FIRE Social Worker Show
Welcome to The FIRE Social Worker Show, where financial independence meets compassion and purpose. Hosted by Joey Laswell, a Certified Financial Social Worker and military veteran, this podcast is your guide to building a brighter financial future while staying true to your values.
Join us for candid conversations, actionable money tips, and inspiring stories from industry experts, military members, and everyday changemakers. Whether you’re a social worker, part of the military community, or simply seeking financial freedom, this show is here to empower you.
It’s time to ignite your financial independence and create a lasting impact. Start your journey with The FIRE Social Worker Show!
FIRE Social Worker Show
Navigating New Horizons: From Military Missions to Financial Visions
Discover the world of military life, personal finance, and the art of transitioning to civilian life with our captivating guests, Joey Laswell and Cameron Bolts. Joey, a certified financial social worker and ex-Air Force member, marries his passion for personal finance and social work, providing invaluable insights into the psychological side of money management. Meanwhile, Cameron, a cross-country trucker and aspiring podcaster, offers his military experiences and plans for "Uncle Fester's Podcast," ensuring a rich discussion filled with personal stories and future aspirations.
Join us as we explore the rigorous journey of military service, from the drill grounds of Fort Jackson to the unpredictable terrains of Afghanistan. Experience firsthand accounts of leadership dynamics, the challenges of ever-changing environments, and the personal growth spurred by intense military experiences. This episode offers a candid reflection on the ups and downs of military life, revealing both fond memories and honest regrets, while shedding light on the challenging transition back to civilian reality and the willingness to reunite with service under new circumstances.
Shift gears with us into the financial realm, where we address listener queries spanning cryptocurrency to strategic financial planning for veterans. With Joey's expertise and Cameron's insights, we dissect the volatile world of investments, emphasizing the importance of risk assessment, financial planning, and leveraging resources like the VA. Whether you're a veteran navigating a financial transition or someone keen on financial literacy, this episode is packed with practical advice and inspiring stories, encouraging resilience and self-improvement in the journey of life post-military.
Please join me on my different platforms and follow along my journey towards FIRE.
https://laswell.veteran.cards/
Introducing LT Defense Tactical Gear, your ultimate solution for top-notch protection and performance in the field. Our armor bundles provide unmatched safety and comfort, while our battle belts and holsters ensure quick and easy access to your gear. Stay prepared for any situation with our high-quality medical supplies designed to keep you ready for action at all times. Looking to enhance your skills, our firearms training programs will take your proficiency to you next time. And the threats to our nations. They don't sleep. They're watching our every move.
Speaker 4:Iran, Russia, China, North Korea, ISIS, Al-Qaeda. They may be watching this right now.
Speaker 2:Our military should not be mistaken for our cable news gab fest show. We don't care what you look like.
Speaker 5:We don't care who you voted for who you worship what you worship who you love it doesn't matter if your dad left you millions when he died or if you knew who your father was.
Speaker 2:We have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid, if you know what's good for you.
Speaker 5:We will not be intimidated, we will not back down.
Speaker 1:We don't want war, but if you want war with the United States, of America.
Speaker 2:There's one thing I can promise you, so help me.
Speaker 5:God, someone else? Will raise your sons and daughters.
Speaker 2:Military Broadcast Radio, the station that's giving veterans a voice.
Speaker 6:Find us on the web at mbradious. I'm a certified financial social worker. I was in the Air Force for 14 years and then I paid off $20,000 of debt while I was active duty within three years as an E3. So that's kind of like I got really into personal finance and so I've been really passionate about that ever since and that was 10, 12 years ago now. So since then I became a social worker and now I'm a certified financial social worker. So we kind of get into, you know, dealing with finances but then also kind of dealing with the psychology behind finances, like the, you know, the mental side of things.
Speaker 2:So Ladies and gentlemen, your battle buddy when it comes to finances.
Speaker 6:please welcome the fire social worker, joey Laswell. All right, hello, hello everyone. This is the Money in the Military Show. Sorry, I'm a little rusty. I've been out of the groove for a little bit there. I've been out of pocket doing some other things, had some conferences that I was attending, so I was a little off a little bit there. But hey, you know, we're live on NBR. This is where we're giving veterans a voice, and today we have a special guest. We have an up-and-coming talent on our network. We have Cameron I didn't get your last name yet, but uh, yeah, bolts, okay, all right, so we got camera bolts and he's, um, he's actually got a show coming out. He's working, working it, uh, basically starting it up. Um, you're gonna call it the uncle festers podcast, correct?
Speaker 4:yes, sir, where we?
Speaker 6:talk about anything that's under the sun okay, and then you are an active uh cross cross-country trucker yes, sir okay, all right, well, um, so let's get the let's, let let's let the uh audience get to know you a little bit. So, uh, you know, uh, this is only your second time being on air, so to, so to speak, but, uh, your first kind of like you know, um, you had some technical issues the first time around, but now we're here so we want to get to. But you're first kind of like you know, you had some technical issues the first time around, but now we're here, so we want to get to know you a little bit better and give you a chance to kind of talk and tell us a little bit about your story and then what your podcast is going to be about. So go ahead and tell us about your military history and then how you got to be where you are now.
Speaker 4:Yes, sir. So basically graduated high school, high school 2009. Right out of high school I joined the army and you know, off air, you knew we're talking, you know how the recruiters weren't available for the other branches. But, um, I did my basic in fort jackson relaxin fort jackson, south carolina, nickname was relaxin jackson did my basic training there, turned around, went to Fort Lawson Woods, fort Linwood Did, did multiple training exercises there. You know, I learned my job as a heavy construction equipment operator and that was probably the most fun I've had in a while Get to play with the toys. I was like, you know, the talking kid, the talking kid growing up in a while get to play with the toys.
