18X's Journal

Where are you and where are you going?
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18X
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2010 10:03 pm

Post by 18X »

Introduction:

My name is James and I'm 23 from the Washington DC Metro area. I have been a reader of ERE for nearly 2 years and read the ERE book about a month ago. I graduated in May with a degree in Business Admin. with a minor in Finance, and also spent the last year and a half focusing almost exclusively on investments and valuation for my minor. I currently work full-time for Marriott International at their corporate office.
ERE and My Goals:

This is where my story goes in an unexpected direction and will hopefully allow me to provide a new perspective to the forum. On 11/16/10, I will be attending the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) to enlist in the U.S. Army as an 18X Special Forces enlistment recruit and give my oath of enlistment. Hence, the user-name. I won't delve into details now regarding this, but suffice it to say I'm following a life long dream while working towards ERE. Assuming I make it all the way through the pipeline and serve out my time on an ODA, I don't know of any place else on this planet that I can get such a complete "renaissance man" level of training while getting paid at the same time.
This dream, along with some personal preferences, changes my timetable a bit. I hope to be completely financially independent in 10 years at the age of 33. The shortest enlistment for an 18X contract is 5 years due to the lengthy training leaving me with another 5 to continue to work and save aggressively. I can't determine now whether or not the military will be a continued career after my enlistment is up. Either way, I will make sure I have the finances to make any choice I want.
Included is a current copy of my personal finance documentation. I have actively documented my finances for the past year and 7 months, originating as an undergraduate project. The file is an Excel document that has been converted into PDF format for viewing. I understand some may be hesitant to open a file link posted on a forum, so I will try to include the highlights in this journal as text as I go along. I would appreciate anyone who does open the file to confirm its legitimacy for those who are hesitant. One last note, the accounting isn't perfect between the income statement and balance sheet and I have no intentions of trying to completely reconcile the two.

Financial Docs
Coming up - Current personal finance highlights (Good and Bad), and my strategy for ERE.


Robert Muir
Posts: 280
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2010 10:15 pm

Post by Robert Muir »

Yep, ordinary PDF file.
18X, I would recommend selling the gold, if necessary, the car, and pay off all your consumer debt before going in the service. As soon as you can, set up an auto-pay for the student loans from your service paycheck.
Good luck in the special forces. You're going to have the challenge of your life! If you can make it through the first year, you'll do very well.


18X
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2010 10:03 pm

Post by 18X »

Robert,
The consumer debt is interest free for 12 months on 2 separate purchases with different maturity dates. I do plan on using the Gold proceeds to pay off these debts before interest kicks in. The gold was received in the form of a 1997 American Eagle Gold Bullion Proof Set as a graduation gift from my grandmother. This is the reason for the high level of gift income this fiscal year.
I agree with you regarding the automation of payments before I enter the service. I just haven't completely laid out my plans on this front yet. A lot still depends on my ship date.


dragoncar
Posts: 1316
Joined: Fri Oct 29, 2010 7:17 pm

Post by dragoncar »

Honestly, this sounds like a great plan for those with the constitution to put their life on the line. I'm sure there's an academic way to discount the likelihood of death/dismemberment against the benefits package, but I don't think many people go into the armed forces for the cash. If I could go back in time, I might reconsider this option (not the exact same option, as I'd probably end up a specialist) but I hear if you do well, you are set for life plus have many options in the private sector. Good luck to you.
By the way, I looked at the PDF and am a bit baffled how you have a 10k Roth IRA expense... isn't that over the limit?


18X
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2010 10:03 pm

Post by 18X »

I have an unusual fiscal year for my statements due to when the project was assigned at my university. I decided to just keep with it for consistency. It's listed at the top of the statements. In the instance you are referring to, it was 4/1/09 - 3/31/10 and I had $5,000 contributed for 2009 and $5,000 contributed for 2010 within the fiscal year resulting in the $10,000. You'll notice no Roth contributions on the current fiscal year because I have to wait till 2011 to make any.


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