One of my family members (younger sibling) is separating from the military later this year (involuntary separation due to Army downsizing). He has an undergrad degree in business/finance but has not used those skills in 8+ years of military service.
Thank you all for the feedback - yikes - no idea EJ was/is this bad.
I have all of my investments with Vanguard and TSP (and bank with USAA) and have had great experiences (and returns) with all three.
Any ideas RE trying to talk my brother out of this plan? He is an ethical guy.
He can do so much better. I think he could reflect back on his military skills and see how well they dovetail with his business degree. Employers everywhere are seeking what he has-- the leadership skills, the crisis-management experience, and the math/business vocabulary. If an employer doesn't appreciate what he's bringing to the company then he doesn't want to work there anyway.
If he hasn't already, he needs to update his Linkedin profile and join the "Veteran Mentor Network" group. (
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4466143) He can ditch the "military inferiority complex" (which is a very common handicap) and focus on finding employers who will truly value both of his skill sets. That group has its fair share of recruiters and headhunters as well as military veterans in almost any field he'd care to network.
He can browse the blog's title archive (
http://the-military-guide.com/post-titles-by-month/) and contact me if he has more questions.
I don't know what codes the Army wants to put on his DD-214, but if he wants to stay in the military then there's always the option of joining the Reserve/Guard. I realize he may be pretty burned-out on the military right now, but I know a couple servicemembers who were involuntarily separated and went on to great careers (with military pensions) in the Reserve & Guard.