Speaker 4:Like you know, the talking kid the talking kid growing up. Now I get to tear it up myself with the old deuce and a half or the old, uh, caterpillars, whatever. So it was always fun. Um, and then we were told hey, we're gonna go to fort carson, cool, and we lost our orders. Then they turned around and said hey, we going to send 12 of you kids to Germany, and we landed in Germany.
Speaker 4:It was like May 2nd or May 3rd of 2010. We get there, we figure out which way we're going to go and I'm in Bambach, germany, 2010. And just again, changes were going on with the military changes going on in our units. Get there, and then it was not even three months. Well, I'm back over Fort Leonard Wood doing more training for a route clearance. So I went from heavy construction to where I was operating you know, the Huskies, the Buffaloes or anything that would help for mine, detection and then we went to Graf Graf and Hohenfels, did a couple months training there and they sent us home for, you know, on our Thanksgiving in Germany. And then we turn around and our lieutenant colonel was like hey, by the way, just volunteered to go to Afghanistan. A whole year early.
Speaker 6:Oh wow, how nice, how nice of them.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and we left you know, december 4th, from Bamburg, germany, and it was, you know, like 30 degrees outside, but it felt different, you know, than it is here in the United States and we landed December 5th in Bagram and it was 110 degrees and we went from negative 30 to, you know, to 110.
Speaker 4:You talk about getting your breath taken out. You're right. And then we got, you know, we did the whole welcoming the country and the whole spiel with that. So deployment wasn't bad as far as my end of it. I mean, we got hit a few times. I got hit twice Minor IEDs you know nothing to, you know, to take away from anybody else. We all got some type of damages from it. But when we're doing this mission and we're helping to clear the route, I literally go over this culvert and my back end got hit and it kind of stood me up and set me back down, come back out and me and a buddy got too close together and the guy set off the IED and we just, you know, picked my front end up. I mean that was all over the place.
Speaker 4:So but uh, as far as as as that, that was the the most uh excitement per se we had okay um, you know I I'd do the military again, you know, if I lost the weight and um had a different perspective on on jobs per se okay, all right.
Speaker 6:So then your contract came up to do and you got out, or how did that process work?
Speaker 4:No. So again, you know, as far as the military goes and I don't know if you got to experience this we trained with leadership that we took down range and then, right in the middle of it and I don't know what caused this to happen for them to leave, but they will plug from our unit. And then we got plugged in with two other ones straight out out of the war college here at PA. Wow, I mean green, green as you can get.
Speaker 6:don't get no ending about them, you know it was like who are you and what do you do here, Right?
Speaker 4:But really, what it came down to was we went into combat after they showed up and it was basically do we trust them, do we?
Speaker 4:sit there and put our life on the line for them. Yeah, same way. We got a new first sergeant when we were in germany. Just he was like, hey, his contract was up, whatever again I don't know his business. But he turned around and was like I'm your new first sergeant. And during war we got plucked. You know two new guys. So, um, when, when I was and this is again I'll raise my hand and say it's my fault I went in heavy, I went in 190 pounds.
Speaker 4:They got the doc signed off on it and said hey, you're good to go, push me through the door, all right, I relied on my sergeants and corporals to sit there and say you know, hey, let's go do something together, let's go gym or whatever. That's my fault. My fault was I didn't put enough effort into it and I threw the white flag up when I started seeing inconsistencies or I started seeing double standards, or whatever.
Speaker 4:I let that get to me. Yeah, and I failed myself because a 19 old kid in Bamberg, germany, I told. I told someone else, don't ever send a kid to Germany because that's a place to get so much trouble.
Speaker 4:But, the history, the excitement of it, was worth it all and and going forward, I probably lived there, but anyway, when, when I got there and I started seeing that, I kind of like I said, I threw the right flag up and I walked away and I was like my mind was like, if you guys ain't going to help me, what do I have to give for this company? What do I have to give for the army or whatever? Um, and I regret that, that's one part that I do regret, and now it's so. So we get down range. Of course.
Speaker 4:We're in faberborn, afghanistan, we're on I mean lily, are based on the side of a mountain and wow you know, um, I don't know if it's legal, so if you can edit this one out, you can uh, first art more, hey, let's go run the mountain. And this thing is, you know, straight up, I mean, it's almost 8%. We're doing a PT test and he tried to fail everybody out the door Wow.
Speaker 4:You know, if you weren't his standard, you're out the door. So we butted hitch. I had surgery downrange. I had a root canal done downrange, and it was hey, let's go do pt tests right now. Well, I'm doped up on painkillers and you know we're gonna push you to go do pt tests and you know, I, I um, I butted heads, honestly, I butted heads with that and couldn't find anybody to help.
Speaker 4:So basically it was like hey, you filled your three PT tests, you know, and out the door you go. So they sent me home right at the end of our deployment. Sent me home and here's your paperwork. Have a good day, thanks for what you've done and that was it?
Speaker 6:Wow, that's crazy man. That's crazy man, that's crazy. Well, you know, um, but, like I said, we were talking off a lot earlier. You know I, I definitely uh think you should, you should value your service and you know you signed the guideline, you went overseas, you fought for your country. So, you know, I'm proud of you and thank you for what you do.
Speaker 4:You know what you did so um and again you know, like off air. Thank you for you know, acknowledging it from one battle to another battle. Yeah, um, because not to get too far into it, but there is still that one where there's still those battles that they won't talk about the issues they won't sit there and they'll get on facebook or they're. You know, talk to some stranger and there's. There's not that connect, there's not that hey, I understand what you're going through, or hey, let's go fish, or let's go hunt let's go.
Speaker 4:They don't have that or they don't want that, and they're lost yeah or or a battle will reach out. Man, let's talk. And they don't do it. So there is that issue, and but to to, you know, to have someone as a battle, or or even some of the populace. Hey, thank you for what you've done.
