Spouse Blog

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.   

There’s been a lot of buzz about the First Lady’s pledge to help military family.  From people I’ve spoken to, it seems like the general concensus is that there are a lot of organizations out there already doing great things who are anxious to lend a helping hand.  Everyone seems pleased at Mrs. Obama’s interest in military family issues and curious to see how it will be manifested.

I didn’t know how many of you caught the letter from the First Lady to military families, so I thought I’d share it with you:

By:  Michelle Obama

On Tuesday, as people from all walks of life come together in common purpose to begin the work of renewing America’s promise, my daughters and I will stand beside my husband as he takes the oath of office as the 44th president of the United States.

People have asked me how I’ll feel at that moment. As a wife, I’ll be thinking about how proud I am of my husband and how I believe so deeply that he will be an extraordinary president. As a mother, I’ll be bursting with pride at the thought of my girls now being able to envision endless choices for themselves and the joy it will be to watch them grow up in the White House. And as a daughter, I’ll be profoundly grateful to my parents, knowing that I am here only because of their lifetime of faith and hard work.

They’re my proof that the American promise endures. It’s that promise we all share — that our children might grow up with unlimited possibility, that our families might know the dreams of opportunity and prosperity, that people in every nation might look at the proud banner of this country and know the boundless meaning of hope.

As I take on my newest role — First Lady — I’ll be thinking about what that promise means to all those whom I’ve had the humbling privilege to meet these past two years on the campaign trail: Americans across the country who opened their doors and hearts to share their stories with me — stories I carry to this day.

I particularly cherished my visits with military families all across the country. I met so many strong and inspiring military spouses eager to share their stories, their dreams for the future and the unique challenges they face because of their families’ selfless service to our country.

And if there’s one thing I learned, it’s that when our servicemen and women go to war, their families go with them. I saw how they take care of each other, heard how they fill in whenever the system fails and discovered that the trials they faced always were matched by the hope they shared that better days are still ahead.

The simple 35-word oath my husband will take and the peaceful transfer of power it completes makes it easy to forget that the great fortune of our citizenship isn’t free at all. It’s a responsibility inherited only because generations of Americans have fought and bled and died for it.

So as I watch Barack take that oath, I’ll be thinking especially about those members of our American family who stand guard across the world and the loved ones who await their safe return. Because even as we mark this moment in American history, there still will be empty seats at the dinner table; there still will be spouses struggling to juggle roles and responsibilities; there still will be children who mark the passing of a birthday without Mommy and toddlers who know their father only by a grainy video stream from a far-flung corner of the globe.

My husband and I are deeply grateful for the sacrifices that these families make to protect all American families. And we join them — today and every day — in praying for their loved ones and their safety. They don’t ask a lot in return, just a Washington that understands the challenges they face as part of their extraordinary commitment to our country.

My husband understands that commitment, and he will ensure America lives up to its end. As military families join us on Tuesday, in person and in spirit, I want each and every one of them to know that for as long as I have the tremendous honor of being your First Lady, your voices will be heard, you will have an advocate in the White House, and the American promise you preserve always will extend to you, too.

All of us can learn a fundamental lesson from our military families: You don’t need to wear a uniform to serve your country. We all have something to contribute to the life of this nation.

Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And to honor the legacy of a man who believed that everybody could be great because anybody can serve, my family and I will spend the day performing activities in service to others. And we’ll ask all Americans to join us in making an ongoing commitment to serve their community and their country, because in this new season of hope, that’s the only way we’ll begin renewing America’s promise for all who reach for it and all who defend it — as one nation and one people.

On Tuesday night, my husband and I will tuck in our daughters like we always do. Their bedrooms will be different, their home unfamiliar. But they will drift off to sleep protected by that same sacrifice that has kept all of our families safe and safeguarded our freedom for generations — the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform and their families.

For that, we could not be more grateful — or more proud.