MILMO Show

Today is a special day to honor those who have served in the armed forces so Happy Veteran's Day to all my fellow Veterans.

In honor of Veteran's Day, I'm bringing on a fellow Veteran to talk about the highs and lows of military service, how to prepare for separating from service and what more Servicemembers should know about money.

My guest today is Amanda Huffman. She is a and Air Force Veteran and the founder and host of the Women of the Military podcast. Amanda served six years as a Civil Engineer including a deployment to Afghanistan. She traded in her combat boots for a diaper bag to stay home with her two boys and follow her husband's military career. On her podcast, she interviews women who have served or are currently serving in the military.

Show notes

The military community works hard for the expertise they have. And rightfully so, wants to be paid for what they do and know. But building a business isn't easy. The money has to come in. Sometimes, in the beginning, that can be through financing, but you can also bring in money by getting government contracts.

Gerri Detweiler is on the show today to school us up on all the details of financing and government contracts. If this is new to you, no worries, it's a subject I'm learning more about too. So we're in it together.

Gerri is a nationally recognized business credit and financing expert. She's the Director of Education at Nav, a fin-tech company that provides business owners with free access to business credit reports and matches them to their best financing options. Gerri is also a board member of Heroes At Home, a non-profit organization dedicated to financial literacy for members of the military and their families.

Government Contracts and Veteran Business Episode Details

• How Veterans can use their skills in business and career transitions
• The challenges for Veteran businesses
• Why you need to build "social capital"
• Common reasons why Servicemembers don't get financing
• How to get funding outside of banks
• Resources to help Servicemembers, Veterans, and spouses in business
• Finding the right mentorship to help with success
• Figuring out how much funding you need
• Understanding how to get government grants
• What you need to know about government contracts
• How to become certified as a service-disabled Veteran, Veteran or woman-owned business
• What a D-U-N-S number is and why you need it for government contracts

Show notes

Manging your life has something in common with managing a business—money. You have to manage money when you own a business.

But business finances are a little different than personal finances. There are things to consider like paying quarterly taxes, bookkeeping and keeping your personal and business finances separate. If you haven't done it before it can be easy to get off on the wrong foot. But even if you're seasoned at managing your business finances there may be some ways you could improve.

My guest is a business finance expert, Sylvia Inks. In this show, she discusses how to best manage your business finances.

If you don't know Sylvia, she's a business financial coach and founder of SMI Financial Coaching. Her bestselling book, Small Business Finance for the Busy Entrepreneur - A Blueprint for Building a Solid, Profitable Business, has helped new and seasoned business owners get organized, use the right tools to manage their finances, make better business decisions based on their numbers.

Show notes

Spending money is something we all do. There are things we want or things we need to buy or things we don't want to buy but must. Needing or wanting to spend money doesn't mean you throw cash to the wind.

It's important to be smart about your spending. My guest today, Trae Bodge is here to help us all use smart shopping to get the things we need and want.

Trae is an accomplished lifestyle journalist and TV commentator who specializes in smart shopping, personal finance, lifestyle, parenting, and retail.

Smart Shopping Episode Details

• Understanding what smart shopping is
• How to get better deals in-store and online
• The pros and cons of buying quality vs. quantity
• What items are better to buy for quality
• The "runners high" of getting a good deal
• Resources you can use to be a smart shopper
• How to distinguish between what is truly a good deal vs what is marketing
• The best times to buy what
• Smart shopping ideas for the holidays

Show notes

How would you like to play professional football or drive for Nascar or do the thing you are dreaming of? Well, that's what my guest today did.

Jesse Iwuji is here to talk about how he first went after his dream of playing football for the Naval Academy. Then how he went after his dream of driving a race car.

We discuss the work that went into making it happen plus the money side of making your dreams come true.

Jesse is a professional stock car racing driver, an officer in the United States Navy Reserve and an entrepreneur. He currently competes in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series in the No. 34 for Reaume Brothers Racing. Jesse is one of three African-American drivers actively competing in a NASCAR series.

Show notes

Military life has its ups and downs. There are some amazing perks to serving in the military. But there can also be some drawbacks like crappy military housing or time apart or financial hardships. Most of the time we just suck it up and deal with it. But there is a way to not only have your comments and concerns heard but something to actually be down about them.

