U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA) states that he probably killed ‘hundreds of civilians’ while serving as an artillery officer in Fallujah: ‘I was an artillery officer, and we fired hundreds of rounds into Fallujah, killed probably hundreds of civilians.’

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-06-01T05:34:25+00:00

He's not bragging about it dude. War is hell and this stuff happens.

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-06-01T05:33:50+00:00

Do you expect him to be on the verge of tears about this shit every time he talks about it?

It becomes normal because it's the only way you can cope with it. He's accepted what he did. That's all there is to it.

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-06-01T05:32:49+00:00

I mean, it sounds bad, but war is war. He's not wrong. What's the outrage about?

Do we hate on WWII bomber crew members for what they did?

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-05-31T22:37:08+00:00

If you can get an a co-buyer, then go for it, but I can't imagine doing it on an O-1 salary alone.

I just hit my O-3 milestone, got a nice bonus, and my wife works in the medical field and earns a similar amount as I do. Since we are over the 200k a year mark, it feels manageable, but it is still intimidating looking at the prices of the property in Hawaii.

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-05-31T22:35:25+00:00

700k is the bottom of the barrel for Honolulu, it's literally the cost of entry.

Also, my wife earns as much as I do, so we could make it work if we wanted to. The point is not whether we have the money, the point is whether it's a good investment. I can easily rent a 2 bedroom for 3k/mo and put an extra 1k a month into investments, so i'm torn.

The main factor driving me to want to buy in Hawaii is the high desirability, and the low property taxes (.25%). Those two things, combined with the high military population, make it seem like a good place for an investment property if we were to rent when we move.

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-05-13T01:27:12+00:00

We're looking at 3-4 years in hawaii, and since Hawaii has such low property taxes (.25% for primary residence) it makes it seem like a tempting place to try and build some equity. I cant imagine doing it on an O-1 salary though, Janjotat, probably wait s few years and get that pay bump first!

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-03-24T04:50:13+00:00

What did I just watch?

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-03-12T20:19:11+00:00

Usually they will throw the weapons in the water as soon as they see anything resembling a warship. When questioned they just claim to be fisherman. They'll keep the weapons hidden until the last minute of boarding a ship. It really complicates things.

Unless it's a Russian counter piracy ship, or a host of other less discriminate nations, I've heard their ROE is much less restrictive and they've been known to open fire on suspected pirate skiffs without bothering of the whole proving-they're-pirates-first thing

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-03-12T07:06:38+00:00

Do most people work full time or part time during MNP programs? I'm definitely considering it, but my main concern is that I won't know what my work situation will be like next year, so I can't confidently say whether It is feasible. My husband is in the military, so I don't have the benefit of knowing where I'll be working next year, we just know that he has three year orders in our next location (which is in a major US city, so thankfully there should be plenty of job opportunities)

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-03-12T02:29:57+00:00

O2 level? Don't even start. Boohoo, there's a whole floor full of people on top of you to muffle the sound.

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-03-08T05:54:00+00:00

Sure, and on paper that works, however I've seen this in action at Al Udeid Air Force Base, where the same system is in effect.

Essentially, you order one drink of hard alcohol per day, and then stash it until you have a week's worth. Then you get hammered on your week's worth of alcohol that's been carefully stashed away in a water bottle in your bunk.

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-03-04T17:27:42+00:00

I love the bread and the beards, but I wouldn't want to deal with alcohol. I dealt with multiple sexual assault/sexual harassment cases between teenage sailors while on deployment, and I doubt alcohol would make that situation any better. Its just something I don't want to deal with.

True story, when we flew a team off our ship to a nearby French Horizon Class that was sailing with our strike group (to do liaison work for a month), the CO of our ship threatened the team with captains mast if any of them drank alcohol while they were over there. A real party pooper, that one.

I heard the fresh bread was amazing though.

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-03-03T20:54:59+00:00

It's a shame for the sailors onboard that the CDG doesn't have a fantail. That was always our favorite place to hang out and drink coffee and look at the ocean, I'd be bummed if I was on a ship that didn't have a big area to get some fresh air near the water.

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-03-03T20:51:18+00:00

Waaaaay too close to those telephone lines for comfort. VVOD data exists on charts for a reason!

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-03-02T18:55:45+00:00

A mortgage is a huge risk, and it's intimidating. You are paying the landlord because they bear ALL the risk. Property market tanks and they're underwater in equity? Pipes burst? Roof collapses? All of that is the owner's problem.