Speaker 4:There's some days I don't feel like I deserve it yeah um, there's some days that I struggle with that and but I still show my gratitude because there's so much of the population that'll sit back and going what'd you fight for? You know what you got yourself into. It's kind of weird how history repeats itself. You think back real quick. What happened with Vietnam, guys? Yeah, yeah, hey, I got drafted or hey, I signed up voluntarily with Vietnam and they come back and they're labeled with derogatory terms and they're spit on or their I wouldn't say houses were burned or cars are burned.
Speaker 4:I mean, you saw right yeah, I experienced some of it. When I come back for rnr, I experienced it. You know same same thing. You don't know what you're doing, you don't know why you're fighting right I wasn't into political, I didn't care until we started having our paychecks withheld or we started having, you know, leadership issues or whatever, and it's like, oh, wait a minute, we need to talk here guys um, but again it's to have people acknowledge it.
Speaker 4:It's still sentimental to me and it's still, on one hand, it's hard to grasp it, but on the other hand, I'm grateful for it.
Speaker 6:Yeah, yeah, I mean I think that a lot of veterans can can resonate with that, you know, especially if you compare yourself to some of your peers, you know it's like, oh my, my dad did 21 years, my brother did 20 years and I only did. You know this amount of time, you know. So you kind of compare yourself to your peers, your family and all that stuff too. So but I mean, yeah, it shouldn't, it shouldn't come to you invalidating or not valuing your own service. So I just wanted to make sure that you, you know you felt that and that other veterans that might be in a similar situation can feel the same thing too. You know they should value their service.
Speaker 6:So what we're going to do now, we got, we got, we got. Uh, that's a good intro and and I'm I'm glad you shared that with us Um, and part part of the good thing about the MBR platform is that you know these. You know you're a real veteran, I'm a real veteran, we're two veterans just talking, you know, and there's there's something there's very therapeutic about that and I hope that more veterans can start tuning in and sharing and contributing to asking questions and things like that. So, yeah, definitely, if you're listening or if you know someone that might need an outlet like this, either come join us and start a podcast, like Cameron here or me, or just kind of listen in and, you know, hear some two old crusty vets, you know, talking about their old days.
Speaker 4:I'll agree with the crusty part. You know, think about when you get out of the military. You know when you're in the military real quick. You know you're doing PT every day, you know you get out and use food readily. You do, you know you do your morning roll call and it's hey, let's go run, hey, let's go do pull-ups, whatever. And by the time you get done you're dripping in sweat and you're hurting. You're whatever. You got time to get a shower, you got time to go get some more food or whatever.
Speaker 4:And then, get back to ready to go to work. It was, it was a daily job, you know, and you get out of the military. You're like pt, what the hell's pt? Now, some people still do it. Um, you know, marines. I got a buddy that's a marine and he still works out yeah he became a truck driver and he gained so much weight like again trucking does to us, and then he dropped it real quick because he's like I've got to start eating better and then I gotta run.
Speaker 4:I'm like you're at your mind, you know um, and then yeah. So when I get out of bed or I get out of the truck, I'm like oh crap, oh crap, oh crap. You know I'm hurting because my knees or my back or my shoulders. I'm like just somebody, just challenge me, just send me out to the parks department. You know, give me some new ones, oh man.
Speaker 6:All right. Well, we're going to take a little bit of a musical break and then when we come back we're going to talk some more. We're going to actually answer some questions. Um, I've got a few that people have sent me and I've got a couple in the comments already. But if you have any, any financial questions, uh, it could be big, small, whatever, uh, whatever's itching at you, um, we're going to try to try to handle it, talk about it and, um, you know, just um, just have some conversations about finance, so um. So, after musical break we have. This is Noah Peterson, one of my go-tos, marine Corps veteran out of San Antonio Plays kind of a funky jazz type of music, but I really enjoy it.
Speaker 5:So here is Noah Peterson.
Speaker 2:Thank you, thank you military broadcast radio, the station that's giving veterans a voice find us on the web at mbradious opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the All right, we are back.
Speaker 6:This is Money in the Military on Military Broadcast Radio. Thanks for joining us. We have Cameron here. He is a future MBR podcaster. He's going to have the Uncle Fester's podcast, which is going to be about trucking, right? Yes, trucking towards the military, yep, okay, so a little bit of everything. So a variety of shows of kinds, okay. So yeah, we just kind of invited him on to the broadcast, kind of give him some time to have some exposure, get on air and just talk, get to know him a little bit, introduce him to the audience. So thanks again for jumping on, cameron.
Speaker 6:And before the break we were going to start talking about answering some financial questions and just kind of. You know, see where, where people's heads are at. And the first question that came up was from Bradley Jackson. He asked about should I do the right thing and hold my doge? It's rising and I'm waiting for it to hit some stupid levels.
Speaker 6:Okay, so I'll be the first to admit that I am not a Bitcoin guy, but you know, with Doge being in the news and everything, I actually tracked it. I was curious because I looked it up, the price and it's at $0.37, I guess for a coin. I don't know how that works, but 37 cents and it is going up. So you know there is a clear trajectory that it's going up. But then I also looked at the peak was back in 2021, and it was at 64 cents. So it's almost a little less than half or a little more than half of where it was at one point at its peak. But I guess all that to say is that it could go back up to that and even go beyond that.
Speaker 6:But I wouldn't feel. I'm not an investing professional, so I wouldn't feel comfortable giving it any Bitcoin advice. But it just me personally, uh, it just my my me personally. I uh, it's too too volatile for me, um, but I understand you can make some money off of that stuff too. So, um, it's, it's all about your risk tolerance, you know. So, um, if you, if you're kind of a more of a risk taker and you you like the big rewards, uh, big risk then go, go for it. You, if you feel like it's something that you're just really passionate about or you know a lot about, then go for it. I don't know what do you think about that, cameron, you know my and this is again my sole opinion, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4:Bitcoin is like you said. It's volatile, just like the stock market, just like anything right now, I mean politics are done politics aside, let's see what happens. Hopefully it'll climb. I mean, I've had friends that have been very successful in making money with it and they're like, hey, you know I could sit on it or I could cash some out and pay some bills off or whatever. But I mean you just said it. It was up at what? Did you say $0.66? $0.64. And it's down now to $0.37.