My guest is here to talk about how military families can get the support they need and want.

Shannon Razsadin is a Navy spouse, mom, and the Executive Director of the Military Family Advisory Network (MFAN).

MFAN is a national nonprofit that uses a unique peer influencer model to deliver scientific research, implement cutting-edge communications strategies, and drive community outreach and collaboration. This work enables MFAN to deliver data-driven solutions to military families for maximum and measurable positive impact.

Shannon and I discuss what the Military Family Support Programming Survey is and how it makes a rapid change in the military community.

Also in this show:

• What is MFAN and how they help the military community
• How MFAN differs from other organizations advocating for the military community
• The purposes of the Military Family Support Programming Survey
• How the survey results are used and what that means for you
• The past results and the changes they made
• How the survey helps the entire military community
• How to get help with what you need in the military
• Social impacts of completing the survey
• How MFAN got to meet Oprah & get her favorite things
• What's next with MFAN

Show Notes

Getting out the military today isn't like it was for your grandparents. Technology, innovation, and support for the military community have made opportunities and guidance are endless. The problem is many Servicemembers and their families are not taking the time necessary to plan plus many people are not aware of the different paths they can take advantage of.

My guest today Scott Tucker is here to talk about the different approaches available for the military community when it comes to transitioning and retiring from the military.

Scott R. Tucker is an Author, Speaker, and Founder of US VetLife/US VetWealth, a lifestyle and financial consulting brand that helps service members go from paychecks and government benefits to wealth and liberty. He is a West Point graduate, military financial expert, and entrepreneur.

Military Transition Preparation Episode

• The different approaches to retirement
• Finding your own path when you leave the military
• Using LinkedIn for personal branding
• Getting guidance to prepare for jobs and entrepreneurship
• Seizing opportunities when you're getting out of the military
• How to sell your self in the job market
• Leveraging and communicating your skillsets
• How to prepare financially for getting out

Show notes

I'm not going to lie, preparing to buy a home is something more people should do. Research and planning will go a long way to save you time, money and heartache. Unfortunately, many people are winging it.

My guest, Chris Birk is here to help prepare us all on buying a home with a VA Loan. If you're a seasoned home buyer or looking to buy your first home, this is a valuable show for you. Chris shares what most people miss when buying a house and tips for being successful at it.

Chris Birk is the Director of Education for Veterans United Home Loans, the nation's largest VA lender, and author of "The Book on VA Loans: An Essential Guide to Maximizing Your Home Loan Benefits." Chris' articles and analysis have appeared at The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Fox Business and more.

Preparing to Buy a Home Episode Details

• Why it's important for people to begin home buying when they're ready
• Buying homes for the wrong reason, keeping up with the Jones'
• Where your finances should be before you buy a home
• The average credit score you need to buy a house
• The pros and cons of homeownership
• What PITI is and what you should know about it
• The top tools people need in their tool belt before buying a home
• The top mistakes Servicemembers and Veterans make when buying a home

Show Notes

Live podcast recording is exciting. That's why I'm pumped about today's episode. It's another round of No Filter Finance recorded LIVE at FINCON19 via the NEFE recording booth. In this show, I had the opportunity to talk with my friend and fellow podcaster, Rich Jones from the award-winning podcast, Paychecks, and Balances.

We talk about how to handle financial mistakes, what can help most with money, how to make money management easier, plus a ton more. It was wonderful to have this unfiltered finance discussion with Rich.

In this show:

• What everyone should know about money
• How to handle financial mistakes
• Tips to start investing for your future
• What Rich does that makes it easier to manage your money
• Financial do-overs
• The one thing Rich did with money that helped the most

Show notes

Finding a mentor to help guide you in business can be hard to come by but finding both money and mentorship at the same time is rare. That's why when I heard about The PenFed Foundations, Veteran Entrepreneur Investment Program (VEIP), I knew I had to talk about it on my show.

My guest, Seda Goff is the Director of Entrepreneurship at VEIP. In this episode, we talk about the state of entrepreneurship in the military community, what VEIP is and how the program could give you a leg up in business.

Show notes