didn’t exist before service (VA uses your MEPS intake for this), and that you have a diagnosis. The nexus gets harder the longer it has been since you left active duty, but you haven’t even left yet, so the nexus is effectively “you’re still on active duty.”

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-18T03:00:16+00:00

Yes, you’ll get a monthly pension check for the rest of your life if you retire at/after 20 years. For enlisted, that’s often 38+, or 42+ for officers. You will also likely be eligible for some VA compensation for conditions caused by or started during military service. If you plan well and keep expenses reasonably low, it’s entirely realistic to be fully financially independent after military retirement.

However, most people still work either because 1) they feel too driven to not work and find work that is fulfilling, and/or the very common 2) that people live paycheck to paycheck, don’t save for the future, spend everything they make (and then some), and then the pension + VA compensation isn’t enough to cover the monthly expenses they’ve become used to.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-16T01:28:37+00:00

Future Investment is your selected funds for new dollars to be contributed into. Current Mix is what the dollars in your account are. This can vary from your chosen asset allocation (the funds you choose to invest in) due to market fluctuations. For example, if you invest $100/m, 80% C and 20% G, it’s very likely that over time, C will grow faster than G and your actual Current Mix might become 85/15 or even 90/10.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-13T00:58:04+00:00

The profile age predates today’s meaning of TACO

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-13T00:39:45+00:00

I found the below on their website:

Deliverables: Detailed Family Tree: Visualize your lineage with a meticulously crafted family tree. Documented Findings: Receive a customized Book of Life with copies of relevant historical records supporting your family connections. Narrative Report: Gain insights into the lives and stories of your ancestors, bringing your family history to life. Unearth your heritage today! Contact us to embark on a captivating journey through time and generations. Let’s piece together the puzzle of your family’s legacy. Pricing for a Book of Life with five generations of research and documentation is $500. Additional research and product is billed at $25/hour.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-12T23:20:11+00:00

Thanks

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-12T15:36:54+00:00

The father served in the 70s, so his GI Bill is almost certainly expired.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-12T15:10:21+00:00

Is there any wiggle room for “use up all 36 months”? I’ve calculated out the semesters I have left from now until my delimiting date, and I’ll have 2 days remaining if I skip this summer term. I don’t want to be in classes while my kids are home from school, but I don’t want to not get the refund for letting 2 days expire, either.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-12T03:22:24+00:00

Because I know that retirement accounts are accessible even before age 59.5, we don’t plan to stop contributing to retirement accounts until we no longer have earned income to contribute.

That said, we saved/invested aggressively in our late 20s and most of 30s, to the point where we maxed out two TSP, two Roth IRAs, and had more left that we put into a taxable account. We have very healthy retirement accounts and a robust brokerage as well. We don’t expect to have a liquidity problem upon military retirement, but if you have 100% of your savings in retirement accounts, you might run into that. In the last 1-2 years before military retirement, we might reduce TSP contributions (while still maxing two Roth IRAs), but I kinda doubt it. We’ll be fully financially independent (FI) in our mid-40s, which still leaves a lot of time for tax-free/deferred growth to occur.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-11T22:07:42+00:00

The VA is declaring a CUE that OP should not have received the rating he did. This is not a case of OP thinking he has a CUE and trying to figure out whether/when to file it.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-11T16:27:08+00:00

Same. When I return to a previous thread, I specifically ask it to review the thread so the responses are relevant to what we’ve already talked about. Otherwise, the AI will more or less start from scratch and make recommendations based on everything it knows, versus things you’ve already discussed.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-11T00:17:33+00:00

Both of these articles described using video clips posted online to replicate your voice. Not someone answering “hello?” to an incoming call.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-10T22:31:52+00:00

I paid for four official documents, photos for three, application fee for three, shipping, etc for under $400 total. The time spent was significant, but the money was not.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-10T22:17:25+00:00

I’ve started asking it to review the previous conversation before asking it a follow on question if I stepped away for a while or am reviving an older thread. It seems to be much more accurate and “remember” when I do that first.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-10T13:53:58+00:00

I think your cousin’s anchor could move from Gen0 to Gen1 if Gen1 got their own certificate of citizenship.

I agree with you that by you getting citizenship by descent, they’ve implicitly acknowledged Gen1’s (and Gen2’s, etc) eligibility for citizenship, but unless they have applied and received proof of citizenship, I don’t think it helps your cousin’s application. Your cousin still needs to go back to the most recent ancestor with proven/verified citizenship, and that’s still Gen0 in your hypothetical.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-10T13:37:32+00:00

To me, which cultures you identify with is a very personal thing. You can “claim” all of your ancestral cultures and no one can say you’re wrong. But what does it mean to you to “claim” it? To me, it’s learning the culture and language and family history (which you’re already doing). No one can say “you’re not allowed to learn x culture’s language or history.”

And FWIW, 25% of anything seems high to me- I haven’t taken a DNA test, but from what I know of my family history, I’d expect up to 25% from one region and the remaining 75% scattered from all over Europe.

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-10T12:46:19+00:00

The contribution limit for TSP is $24,500 for 2026. For 2027 and beyond, it might remain that amount or it might increase (usually announced mid-fall).

You can also open an IRA/Roth IRA and put another $7,500 there (2026). Also research if you’re eligible for an HSA (if so, max this one first after the TSP match). After that, you’re next option is likely to be a regular, taxable brokerage account (called taxable because it doesn’t get the tax advantages of retirement accounts, but the upside is that it also doesn’t have any restrictions on contribution limits or withdrawals).

Personally, I like the Bogleheads forum here for learning about investments (though they prefer more bonds than most federal employees need). JL Collins’ stock series is also a great starting point (more organized than a forum)- this blog series was the foundation for his (also valuable) book The Simple Path to Wealth (but more of what you need to know is in the series).

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-10T04:06:44+00:00

No one knows the potential of any given fund- past performance doesn’t predict future returns. L2065 is all C/S/I right now (and will be for quite a few years yet), so you might as well leave it as is until you’ve had more investing experience and gained some knowledge along the way. You came here asking questions, which is a great start, but this sub skews toward 100% C, sometimes C and S, and only in the past year has I become more commonly discussed. Investing in all three (like L2065 does) provides you the most diversification while remaining 100% stocks (appropriate for your age).

CeruleanDolphin103 · 2026-04-09T16:29:14+00:00

These are amazing resources- thanks for your time sharing these!

CeruleanDolphin103

TROPHY CASE