Speaker 4:I mean he's lost close to half of its value.
Speaker 6:Well, depending on when he jumped in, at its lowest it was $0.05 a share. So if he bought in, I think it recently started peaking or spiking in around march. So, um, yeah, I mean if, if you got in at, even at mar or right february, it was eight cents. So it has gone. I guess in that, in that window of time it's gone up pretty good and it's gone up good and it lost some of the value I mean it's one of those things that you sit back and you go.
Speaker 4:When do I pull it out? Or when? Do I sell?
Speaker 4:because when you talk to edward jones, you talk to anybody else and again if me saying the name is a no-no, then my bad, that's fine, but when you talk to these financial advisors, you know they'll sit back and they'll say, yes, go ahead and sit on it, or let's wait, or pull it out now, but to have an account with them or have your own account. There's two different ways of going about that. I've never been to Bitcoin, but if I'm making money on it, maybe pull some of it out while you got the chance while it's still up there and you can make money.
Speaker 4:Chance while it's still up there and you can make money. Uh, yeah, but if it's, if it's a and again my, my opinion if it's a losing value or it's a losing um stock stock, you know a stock or bond or whatever, if it's losing value and you're not making money, let's go back to the drawing board and say what can I do better?
Speaker 6:right, right, yeah. And then the other part of it is like um, what's your, what's your runway? Like, when do you need? Do you ever need this money? Are you, are you planning on spending any money, like, or you know where is this? Is this because, like, some people use, uh, investing stock market bitcoins almost like gambling, you know, like they know that it's and they, they know they're taking a risk and it's kind of fun for them. But then other people it's like no, this is like my, my future nest egg, you know. So you gotta be kind of careful with what you do with that.
Speaker 4:Well and again, you know you saw what happened with like the Bernie Madoff, you know incidental. You saw what happened when, when, what the housing market crashed and what was it? Uh, 2008 yeah so when the housing market crashed or the stock markets crashed and everybody lost their 401ks or they lost so much of other other uh availability to their money, it's like okay, we know, eventually that may happen again.
Speaker 4:But we don't know when, we don't know how, we don't know who's going to be affected. There's so many questions that, as a person, I have to ask myself I've got a 401k, what's that going to put into? How can I save it? How can I not touch it? How can I, you know, not owe any money? I mean, there was a um an app years ago. I don't know if they're still in business.
Speaker 4:It was like you could learn how to play the stock market game on your cell phone and this little kid thought it was a video game he started playing the video game and you know he's like, you know, at the end I was like in the in the week or in the month it says, well, if you play these stocks, you would have had this kind of money if you play this stock or what you're doing? You owe two hundred and three hundred thousand.
Speaker 6:Right.
Speaker 4:And unfortunately that kid ended up taking his own life.
Speaker 7:Oh, wow.
Speaker 4:Because he thought he owed that money right then and there he didn't again. He was well below 18. He wasn't, he was a kid, he was like 13 or 14. So mistakes happen. On that note, but this is, you know. And again the company refuted it, and I can't remember the company name, but they refuted it. Say, hey, how can you hold us accountable? The kid lied, or whatever. But look, there's a lot of questions got to be asked and it's a lot of, a lot of education. I mean, yeah, I don't make a move unless.
Speaker 4:I'm calm and I'm educated and I'm well diverse in knowing how it's going to be used. And again, mr Bradley has a right to jump into Bitcoin. He's probably a smart person. You look at me. No, I am not smart, but I do a lot of research and I give him credit for it. I do because, mr Bradley, he's willing to take that risk. How? Much risk, or how much loss, or how much gain, or how much? Where does that all fall into play?
Speaker 4:Where does that say, hey, I'm, I don't want to lose my butt, but is this my goal? Like I said, can I put money in this cycle? Can I come rich off it? Or again, you know you made a comment when you turn around and say, oh, this is, put money in this cycle, can I become rich off it. Or again, you made a comment when you turn around and say, oh, this is a game or this is, I got an addiction problem, you know. So there's a lot of questions and a lot of answers.
Speaker 4:So, each person is their own. I give Bradley credit. I'll stay out of Bitcoin. I'll jump into smaller markets somewhere down the road. You know what I mean, right.
Speaker 6:Well, the thing about the Bitcoin phenomenon is, I think a lot of people really did make genuine money and so people kind of started to like jump on the bandwagon without really knowing what they were getting into, and so a lot of people lost their shirts when things didn't go well. Or there was a market correction a few years back that just really decimated a lot of people because they didn't know what they were getting into necessarily. So that's where I would just caution. If you know that, if you're comfortable with the volatility, if your risk profile is good, you're strong, just make sure that it's money that you're okay with losing, because you can lose pretty much all of it. You know, uh, it's happened. So, uh, that's where I would just be cautious. Um, and I'm more of a cautious investor anyway, so I'm more of a buy and hold anyways type of person.
Speaker 4:So, um, I mean, yeah, if that would be, my ultimate advice would be to buy and hold I would say, you know, and again my opinion is I like I'll take a risk, right, yeah, how much of a risk. It's like I won't sit on an account for two years or four years and watch it just completely fall out with a bottom missing, I mean we're talking like a 67 ford mustang. If that bottom's out, I'm getting rid of it. I'm going to try to repair it.
Speaker 4:But, there's so much you can do because you turn around and you go. At what point am I? Am I just not making any headway? So you, you, you push forward and maybe, maybe, and again, this is the biggest maybe of all of all choices. And you sit back and go, man, I let this thing tank, but I've had 16 other accounts that have been real positive. So, 16 positive to one negative. I could take this one and let it sink.
