I had a great time on Monday as a guest on Lacey Lankford’s Live Youtube broadcast for the Military Appreciation Month where we discussed how to save. I you missed it, catch the recording here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gV43N02HSk
Lacey also has great resources on her website:
https://laceylangford.com/
Lacey's podcast The Military Money Show:
https://laceylangford.com/podcast/
Today I thought we'd talk about gaps in life. I love doing all kinds of financial planning with my clients both long and short term, and everything in between. A simple way to think about life planning is like its a one act play. The whole of your life is on the same stage, it's got one set of actors, and these actors come in and out of the story. It has a cohesive plot from start to finish. This linear one act play makes planning a lot easier. But you know, a whole lifetime is rarely that simple.
Instead, you may think of your life as more of a novel. Each chapter has its own sub plot. For a long life, a novel may seem like a better way to look at it all and use for planning your finances. Chapters might be joining the military or your first job. There may be chapters for marriage, children, second career, retirement, and so on. A cohesive story that flows seamlessly from one chapter to another.
But I find, especially with military, life isn't really like a play or a novel. I like to think of it more like a library where as you go through life you may be choosing a book or two at a time. You may have a favorite genre, or theme in life for a while. And then lay that book down to pick something else up. Anything's possible in a library, especially a big library with a lot of choices. If you're trying to plan for a financial life that is more like a library, its more challenging. Knowing how to save, for what, and when is more complicated. But it also provides you with more options, with you in charge. I think one of the most challenging times when your life is a library is the transition. That time between books.
So the big question is how to approach those gaps. They maybe planned, or not. You could be forced out of the military or a career. Maybe you thought you’d make a long career where you are now, but things change and you need or really want something else. A good emergency fund will help you cover life’s costs in an unexpected gap. But if you can anticipate a gap, you can plan for it and have a smoother transition. Rather than just grasping for the first book you can reach when you enter the library. A planned gap can give you time and space to reset, think about the life would you really like to next, and find a choice you’ll love.
I’ve seen more than one servicemember do a “seemless” transition. They go right into full retirement or have a second career laid out before leaving and start their new job immediately. They PCS the family, invest in a new wardrobe, and dive into the next big book. Only to find out the new phase isn’t what they thought it would be. It’s not the life they thought they would love. So they either gut it out or transition again.
If you have the time and resources, you may consider planning for some gap time to decompress and explore a little. Maybe you’d like to go back to school on the GI bill to start a different career that excites you. You could plan and save for that gap. Maybe you intern somewhere, or work part-time to test drive something new. Or maybe you really could use a mental break and just do something for you and your family for a little bit. Planning and saving for for a gap before your next transition is worth considering. Next week we’ll talk more details of what to consider, and how to plan and save for a gap.
