- Two pensions/VA bens: $5100/mo (net) (so we’re lucky here…wife was active duty and pulls a pension as well. This could go up depending if I qualify for VA benefits, but I’m not counting on anything)
Have you read Nords on this site and http://the-military-guide.com? Invoking his name here so he'll swoop in and tell you you are doing great.
Thanks, Basenji!
Yep, Tubby, you're good. I have scant anecdotal data for this next statement, but EVERY. DUAL-MILITARY. RETIREE. COUPLE. that I have ever heard from (over a dozen) has more money than they need. They're more concerned about estate planning than cash flow. I'd expect to hear from the dual-military retirees who are having financial problems, but I have never been contacted.
Ideally you've already filed your VA fully-developed disability benefits claim and been to your C&P exams. If not, contact VSO Ryan Burgos at the Tripler DAV VSO office for a chat. (433-0490, DAV.VBAHon@VA.gov) It might take 4-6 weeks for you to get an appointment. While you're waiting you could read this post:
http://the-military-guide.com/va-really-disability-claim/You may be saving your leave for a big chunk of terminal leave, but you could also take a day or two of leave each week to practice easing into the retirement life. In a few months you'll be experiencing "The Last PCS" in a new location, in a different home, taking care of the domestic routine. You'll have plenty to do while you contemplate the next phase of your financial independence.
Your tweens don't care about you setting a good example by providing for them. They might be concerned about their allowances, but you can reassure them that you have a budget and savings. At this point in their lives they just want to spend more time with you (and know that you're around to cater to their every whim). Besides, at these ages (the "danger years"), pretty soon they'll stop talking to you and won't want to be embarrassed in front of their friends by being seen with you in public. Around age 15 they'll be thinking about ways to relieve you of your car keys, and after that they'll start expressing their independence (through rebellion) as they flap their wings on the edge of the nest. Once they're launched then you'll have plenty of time to think about a new career as a giant douche. Or not.
Your spouse has to find her own way to enjoy her financial independence. If she's feeling challenged & fulfilled, and if she has enough autonomy, then she really has no reason to ever stop working. (There's certainly no financial reason to continue working.) You'll figure out your own interests. The rest of 2016 and early 2017 will be busy enough. Don't rush into the rest of your life.
If your spidey senses are tingling about your rental property with mortgage #1, then you should sell it. The cash flow is not great and you can do without the hassle. If you buy another home in your retirement location and apply for a mortgage on it, the lender will certainly punish you for the finances of that rental property. And by the way, you and your spouse's VA disability ratings will probably make you eligible to wave the funding fee on a VA loan. That might be a better deal than a conventional FHA loan. With your dual-military pension income (and its annual COLA), you can stretch out the mortgage payments for 30 years. Our mortgages won't be paid off until I'm 80 years old.
In the meantime, let me know if you want to get together again to go over the details one more time. Or we could just go surfing at White Plains Beach.*
[* Scheduling: I'm free for the next couple of weeks, then I'm off island from July through early October.]