Speaker 7:Right.
Speaker 4:But what happens? What happens?
Speaker 7:going forward.
Speaker 4:Again good example Pfizer, pfizer's tanked and they have tanked so hard because they've had a warehouse fire and they've had the lawsuits or whatever come into play with this medicine right, and again they're pushing medicine out and so you turn around and going you guys are losing here, you're not making me money, so what happens.
Speaker 4:You know so again, every personal choice is is without some type of risk. You know being cautious or taking that, that extreme risk. So again I would sit there saying I like to take a risk, but it's like, how much do I? Cross that line of I'm jumping off the edge, or is it more of I'm sitting back and I'm trying to hold someone else's rear end for falling over?
Speaker 6:Right, right, right. And then the other part of that the flip side of that is, you know, the hindsight bias is that where, whenever, maybe you get a little spooked and you sell when it starts to go down. Maybe you get a little spooked and you sell when it starts to go down, but then you look at it from a five-year window and you're like, man, if I'd have just held on to that, if you had an NVIDIA, for instance, I probably should have bought NVIDIA a long time ago, but I never did. And even though I appreciate the product, I enjoy the product and everything, it's just one of those things you never know what's gonna just jump off. You know so, uh.
Speaker 6:So that's the tricky part. That's where people get really. It's. It's an emotional thing because, like it's a, it's a roller coaster ride and and a lot of people just don't feel comfortable like either kicking themselves when they sold too soon or you themselves because they bought at the peak and then it went down. So that's just part of the risk and I think a lot of people just aren't truly prepared or mentally prepared for those possible losses.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and if I don't know what I'm doing, I won't do it by myself. People say you can do trading, do whatever. Online you save money because you don't have that middle person taking 20, 30, 40% of your cuts Right. So if you turn around and do it yourself, you better have the knowledge but have the education. You better look at the NASDAQ but look at whatever, because at that point in time again, six months, one year, two year, three, three year, five year window, whatever someone's gonna tank, someone's gonna climb and stay climbing I mean and at what point does bitcoin level out?
Speaker 7:does it level out or or?
Speaker 4:does it climb or does it, you know? Does it? Does it get to bad, to the point where you like? Oh, you know so again, I give him credit for doing it. Um, I'm pretty sure I would hope so, and and give him credit for it, for jumping into it, but at the same time though, it's like it's just, it's one of those markets I don't know anything about yeah go talk to ever jones. You know, uh, liberty mutual, whatever you go talk to them.
Speaker 6:Yeah, well, I mean, that's the thing with the bitcoin is so new or it's still, it's still relatively new that you know there's just so much unknown about it and, uh, you know, a lot of people couldn't even explain to you what um. You know, um, what the actual like what, what the underlying uh technology behind bitcoin is. They just know that it's going up and and and that they should buy it, you know. So, like you said, educate yourself, be prepared for possible losses and possibly losing everything. Because it's happened. You know, yeah, sure, so, yeah, that's just. I guess that's our, our take. On on Doge, I'd say, yeah, I don't think. Anyway, on on doge, um, I'd say, um, anyway, what is doge? Anyway, I've never heard so.
Speaker 6:Doge is, uh, it's, it's dogecoin, it's a, uh, it's a. It's kind of like a. It's a. It's a type of bitcoin that is um, it's kind of like a. It's. They call it a meme stock, um, and it doesn't really, as far as I know, um, like it doesn't really, it doesn't have a kind of product behind it or anything like that. So it's just kind of like a meme. You know, like Elon Musk has been behind it, he's pushed for it in the past. So I mean it's kind of like a joke Bitcoin, but I mean people are buying it and making money off of it.
Speaker 4:So hey, if you're making money more, more, more, I mean people are buying it and making money off of it.
Speaker 6:Hey, if you're making money, more profit to you.
Speaker 4:Yeah, because I sit back, I'm going I'm hearing meme, I'm hearing Elon Musk. I'm like no, no, I'm going to stay as far away from that one because that's a body of fire that's waiting to blow up.
Speaker 6:Well, you know, that's where it's like. You know, if you see enough people jumping towards something like, eventually my mind starts to think like okay, what's the catch? Or where's the you know? Like is there something going on here? Because I mean, like I'm seeing all these people flock to this, but like I don't know if I trust it yet. You know Exactly.
Speaker 6:But at the same time, the early adopters, the people that did flock early, they probably made out like bandits and then, by the time other people get in, they're they're making some money, but not as much as the people at the beginning. So it's kind of it looks like a really, uh, an impressive return. But, um, in reality, the people that the later you get into the game, the the less your return is going to be. So, exactly, um, well, all right, well, we're going to take, uh, I guess, another quick break, um, and when we come back, we're going to have a couple more questions, hopefully, to answer, uh and uh. If not, we'll, uh, we'll just wing it and make up some questions that we can ask, ask of ourselves.
Speaker 6:But, um, but yeah, so we're gonna see what we're gonna play. We'll just wing it and make up some questions that we can ask of ourselves. But yeah, so we're going to see what we're going to play. We'll try something different. I still like this new guy or new to me Andrew Robro, really like this song. So we're going to play his song and then we'll be back with Money in the Military with Cameron and we'll be back in a few minutes. All right?
Speaker 7:It's been ten years since I'd seen his face. Not much had changed, just a different time, different place changed. Just a different time, different place. When I shook his hand, I knew something had changed. This was a different man from the one I knew back then.
Speaker 5:That's when it said we do the goals. Yes, I stand in line.
Speaker 7:And watch the flag wave and drag.
Speaker 5:You see, this is what I do. Yes, I bleed Red, white and blue.
