Doug Nordman (Nords) (@themilitaryguide) Bsky

There’s always a deeper connection!
This was us three veterans comparing our military incentive pays and how bonuses affected our adult behavior… and how a parent’s profit-sharing tactics can give kids the same incentives.
That’s my re-enactment of how our daughter (as a kid) was usually hooked.

1 week ago 2 0 0 0

You're welcome, I'm glad it's helping! We had fun recording that episode-- a "friends of friends" connection.
For those who haven't seen my 10+ years of guesting on podcasts (some with my daughter), our archive page is here:
militaryfinancialindependence.com/interviews/

1 week ago 2 0 0 0

Kilauea webcam installed after lava fountain buries previous camera The camera’s location on Halemaumau crater's south rim was selected as it is further away from the volcanic vents than the previous webcam

That's the type of live feed I'd rather view on camera than in person...
A few months ago one of the caldera webcams was buried under more than 30 feet of fountaining lava.
spectrumlocalnews.com/hi/hawaii/ne...

1 week ago 2 0 1 0

24 Years Of Military Retirement… And Surfing Yes, this is a website about reaching financial independence with or without the U.S. military-- but it’s also a blog about living your financial independence lifestyle. After that major downer of my post on Alzheimer’s lessons learned, I thought I’d write about a lesson that I’ve taken to heart. (And mind!) Surfing is not just for the challenge and the fun-- it’s an essential part of my life for preserving my health and my cognition.

24 Years Of Military Retirement… And Surfing
https://wp.me/p13Ju8-nof
#military #sot #MilitaryLife #vets #milfam #milspouse @MilitaryOfficer @MOAA_MilLife

1 month ago 2 0 1 0

Your Millionaire Interview Since you’re reading this post on a blog about military financial independence, here’s a question for you: have you ever thought about drafting your Millionaire Interview on ESIMoney? Simply thinking through a series of interview questions (while telling your story) is a compelling exercise. Maybe you’d even want to publish your stories on the site-- anonymously. “Publishing” on that site is part of the reason I’ve written this post, but…

Your Millionaire Interview-- yes, you!
https://wp.me/p13Ju8-noE
#military #sot #MilitaryLife #vets #milfam #milspouse @MilitaryOfficer @MOAA_MilLife

1 month ago 1 0 0 0

Dementia among your family or friends… or in your finances. Everyone knows that they need to spend time on their estate plans. It’s part of financial independence, and it’s even more important if you’re a military veteran with survivor’s benefits. Yet how much time have you spent adulting on your disability plan, especially for later in life with declining cognition? What about your loved ones and *their* plans? Recently in a thread on the Millionaire Money Mentors forum, the subject of cognitive impairment came up.

Dementia among your family or friends… or in your finances.
https://wp.me/p13Ju8-nmI
#military #sot #MilitaryLife #vets #milfam #militaryretirement #earlyretirement #milspouse @USAA @MilitaryOfficer @MOAA_MilLife
#FinancialIndependence

2 months ago 3 1 1 0

In-service Roth Thrift Savings Plan Conversions A reader asks: When you’re in the Blended Retirement System, does it make sense to convert the traditional TSP’s agency & matching contributions to the Roth TSP? It looks like an interesting new feature with the 2026 changes to the Thrift Savings Plan. The Short Answers: Yes, if you’re below the ranks of O-4 or E-7– even if you’re getting sea pay, submarine pay, flight pay, or other specialty pays.

Updated with new related links:
“In-service Roth Thrift Savings Plan Conversions”
https://wp.me/p13Ju8-njs
#military #sot #MilitaryLife #vets #milfam #militaryretirement #milspouse @MilitaryOfficer @MOAA_MilLife

2 months ago 1 0 0 0

Yes! Not only has my #military pension grown 82.4% in 23 years, but three of those years were a zero COLA...

We humans intuitively extrapolate compounding geometrically, not the exponential reality. There's also not many 85-year-olds posting about 23 years of Social Security COLAs after age 62.

