Troops Return From Iraq With Money to Burn

Yahoo!News ^ | January 21, 2006 | RUSS BYNUM

[riverrunner]

I wonder how many well be smart enough to invest it into many makers instead of money wasters like vehicles.
Down payment on a house/ IRAs ect.

[MozartLover]

They earned every penny.

My kid will probably get himself a hot new set of wheels the minute he's back, too.:)

[DilJective]

I wonder how many well be smart enough to invest it into many makers instead of money wasters like vehicles. Down payment on a house/ IRAs ect.

I agree that soldiers would be better off investing, but in this line of work, enjoying a nice car for a little while can be good for the soul.

soldiers never know when their ticket's up, so convincing all of them/us to prepare for the future is a difficult task. More soldiers invest now than ever before- almost every soldier of every rank that I have talked with knows about investing and many have their own portfolios. The military also has offered its own version of a civilian 401K- called the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) and every soldier can deposit 10% of their base pay in the account every month.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

This is an old tradition in wartime-soldiers find out that they can become "PX millionaires." Just one of the perks of being on the winning side... : )

[WestVirginiaRebel]

This is an old tradition in wartime-soldiers find out that they can become "PX millionaires." Just one of the perks of being on the winning side... : )

[La Enchiladita]

Amen to your tagline.
And... Welcome Home, Vietnam Vet!
We are so proud of YOU!

[Arpege92]

Good for them! They deserve it!

[20yearvet]

After being gone for a year or more with no place to spend there pay there are a lot of things that they need to catch up on. Retuning form Viet Nam I could not get enough 7up or soft candy bars, 6 months later I discovered I had gained over 50lbs.

[angelsonmyside]

Indy Pendance
Mine too, I got a call from my son this week wanting to know if the MP3 player he ordered had gotten to me and make sure I had sent it on to him.

Great pics of your daughter!

Totally off topic but I have to tell you I was so excited looking at your profile. You answered a question that had been on my mind for months. My son went sky diving before he deployed. He did a small blog on his myspace account about it and this quote was in it.

"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;"

Now I know where that came from, thank you, lol.

[ducks1944]

The earned every dime and let them enjoy it as they see fit. They keep up free and they deserver it and much more. May God BLESS them and there families with the best this country has to offer.

[Indy Pendance]

That poem was said by Ronald Reagan for the Challenger disaster in 1986.

God Bless you and your family for raising a fine young man.

[McGavin999]

That is really great to see. They deserve every bit of it. Go out, have fun!

[Rembrandt]

This reminds me of my time in Vietnam in the late 60's. I had a 10 day stay in the Philippines (my permanent but infrequent base). I spent $1,000 in 10 days truly a tough thing to accomplish in 10 days. That 10 days took care of all my loneliness and when I returned to VN, the medic cleared up my other problems.

[MozartLover]

Hi Indy,

How's your daughter doing?

My kiddo is coming home on leave in April...........I don't think sky-diving is part of his itinerary but his girlfriend tells me he's busily making plans.:)

[Indy Pendance]

She's great! Their battalion will be home in a week or so (Kansas). Their year is done! Congratulations on your son's homecoming. You're going to love having him around, even if it's only 2 weeks.

[MozartLover]

She's coming home???

WOW! You must be so excited!!:) :) :)

Yep, it'll be great to see him. He missed Thanksgiving and Christmas and New year's, but he'll be here for Easter.:)

[Indy Pendance]

My daughter missed all those holidays as well. We weren't able to send anything for Christmas, as they were making preparations for coming home and all packages weren't guarenteed to arrive. So, on Christmas, she got to drive a colonial around to wish all the troops a Merry Christmas. We were very lucky she was able to get leave for her sister's wedding in August. Now, she'll only be 12 hours drive time away instead of halfway around the world! It hasn't really sunk in yet that a year has passed and she'll be home on leave probably in early-mid February. The time really goes fast.

Give your son a huge hug from another military family. And a big thank you to you as well!

[ATCNavyRetiree]

Good for 'em...but please...invest some in real estate and/or mutual funds!

[Uncle Miltie]

Welcome home! Happy Shopping!

(Best derned money we ever spent employin' y'all....)

[Casloy]

Her first purchase will be a new (used) car, she's thinking 2003-2004 models.

Smart woman. One of the biggest mistakes returning veterans do is blow their entire savings on a new car.