Speaker 7:He told me the tales Of his journeys far away, three times gone, and the land most only seen on the front page with honor and glory. He stood so tall and fought for you and I so we could be free from it all.
Speaker 5:That's when it's said we do the goals. Yes, I stand in line and watch the flag wave around. You see, this is what I do. Yes, I bleed. Red, white and blue when duty calls, yes, I stand in line and once the flag, we'll be praying. Do they go? Yes, I stand in line and, once again, we pray. You see, this is what I do. Yes, I bleed. This is what I do. Yes, I bleed. Oh, this is what I do. Yes, I believe. Oh, this is what I do. Yes, I believe.
Speaker 8:Little I know military broadcast radio, the station that's giving veterans a voice find us on the web at mbradious opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent. Find us on the web at mbradious.
Speaker 6:All right, we are back. This is Money in the Military. We have a special guest, Cameron, here, Army veteran and now a truck driver who's going to start his own podcast called Uncle Fester's podcast, Hopefully within the next month or so.
Speaker 4:Maybe we'll see, Maybe, maybe first year kind of you know, freight's kind of dying off for work, so give me maybe a little more time to learn from the masters of you know, Mr Hunt and Amber, and you know, Magic Mike and you, Mike and yourself, Mr Laswell, there's a lot of training. There's a lot of education and materials that I've got to go through, equipment to get. We'll get there Again. When I get there I'll throw a big old birthday bash, whatever, Nice.
Speaker 6:Yeah, absolutely Part of the journey is really this early part that I went through too, not that long, absolutely. I mean part of the journey is is is really this early part that I that I went through too a few like, not that, like six months ago or so um, that, um, you know it's, it's nerve wracking, it's fun and exciting. There's a lot, you know, you're you're not sure what you're doing at first, but then it's still fun. So, yeah, just enjoy it. And, um, you, you know, we're just glad to have you on the on the team. Um, all right, so, uh, I did have a question come through, um from my, um, from my uh, fire social worker page. So it says, hey, I'm getting out of the military soon and I'm honestly feeling overwhelmed. My financial situation isn't great. I have some debt, not much saved, and I'm worried about finding a stable job in civilian life. How can I get my finances in order before transition and what should I focus on to make this move as smooth as possible? Well, that's a lot.
Speaker 4:It's a lot, but it's going to be tough to answer that one and to not per se offend or upset them. It's going to be tough. Go ahead with your with your.
Speaker 6:Yeah, well, I mean, let's say the first, you know has debt obviously. Well, we don't know. This person's timeline says soon. So I guess I could try to reach out and get some more information. But you know, we'll just go with. You know soon, we'll say within the next six months. You know that that's a pretty tight timeline and if you have, you know you have debt, you don't have much saved. So that's obviously some strikes against you. But you know, without knowing the full picture, I would say the biggest thing right now is working on on getting that civilian job lined up and that's going to guarantee or help you secure your financial future in the in the near term. Um, but then, like, you know, like, if you're, if you're in this, if, let's say, you got some debt, okay, some debt doesn't sound like, uh, an extreme amount of debt. So maybe, um, focus on paying down your debts as much as possible in this next six months or wherever time we got left. You know, um.
Speaker 6:And then you know I would say, make use of all the resources that you have for transition. You know, like, when you know, when I went out, they have transition assistance program. You know, before you separate. They go through all these different briefings and stuff like that work on your resume, job skills, things like that. So definitely take advantage of those programs. And nowadays they have those internship programs. I don't know if you've been hearing about them, but I did the skill bridge before I got out and I got to do a little internship and that was really cool and definitely something that not everyone gets to do. So if you have the opportunity, definitely take advantage of that. Let's see, I don't know what are your initial thoughts. So my initial thoughts, so my initial thoughts on this.
Speaker 4:One and again, this is coming from somebody who who lived that lifestyle right when, when I was in the military and and we can go with this again on another question or another topic but when I got in the military as an e1 e2 to you know I got to e2 to you know I got to E2. That was about it. When I got out the money was decent, I mean you got to think about it.
Speaker 4:You know you're basically making less than $20,000 a year. You know you walk into you know the military with debt. Or you walk into the military without debt and you're like going well, crap, how did I get all this debt on me? Because you go out and you have fun, you want to buy stuff, you think you're living a luxurious life, and again I did so. I went down that road, going out. I had a different aspect. It was process out, do this paperwork. Here you go, have a good day, go home. There wasn't a whole lot of Resources available to me coming out right you know, I walked out of the military.
Speaker 4:Maybe seven hundred dollars in my savings and and two hundred dollars in my checking. It was.
Speaker 6:That was it, and I'm like wow what I do next you know, yeah, I, I took you know, at least a couple months off.
Speaker 4:That was my, that was my uh uh thing to to understand how life was going to be. Because you come, let's just say this person is in a war zone, you come back, you have to readjust, and that's going to be the hardest part, without help is readjusting, because you're going to come back to civilian life where nobody will ever understand A our lingo.
Speaker 4:B what's in our minds C how we deal with it. When I first got out, I could replay Afghanistan. I could replay every moment, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only battle out there, that's been down the ranks that's going to replay it. I mean, I could picture it, I could smell it, I could see it. And so I got out and I kept saying man, I'm strong I don't need this help. I don't need it whatever, and it wasn't too long.
Speaker 4:I started seeing the effects of me having a gigantic ego getting in the way and I started failing. I started making mistakes. I started, you know, going down that path, but when it came to financials I was like I didn't have. That help. I just like let's start back at the bottom transition to civilian life, because there was things that employers wanted more certifications or more hours on the job, or more hours on the equipment. So again there was certain stipulations.
Speaker 4:So going out, I just went back to the bottom I went back I found that one job that says I want to bust my butt to to earn the respect of somebody that I don't know.
Speaker 6:Yeah.
