Taxes can be intimidating. There’s a lot to understand. There are different types of income incomes to consider, different deductions, credits and a whole bunch more. In this episode, we talk about what you should know about the Advance Child Tax Credit. How it’s different from the Child Tax Credit, the impacts of advance payments, what divorced couples should know, and how to plan and get help with your taxes. My guest, Jerry Zeigler is a 20 year US Navy submarine veteran and a military spouse, who has experienced both sides of deployments. Jerry completed his MBA, is an Accredited Financial Counselor®, and an Enrolled Agent. He was a 2010 FINRA Foundation Military Spouse Fellow. As the owner of JZ Financial management, he provides virtual tax preparation, tax consulting, and financial counseling. Jerry is also a member of the Better Financial Counseling Network. Jerry is a SaverLife Tax Coach and who has authored several articles about taxes for them. SaverLife is a non-profit with the mission to create prosperity for working families by helping them save and invest in their futures. They do this by encouragement and gamification. Jerry gives us all a heads up on the Advance payments for the Child Tax Credit so we can be prepared. Show notes can be found here: https://laceylangford.com/podcast/advanced-child-tax-credit/

Military Money Show

Know the Effects of the Advanced Child Tax Credit

Blindly managing money isn’t a good idea. Being mindful of your money can help you make smart financial choices, reduce stress, and reach your goals. In this episode, I talk with Tyson Koska about why having a mindful financial plan is important, how you can become more mindful and tools and resources to help. Tyson is an Army veteran where he served as a helicopter pilot. He is the founder of OnTrajectory, a personal finance planning tool for individuals and professionals. After separating from the military, Tysons used his GI Bill to pursue his Bachelor's and Masters degrees and then spent the next 25 years in software development, working for large corporations in banking and insurance. Now Tyson is bringing easy-to-use and accurate financial modeling to the masses with OnTrajectory. Tyson shares a lot of great advice on the power of being mindful and creating a plan that’s adaptable with software. The show notes can be found here: https://laceylangford.com/podcast/mindful-money-plan/

Why a Mindful Money Plan is Important

Life is going to happen. And when it does, there’s usually a financial ramifications for it. When you know challenges and opportunities are going to come up in life, how do you keep your finances flexible enough to adapt to those times? In this episode, my guest, Anne Lester talks about ways you can develop and sustain financial flexibility to keep your spending, saving, and investing on track during those times. Anne is a keynote speaker and moderator that helps Millennials and GenZs save smart and retire happy. Anne spent 20 years as Head of Retirement Solutions for JPMorgan Asset Management. Her media coverage includes CNBC, Bloomberg, WSJ, NYT, and Barron’s which featured Anne on their cover. With AARP, Anne co-founded Aspen Leadership Forum on Retirement Savings to find breakthroughs to the far-reaching problem of inadequate savings. The show notes can be found here: https://laceylangford.com/podcast/financial-flexibility/

Ways to Keep Your Financial Flexibility

Teaching money skills is something many people can do. That’s what this episode is about, how to teach money skills to your family and community and the resources you can use to do it. My guest today, Rhonda Ashburn shares how military families can teach their children and communities about personal finance, tips to get your family interested in learning personal finance, and how their education curriculum can help. Rhonda is a milspouse who leads the American Financial Services Association Education Foundation (AFSAEF). Their mission is to educate consumers of all ages on personal finance concepts and help them realize the benefits of responsible money management through their free financial literacy education curriculum MoneySKILL. To date, nearly 1.3 million users have enrolled in the program, comprised of 37 different modules. Show notes can be found here: https://laceylangford.com/podcast/teaching-money-skills/

Teaching Money Skills to Your Family and Community

There’s more to real estate investing than you think. Did you know you can invest in mobile homes? I didn’t. In this episode, we talk about what mobile home investing is and how to invest in them. My guest, Rachel Hernandez is an author, Air Force milspouse, and real estate investor. As a former business-to-business sales executive for various Fortune 500 corporations, Rachel has extensive training in the area of sales and marketing. With over a decade of experience, she spent several years as a landlord before taking the leap to specialize in mobile home investing. She’s the author of Adventures in Mobile Homes: How I Got Started in Mobile Home Investing and How You Can Too! and the Real Estate Investing Sucks series of books. Rachel breaks down what investing in mobile homes looks like, how it’s different from traditional real estate investing, and tips on how to get started. The show notes can be found here: https://laceylangford.com/podcast/invest-in-mobile-homes

How to Invest in Mobile Homes?