3 months ago 2 0 1 0

“But Nords, You Have A Pension!” I’ve been a member of the Millionaire Money Mentors forum since late 2020. It’s tremendously accelerated the financial independence of its members, including a number of military veterans (and a few servicemembers). I’ve learned a lot from the other mentors, and my spouse and I have saved tens of thousands of dollars with their advice. On that forum, one of our Perpetual Internet Debates concerns the success (

“But, But, But Nords, You Have A Pension!”
https://wp.me/p13Ju8-nkC
#military #sot #MilitaryLife #vets #milfam #militaryretirement #milspouse @MilitaryOfficer @MOAA_MilLife

3 months ago 1 0 1 0

How Doug Nordman Reached Financial Independence at 41 Years Old In this episode of "What’s Your Investment?", Ron talks with Doug Nordman—Navy veteran, author, surfer, and founder of Military Financial Freedom. After serving 20 years of active duty in the U.S.…

I tremendously enjoyed talking with Ron Arceo at Ignite Funding on the new “What’s Your Investment?” podcast. We cover reaching #FinancialIndependence in the #military (real estate? index funds?) along with frugality vs deprivation. Ron’s a local, too: surfing!
#milspouse #milfam #vets #sot

4 months ago 2 0 0 0

In-service Roth Thrift Savings Plan Conversions A reader asks: When you’re in the Blended Retirement System, does it make sense to convert the traditional TSP’s agency & matching contributions to the Roth TSP? It looks like an interesting new feature with the 2026 changes to the Thrift Savings Plan. The Short Answers: Yes, if you’re below the ranks of O-4 or E-7– even if you’re getting sea pay, submarine pay, flight pay, or other specialty pays.

In-service Roth Thrift Savings Plan Conversions
themilitarywallet.com/leave-active-duty-for-re...
#military #sot #MilitaryLife #vets #milfam #militaryretirement #milspouse @USAA @MilitaryOfficer @MOAA_MilLife #milSO

4 months ago 1 1 0 0

To nobody’s surprise, here’s my keyword cloud for 2025:

4 months ago 2 0 0 0

Millionaire Money Mentors Black Friday Sale 2025 - ESI Money Let me be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas! I’m going to keep this (relatively) short and simple since most of you have seen a similar offer in prior years and know what’s going on. This post...

The Millionaire Money Mentors forum is open for the first time in a year.
I joined over five years ago, and it’s changed my life. I also wrote my Millionaire Interview and I stay active on the forum, so my membership is now free. Yours could be too.
esimoney.com/millionaire-...

4 months ago 2 0 0 0

Happy Thanksgiving 2025 - ESI Money Just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers in the U.S. I hope you have a great day with friends, family, and a ton of awesome food! Also wanted to let you know that tomorrow I’ll be running...

ESIMoney sells memberships in the Millionaire Money Mentors forum (for the first time in a year) on Black Friday.
It’s the best forum I’ve joined in 30 years. I’ve learned life lessons (& saved tens of thousands of dollars). No trolls, no scammers, no spammers.
esimoney.com/happy-thanks...

4 months ago 0 0 0 0

The 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate isn’t guaranteed to last for more than 30 years, but failures are rare! Learn more about it here, and boost your financial resilience for #FinancialIndependence.
#military #milfam #milspouse #sot #vets

4 months ago 0 0 0 0

Flip The Value: Facing Decisions - Military Financial Advisors Association A practical framework for making confident decisions by “flipping the value” and viewing costs, time, and trade-offs from every angle.

Now that Veterans Day is over and Black Friday approaches… how did you decide what you wanted?
Are you still trading too much life energy for “free”?
Are you still feeling the emotions of the scarcity mentality?
Do you have a mental goal of “enough”?

4 months ago 0 0 0 0

How Institutions, the Media, and Money Bloggers Address Working in Retirement - ESI Money Today we’re concluding our discussion on the Retirement Police. So far we’ve had two posts in this series: Grappling with the Retirement Police The Changing Definition of Retirement You’ll want to…

“Why yes, yes I am really retired.”
ChatGPT (and ESIMoney) agree.
An update on the Perpetual Internet Debate about what retirement really means.
esimoney.com/how-institut...
#military #milspouse #milfam #sot #vets

5 months ago 1 0 0 0

Speaking of Veterans Day, CFP Daniel Kopp has updated his gigantic guide to #military and #vets educational benefits:
buff.ly/B40mKMZ
This applies to #milspouses and families as well!
It’s the most comprehensive summary I’ve ever seen, and I learned a few details.