Speaker 4:You know and work your way up and do it safely, Do it smartly as far as debt goes. Pay off your lowest debt, one bill at a time. Don't let it overstress you, don't let it over consume you. Right, I mean if you put $20 in that debt, that's $20, they can't refuse. Yeah, you know, if they start refusing money or they want more than you can afford, you know, maybe you need to sit there and say sorry, I can only afford $20. I've got A B and C debt to work on.
Speaker 7:Right.
Speaker 4:You know, and the VA Go to the VA, the VA has more resources.
Speaker 6:Magic.
Speaker 4:Mike is a very good person. It's to get his name out there and say, hey, man, when he's available to talk and he can give you these paths, when he can sit there and say, hey, this is what the VA has, because the VA will have even job fairs, va will have online hiring events or internships, or whatever Go work for the VA.
Speaker 4:Some of it's not voluntary, some of it is voluntary. You got to look into that. But when you, when someone gets out, just take it one day at a time. Don't, don't let it consume you, because then you start losing focus of what needs to be right here you start looking off to the right or the left.
Speaker 4:You're going to start making mistakes and you start going down that rabbit hole and then it starts getting darker and darker and darker. So reach out to people. Reach out to someone that says hey, man, I've been there, here's what I've did, here's what I've done um va is is again. They've improved so much over the last few years uh, the pack act.
Speaker 4:The pack wasn't out when I first got out. So 12, 12 years later they're like hey, you've been by a burn pit, oh boy yeah my entire life. I was a kid, I stood over the fire and I was inhaling the fumes from the fire.
Speaker 4:But no, when we were in the military we burned everything. So we're out there. My hut was literally right out on the other side of the HESCO barrier. So, yeah, I've got to go through the whole process for that. There's things that the military that we do in the military again is expecting us going forward. But again, go to the VA.
Speaker 4:The VA is not that bad anyway, yeah, you got your doctors, you got your psychiatrists, you got your people that just don't care because you're a burden to them or you broke up their lunch, or whatever their excuse is. Find the right, doctor, Don't stop looking for help. Don't stop sitting there thinking nobody cares Because a battle Mr Laswell or Mike or anybody else. We're going to care because we've been in that shoe.
Speaker 4:Our shoe they fit the same size. I mean theoretically. But we've been there, we know the struggles, we know the pains, we know, hey, guys that did 15 years, they've made more money. Or they went up in rank, they made more money. Guys that got out when they were private. You know PFC and specialists and corporals and everything else. When you start looking back on this, we wasn't making a whole lot of money. We struggled, we didn't care, we partied like we were rock stars. We thought you know, $1,600, you know, every two weeks was money.
Speaker 4:Right, you know but getting,600, you know, every two weeks was money. Right, you know, but getting out is an eye opener.
Speaker 7:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 4:And I wish the advice I'm giving now is the same I wish I had getting out.
Speaker 6:Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 4:Focus. Focus on what you can do today. If you start worrying about Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday of next week, you've missed something.
Speaker 1:What is?
Speaker 4:it. I couldn't tell you. If you don't ask for help, there's not going to be anybody there to just throw their hand up there and offer it to you. Take that step back and just open up and relax and say, all right, do I got enough to make it a month, or no, I ain't got it. Here's your next diagram. Let's go with this side of the diagram. When you get back, you know, try to enjoy life a little bit. See what you missed because you got a different world coming back.
Speaker 4:Mm-hmm and now there's so much programs from the VA, again, assistance yeah. You know, find that right doctor, Don't stop. You know, find that right psychologist. Or find that right financial aid person. I'm pretty sure VA's got somebody hidden in that building. You know somewhere.
Speaker 7:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 4:Make sure you get all your paperwork in order. Just again, not to overstress anybody who asks this question look back at what you know. Ask a veteran, find a veteran. Hey, what'd?
Speaker 7:you go through What'd you?
Speaker 4:experience, because I didn't have that. I didn't know I could go to the VA right out the gate. I didn't know my old man served and then he's like, hey, let's go to the VA. I'm like for what, I don't deserve to be there. I'm not that person. Now. I wish I would have done it sooner.
Speaker 6:I wish.
Speaker 4:I would have made the changes to ask for help or say where can you help me out? Again, that's my opinion, and just take the time to focus on yourself. Focus on the day, worry about what you can control and get your paperwork in order you need that. Dd-214 on you anytime for job interviews for going to school.
Speaker 4:You need that and have that paperwork. Make a million copies Well, not literally, Don't do that, because that's a lot of paper. But you know, do that and say this is the type of job I did in the military. Can it be transitioned?
Speaker 7:Ask these questions.
Speaker 4:I believe the DAV can help out. I believe there's another group out there I can't remember the name offhand DFW. I believe they can help out the American Legion. I believe they know somebody or someone that can give you that advice. Sit down and talk with them. I'm not saying go have a beer with them during the daytime, because God knows that's going to be a bad choice, but sit down and talk with them, drink a cup of coffee with them. I'm pretty sure they point you in the right direction. And maybe there's something that they miss. Maybe there's a mistake in your file. Maybe there's something that says hey, I can make this better for you. But when it comes to your finances, it's about you One bill at a time, one debt at a time, one day at a time. And it's about you, one bill at a time, one debt at a time, one day at a time, and just take a deep breath, take in the sunlight, because one day it's not going to be here.
Speaker 6:So enjoy it. Yeah, man, I appreciate you saying that. It sounds like that came from the heart. That was a lived experience, that was raw and I appreciate that. Man, that's good advice for anyone getting out right now.
Speaker 4:And again when you make those mistakes yourself yeah it's hard.
Speaker 6:You shout it out from the rooftops when you finally understand those things? Yeah, and when you per se.