Your financial plan and money management can’t be a carbon copy of what your neighbor or your best friend is doing. They aren’t you, it’s not your life. The plan you create and practice needs to be centered around your life and your realities to be successful. Even if you do that, there are going to be some mistakes along the way. We all make them. How you plan and approach your money makes all the difference. A little humor goes a long way when things get serious. The military community knows better than anyone else about finding the funny in frustrating situations. In this episode, my guest Joe Saul-Sehy shares advice on modernizing your money management in a way that works with your goals and real life. Joe is the creator and co-host of the Stacking Benjamins podcast and co-author of STACKED: Your Super-Serious Guide To Modern Money Management. He’s a former financial advisor and represented American Express and Ameriprise in the media. The show notes can be found here: https://laceylangford.com/podcast/money-planning-and-practices/

Why Your Money Planning and Practices Need to Be for Real Life

Buying a house is not just a big decision. It’s a series of big decisions. You have to find the location, the right home, in the right area. You have to apply for mortgages, make an offer, and then you have to compare mortgages to decide which one to go with. But how do you compare and make such a big financial decision? In this episode, my guest, Kevin Parker, breaks down how to compare closing costs between lenders to make and decide which mortgage is the best deal for you. Show notes can be found here: https://laceylangford.com/podcast/compare-mortgage-costs/ Kevin is the Vice President of the Mortgage Origination teams at Navy Federal Credit Union. Kevin holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Hampton University. He has over 23 years of lending experience working for Capital One, SunTrust, and TD Bank. He has held various leadership roles with expertise in Real Estate Lending, Commercial Lending, Business Banking, Credit Analysis, and Business Development. Kevin gives practical advice on the ins and outs of comparing closing costs, lenders, and making the best-informed decision on mortgages.

How to Compare Mortgage Costs and Make a Decision

It’s hard to believe we’re closing down 2021 and rolling into the New Year. I don’t know about you, but for me, 2021 has had some ups and downs. Some good and bad news. Some moments I never want to forget and some others I don’t care to reminisce one. So I guess it’s been a lot like other years but nothing is ever exactly the same. It’s time for my look back over the last year. Things we’ve discussed on the show, things that happened in our community, and what’s coming for 2022. The show notes can be found here: https://laceylangford.com

Lacey’s 2021 Lookback

Finding your path in life and financial success can be hard. Most of us take a broken road to get where we want in life. But are there some easier ways to find your path and to work in your zone of genius? Maybe? In this episode, Mike Zeller shares insights on how to overcome struggles in finding your path to success, how to rewrite your money story, and how to deal with imposter syndrome. Mike Zeller is a business architect and entrepreneur mentor who helps professionals find their zone of genius and their life’s purpose. He has mentored over three hundred high-level entrepreneurs from all over the world. An entrepreneur himself, Mike has founded or partnered in over 20 ventures across multiple industries. The show notes can be found here: https://laceylangford.com/podcast/how-to-rewrite-your-money-story/

How to Rewrite Your Money Story & Find Your Path

Inflation continues to be a hot topic. Talk about the price of goods increasing is all over the news. A while back, I had Robert Frick on the show to talk about what we should all know about inflation and how it is impacting us all. As we prepare to roll into the New Year, I thought we’d go over inflation one more time to help us financially prepare for next year. Here is the encore airing of What You Need to Know About Inflation with Robert Frick from Navy Federal Credit Union. Show notes can be found here: https://laceylangford.com/podcast/inflation-encore/