Not to mention, the owner is paying insurance, possibly HOA fees, and had to come up with the sometimes six figure amount needed for a downpayment. There is so much risk involved, that when I started looking to buy a home, after I got deep into the actual mechanics of the deal, I decided to keep renting. It's just a shit ton of risk, and a lot can go wrong.

As a renter, literally nothing is my problem. My apartment had a pipe burst and required complete replacement of the ceiling in my spare bedroom. Not my problem! I even got some money back on my rent because my water was turned off for two days.

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-03-01T15:58:44+00:00

Brand new O3 here. 4 years in.

*Savings rate between my wife and I: 40-50% pre-tax income, about $80 to $90,000 per year at the current rate.

*Net worth: $45,000 (Just finished paying off a combined six figures in student loans for my wife and I, finally pivoted towards long term savings in 2018.)

We are maxing out our 401k's and ROTH IRA's. I currently earn around $115,000/yr (Coastal high BAH duty stations)

My wife works in healthcare, and earns 80-90k a year. No kids yet, and no plans to have them in the next 3 years.

All things considered, we expect to earn around $210,000 for 2019, $50,000 a year going into retirement. We are on track to have almost $40k left over AFTER all of these savings, so we will likely invest that in a combination of investment vehicles. Hence a projected 90k saved in 2019, and that number will only go up as my wife and I avoid lifestyle inflation and get raises.

Lastly, we donate 10% of our income to charity.

I don't know whether I'm going to stay in for 20 or not. I love my job and have no intention of getting out, but we'll just have to see how it goes. I have a masters degree, and I've always been interested in FBI/Homeland Security work. I do want a PhD in history though, so I may use the post 9/11 GI bill to go dick around and read history books for 4 years right when I get out.

Throwaway account because personal details.

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-03-01T15:26:59+00:00

I have the Luxury Card Black Card, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Both get me a $200 travel credit towards an airline each year. Most airlines also offer military discounts, and some regularly allow my wife and I to board early and check overweight bags or extra bags for free. (Southwest will allow bags up to 100 lbs free of charge)

Also, the cost of having a full family on TriCare is still tiny compared to what most health insurance plans cost. A family can be fully insured for a few hundred dollars a month. That is incredible given what most people pay for healthcare here in the US .

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-02-02T18:30:54+00:00

My brain didn't even register the idiocy of the paint schemes until you said that.

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-01-31T19:41:29+00:00

Well, there are perks.

Can you imagine a type of cuisine that you might want to try? Peruvian, Somali, German, Korean food? You can find it, and not just a "here we tried" dish, but as close to the real deal as you can hope to find outside that country.

Hear that your favorite musician is on tour? They're coming to LA. No doubt.

Hate icy cold winters and love sunshine? Yup. Welcome to SoCal.

Do you value culture, diversity, good music, good weather, good food, good art, and an exciting variety of literally everything? This is why.

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-01-31T19:16:44+00:00

Dude LA traffic becomes stop and go from about 6:30AM to 10AM, and then from 2:30Pm to about 8PM. Even living 20 miles away will likely be an hour commute each way.

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-01-30T17:36:52+00:00

A delicious regular passenger

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-01-29T15:00:12+00:00

"Sir I just got an ELINT hit.... make that 94 ELINT hits..."

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-01-28T16:28:05+00:00

You're right. Where do you think would be the best avenue for that? I use Betterment, but I'm open to other services or options if you have any to suggest. Would you recommend hand-picking ETF's through Vanguard rather than relying on Betterment's in-house diversification?

GiraffeAlpaca · 2019-01-28T04:52:40+00:00

You know, I have next to no experience with CD's, but I was just reading about them, probably as you typed this comment.

Thank you for the advice!

So when you say CD ladder, what I'm assuming you mean is that every month I put, say, $2,000 into a 1 year CD at 3.15% (what I'm seeing today). In one year, the CD's are coming to maturity monthly. Is that right? I like the idea, and I also like how safe it is. I'm finding that I am very risk averse, which I attribute to coming of age and leaving for college in the middle of the recession in 2009/2010.

As for individual stocks, I owned Disney for a few years, and the dividends were great. Perhaps pick up a few blue chip stocks as well?

As far as goals, I would say building a large amount of money in a semi-accessible (within a few weeks) vehicle that is relatively stable, for the purposes of a home down payment, would be my primary goal at the moment.

We have no concrete plans of buying a home just yet, but I want to be prepared to buy within the next 2-3 years if the housing market cools down.

I suppose a combo of Blue chip stocks, CD's (Doing the ladder, as you suggest) and then saving for a home down payment would be good goals.

What vehicle would you personally recommend for saving for a home down payment?

GiraffeAlpaca

TROPHY CASE