Speaker 4:When you don't have that help, you're lost. You are seriously going what do I do next? Who do I go to and who's going to understand me? So it's a lot to take in when you first get out, because you see the biggest picture that Picasso painted because, you see something now that civilian people try to ignore and there's no structure, there's no respect, there's no leadership, there's nothing. I had a little bit of that in the military, but, god, you walk out here and it's a different ball game.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean real quick it's like I want to go watch kansas city royals facing new york yankees and I showed up to the wrong field. I'm looking at houston astros and miami marlins you know the florida marlins.
Speaker 4:I'm not in the same ballpark right right yeah, the picture is painted so bad From when we get out of the military To when we come back To civilian life. And Again, I wish people, I wish the VA would have done this a long time ago. I wish the programs were available a long time ago. But I'm learning it as I go. I'm making my own mistakes. You know, hey, I'm the same person. I'm in the same boat, this other person. I'm learning it as I go. I'm making my own mistakes. I've you know, hey, I'm the same person, I'm in the same boat. This other person is.
Speaker 4:I'm turning around going, man, I put myself in so much debt with medical bills or or um cars or credit cards or whatever, and there's a time you sit back going, all right. You really need to sit down and look at the big picture that you're putting yourself into, because if you don't, there's going to be a time you won't have that VA, there's going to be that time that you won't have that help and guess what You're under the bridge or it could go anywhere.
Speaker 4:But, you know, my thing is that it's just one day, one time. Enjoy it while you got the chance. Enjoy what you can and work on what you can, because, again, one day it may not be here.
Speaker 6:Yeah, absolutely. It's like, I see. I try to liken it to having finding your sea legs. When you're coming out, you're just kind of like. You're like Bambi You're learning how to walk your. It's a whole new world and you're having to to relearn or learn things that you just didn't have to do in the military world yeah, and who's going to be there?
Speaker 4:that's the biggest thing that you always ask yourself who's going to? Be there. Who's who out of my friends or family or or um battle buddies is going to be around me? Yeah. Because we come from all walks of life Different races, different religions, different political views and everything right. Yep.
Speaker 4:So we get out. I've got buddies that are still in the military. They're starting first classes, they're jump masters, they're retired staff sergeants. I still talk to them. They pretty much struggle too, getting out or staying in. There's some that are in, that are still struggling, but getting out. I wish I would have stayed. I wish I could have had the chance To fight, to stay in, but my fate was decided a long time ago and it's like, okay, you're done.
Speaker 4:Now you need to walk like a like a, like a, like a, like a baby deer trying, just trying to find his legs. And you gotta learn. I mean, you gotta learn, it's this, it the world didn't stop because you're doing military right flew and it just went, go and go and go. And then you try to jump into a line of a freight train. It catch up and you lost Right.
Speaker 4:Again and I'll repeat this a million times here, but it's the last one Work on you as a person. Work on what you can control, focus on what you can control One debt or one bill and don't overdo it. Don't sit there and think, man, I need a new car and I need a new house. No, if you can go pop your butt on the couch, go do it. Go be a bump a little bit. I'm not saying take advantage of it.
Speaker 4:I'm saying enjoy it Just say hey, man, can I crash for? Give me six months, get on my feet, maybe someone can let you do that, or a family right Get back on your feet, but take the time, and if you make a mistake, that's your time to make the mistake. That's your time to learn from it going well, I shouldn't have done that one, because now I'm paying for it here, or I'm paying for it 15 years later.
Speaker 7:And.
Speaker 4:I'm a prime example. I've done exactly what I'm telling you guys and I've struggled so much with paying off my debt. But I put myself in debt and I pay it off little by little, by little.
Speaker 6:There you go.
Speaker 4:Go to school. God, if you've done enough time, you can go to school and look at what you want to do. Make that choice. You've got time. You've got to infinity? I would assume so. But look, just do you. That's all I can say. Just keep doing you, and one day at a time, and focus on you. Clear your mind. Don't let it get stressful.
Speaker 6:Well, man, I feel like I just went to church. I appreciate that Preacher Cameron came through for us. But that's actually right, man, time has just really flown by. It's almost the time to call it. But. But, man, Cameron, you know, I think, I think you got a bright future ahead of yourself in the podcasting space. We're glad to have you here at MBR. Any last minute, last words for the audience.
Speaker 4:No, basically just just keep, just stay positive. You know, stay positive, stay focused, Ask for help if you need it, Ask for help when it comes up.
Speaker 4:And look, your battles are going to be your best friend. You know they understand you and they respect you. You know it's when you start trying to find that outside help that doesn't understand you that really somewhat hurts but also can be depending on who you talk to can be very helpful. So stay positive, keep your head up and keep looking forward for what you want to do next. Keep pushing yourself, keep you know, keep striving, keep taking the risk. Take the good risk, not the negative risk, but keep going forward and don't let one bad day ruin your attitude or one bad day ruin your entire life. So take it with a grain of salt and again, I'm guilty of it, but take it with a grain of salt and say I can do this.
Speaker 6:I will do this and I will stay focused. Awesome, all right. Well, that's, that's going to be it for Money in the Military. This has been Joey and Cameron, so catch us on the next stream and we're going to be. We'll be out until the next stream, so we'll talk to you guys later have a good night, guys ladies and gentlemen, thank you for tuning in to military broadcast radio.
Speaker 2:As we wrap up today's show, we want to remind you that the podcast of today's episode will be available right after we go off the air, so if you missed any part of the show or want to listen again, be sure to check it out. And remember we're here to support and honor our veterans. Your stories and experiences matter and we are committed to giving you a platform to share them. That's right. We're here to give our veterans a voice, so don't forget to catch the podcast and stay connected with us Giving our veterans a voice.
Podcasts we love
Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.
The Financial Independence Show
Cody Berman and Justin Taylor
Macro Social Work Your Way™ with Marthea Pitts, MSW
Marthea Pitts, MSW
Social Workers, Rise!
Catherine Moore, LCSW
Military Retirement Podcast
w/ John McConnell and Victor De La Flor