Encore - What You Need to Know About Inflation in 2021

The importance of family and finances for first-generation service members is something I learned early on as a financial coach in the community. There are a large number of service members that are first-generation Americans. And often those service members are financially responsible for extended members of their family. Which can have an impact on their budget and meeting their own financial obligations. In this episode, we talk about the financial struggles that first-gen Americans face, family expectations and culture, and the importance of financial literacy. My guest knows a thing or two about finances and first-gen families. Giovanna “Gigi” Gonzalez is a Phoenix-based financial educator with 10 years of experience in financial services. She’s a first-generation American, first-generation college graduate, and a TikTok star by the name of TheFirstGenMentor where she reaches over 160,000 followers through her educational and entertaining videos on financial literacy and career navigation.  Show notes can be here: https://laceylangford.com/podcast/finances-for-first-generation-families/

Finances for First Generation Families

MilMoneyCon is happening April 21-23, 2022 in Cary, NC. I’m so happy to be able to make the announcement. MilMoneyCon is a conference for military financial professionals. That means financial coaches, counselors, planners, educators, influencers, students, and writers from the military community. In this episode, I give you all the details about MilMoneyCon and what everyone can expect. The show notes can be found here: https://laceylangford.com/podcast/planning-milmoneycon22/

MilMoneyCon: The Gathering of Military Financial Professionals

Taxes aren’t top of the fun things to do every year. In fact, it’s something that a lot of us avoid. But if you do a little planning and preparation in advance, it can make tax time and your finances run a little smoother. In this episode, I talk with Benjamin Brandt about the list of tax items you should review at the end of the year, mistakes you can avoid, and what military families need to know about taxes. Benjamin Brandt is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Founder of Capital City Wealth Management, a Bismarck, North Dakota fee-only financial planning company. He’s an Iraqi combat veteran having served in the North Dakota Army National Guard for 8 years, including a 15-month deployment to Iraq in 2003. The show notes can be found here: https://laceylangford.com/podcast/end-of-year-tax-planning-tips-for-2021/

The Top End of Year Tax Planning Tips for 2021

TRICARE not only helps take care of your health, but it also protects your wealth. Travel is a way of life for many military and veteran families. If we’ve learned anything in the military is that anytime you travel, Murphy’s Law, something is going to go wrong. Unfortunately, many times that can be your health. Figuring out TRICARE when you’re on the move and sick or hurt is not fun. Learning about your benefits before you travel can keep your body and wallet healthy. In this episode, John Letaw is going to break down how to use your TRICARE benefits when you travel, common misperceptions, and how to get the most out of your benefits. Show notes can be found here: https://laceylangford.com/podcast/tricare-around-the-world/

How to Protect Your Health and Wealth with TRICARE Around the World

Taking small steps to financial independence can have a big impact on your retirement. Many people talk about F.I.R.E or financial independence, retire early. But what are the steps you should take to get there? And does F.I.R.E look the same for everyone? In this episode, my guest, Doug Nordman shares the steps you can take to F.I.R.E., how to handle debt in the process, and how to leverage your military benefits to achieve financial independence faster. Doug served for 20 years of active duty in the U.S. Navy’s submarine force and retired in 2002 at the age of 41. He and his spouse, a retired Navy Reservist, reached financial independence in 1999 on a high savings rate. He’s the author of “The Military Guide To Financial Independence And Retirement” and founder of The-Military-Guide.com. With his daughter Carol Pittner, he's the co-author of "Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence" through ChooseFI Media. The show notes and resources can be found here: https://laceylangford.com/podcast/steps-to-financial-independence-retire-early

The Steps to Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE)

The Military Money Show is the podcast that helps U.S. Servicemembers, Veterans, and their spouses make, save, invest and spend money wisely. Host, Lacey Langford interviews inspiring guests on personal finance, investing, entrepreneurship, debt, insurance, military life plus and a whole lot more.

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Military Money Show

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