5 months ago 1 1 0 0

The tripwire of the 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate is your chance to change your life-- not just go FI.
Working for "just one more year" is burning life energy (which you might not have) for more money (which you will not need).
Cut your work hours, or go remote, or change your job/career. But no OMYS!

5 months ago 2 0 1 1

What's scarier than losing a workplace identity?

Not planning for a life after career-- or even dying on the job.

If you can reach #FinancialIndependence, then you can figure out how to evolve into your new identity after the #military and other careers.

5 months ago 2 0 1 0

I just spent a CampFI weekend with 60 fellow money nerds, reviewing our #FinancialIndependence plans and our life transitions.
Then another Millionaire Money Mentor wrote about hers. I’ve learned a lot from her over the last five years on that forum, and you can too:
esimoney.com/transitions-...

6 months ago 0 0 0 0

You #military veterans: what are your three life lessons from your service?
Oh, and the rest of that episode covers the tactics of saving & investing for military #FinancialIndependence.
#milspouse #milfam #vets #sot

6 months ago 1 0 0 0

You #military #vets already know the answer to this one.
Oh, and #FinancialIndependence gives you choices, even in an all-volunteer force.
#milfam #milspouse #sot

6 months ago 2 0 0 0

Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence Buy Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence: Read Kindle Store Reviews - Amazon.com

Besides the blog posts, we go into details in our book "Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation #FinancialIndependence."

Check your local public (or #military base) library for print, eBook, and audio editions.
www.amazon.com/Raising-Mone...

6 months ago 2 0 1 0

Earning was how she saved up for the expensive toys. After finishing her chores we'd pay [$age/hour] for washing cars, yardwork, painting, and other age-appropriate tasks. As a teen she learned (supervised) plumbing & electrical.
In high school she worked part-time at a Kumon center!

6 months ago 2 0 1 0

Book review: You’re On Your Own In our house, books have been an essential parenting tool. I must have read a six-foot stack of them just to try to find a clue our way through all the stages from pregnancy to college applications. Some are the type of books that you leave on the familyroom table (or in the kid's bathroom) for them to discover on their own.

Book review: "You're On Your Own". #military, #sot, #MilitaryLife, #vets, #milfam, #militaryretirement, #milspouse

6 months ago 1 0 0 0

Parent’s letter to an 18-year-old After those last two blog posts, it's time to lighten things up a little. Let's talk about figuring out the "new rules" when your fledgling leaves the nest. Our daughter has given me permission to blog about an e-mail that we sent her a few weeks after she started college. Until she turned 18, her checking account and her credit card were still held jointly with me.

Parent's letter to an 18-year-old: #military, #sot, #MilitaryLife, #vets, #milfam, #militaryretirement, #milspouse

6 months ago 0 0 0 0

Raising a money-smart kid Our college daughter (just survived freshman year!) spent the last couple weeks at home. As she was reviewing the packing list for next month's NROTC training, she noticed that it included traveler's checks. "Traveler's checks"?!? If you're at least in your 40s then you may have dim memories of using them in your youth. If you're in your 20s then you may not have any idea what they are or how they're used.

A money-smart kid:#military, #sot, #militarymon, #MilitaryLife, #vets, #honorvets, #militaryretirement, #earlyretirement

6 months ago 0 0 1 0

Here's an #military excerpt from a #FinancialIndependence episode with Chris at #Financipation. We had a great talk about building wealth, even if you did it with a lower-paying career and a high savings rate.
In the full episode, we dive a lot deeper!
#milfam #milspouse #sot #vets

6 months ago 1 0 1 0

Questions About Medicare + Tricare? We Have Answers. Have you thought about your Medicare supplemental insurance yet? Or even more challenging: will you have to help an elder work through their decisions? How will it affect your financial independence? I learned a lot about Medicare Part B and Part D insurance policies while taking care of my father’s finances, and I learned even more this year when I signed up for my own Medicare…

Questions About Medicare + Tricare? We Have Answers:
https://wp.me/p13Ju8-ngZ
#military #sot #MilitaryLife #vets #milfam #militaryretirement #milspouse @MilitaryOfficer @MOAA_MilLife

6 months ago 1 1 0 0

Posts by Doug Nordman (Nords)