Making it in the MilLife

I don’t know how many of you are aware of the efforts of Rebecca Poynter and Joanna Williamson of the Military Spouse Business Association to get legislation passed allowing military spouses to claim a state of domicile much as our active duty service members do right now.  I’ve attached the press release from Congressman Carter’s website below.  This bill has been introduced before and gotten no traction.  Let’s help it along this time by contacting your elected representatives and telling them to sign on to co-sponsor the bill.  Click here to utilize our Capwiz program to send your legislators a note and reference H.R. 1182.  There isn’t a corresponding number for the Senate version yet, but you can just reference the House version and let your Senators know that you want them to support the Military Spouse Residency Legislation introduced by Senators Burr (R-NC) and Feinstein (D-CA). 

Military Spouse Residency Relief Act Introduced in U.S. House and Senate

(WASHINGTON, DC) – The Military Spouse Residency Relief Act was re-introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives today by Congressman John Carter of Texas, and will be introduced in the Senate by U.S. Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).

Carter was joined in a news conference unveiling the bill in the U.S. Capitol by Rebecca Poynter and Joanna Williamson of the Military Spouse Business Association; Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) President Vice Admiral (RET) Norbert Ryan, USN; representatives of Senators Burr and Feinstein; and military spouses and dependents from as far away as North Carolina.

“We have long supported a service member’s ability to continue voting and paying taxes in one state over the course of a military career as they are transferred around the world on orders,” says Carter, who represents Fort Hood, the U.S. Army’s largest base. “I feel it has been an egregious oversight spanning decades that we have not extended that stability to spouses as well, as they are impacted politically and economically just as much as the service member by these frequent and career-long moves.”

Poynter and Williamson stressed both the monetary cost to spouses in having to change residency status with every move, and the unique ability of military families to work with multiple Members of Congress in order to help promote the issue. “The fact that many couples have different Congressmen and Senators in the same household because of this situation gives us an edge in pushing the issue,” says Poynter.

“Our nation has long recognized the importance of servicemembers’ ability to maintain a domicile for voting and taxes,” says Admiral Ryan. “The service of today’s military spouses is such that they deserve that same opportunity.”

“This bill will give military spouses the ability to keep residency in their home state regardless of where military orders send their family,” Senator Burr wrote in a statement provided for the event. “Our military families are often called on to make frequent relocations, which can be very disruptive to family life, and it is only fair that we give the same residency benefits to spouses as we do to servicemembers.”

Carter, House Republican Conference Secretary, introduced the bill in the House during the last session of Congress. The bill allows a military spouse who moves out of a state with their service member under military orders to have the option to claim the same state of domicile as their active duty spouse, regardless of where they are stationed.

“People are idiots and I can prove it.”

“Figure out what hurts and stop doing it.”

“Stop raising stupid children.”

These are just some of the zingers bellowed out by Larry Winget at yesterday’s Financial Readiness Roadshow.  Some of you may have heard of Larry.  He’s a motivational speaker and the author of several best-sellers including, “Shut Up, Stop Whining and Get a Life”, “You’re Broke Because You Want to Be” and “It’s Called Work for a Reason.”  His straightforward style makes him a media darling (they never know what’s going to come out of his mouth next) – he’s appeared everywhere from FOX, CNN, Larry King Live, CNBC, The Today Show (just to name a few).  His own website has this to say, “He is caustic, straight-forward, never minces words, hilarious and offers solid advice for improving your life and your business.”  As a military spouse, he’s not the kind of guy I’m used to seeing in a base theater giving a financial presentation!  He’s bold, brash and incredibly abbrasive, but wow, we were all riveted as he led over a hundred of us through simple steps to a better financial outlook. 

Who among us isn’t looking for more money to fund retirement, savings, children’s college funds, etc….?  Fortunately for all of us, the DoD is partnering with installations around the world to put on Financial Readiness Roadshows.  These roadshows are a one-day event putting nationally acclaimed speakers in front of military audiences to teach them about every possible aspect of financial literacy.  I’m not going to lie to you….9 hours is an awfully long time to be fed information by firehose, but some of it does manage to seep in and stick with you.  If you don’t have 9 hours to dedicate, pick and choose the sessions you want to attend.  My experience was people came in and out as their schedules permitted. 

Yesterday’s event at Andrews AFB consisted of 4 general sessions: John Sileo speaking about Identity Theft: Think Like a Spy….Bulletproofing your Identity,  the director of education from Experion speaking about The Truths and Myths of Credit Reports, a Military & Family Life Consultant speaking about Taking Complete Control of Your Finances and finally, Larry Winget.  After the last general session, we could choose from a variety of breakout sessions ranging from: strategies for homebuying, foreclusure prevention to retirement savings.  I decided to brush up on Financial Planning for Deployment. 

All the sessions were fair to excellent and as keynote speakers, John Sileo and Larry Winget were phenomenal.   You’re bound to walk away with a lot of information and tools to help with your financial goals.  More than that, I’d be surprised if a single person walked out of those sessions yesterday without a plan to change their lives in some way.  As Larry Winget said so eloquently, “If you have the information, you’re obligated to do something about it.” 

The Military Homefront website lists the schedule of Financial Readiness Roadshows.  I’m sure there’s one coming to an installation near you.  I encourage you to check it out.