Transition-30 (T-30)

New decade, new year, and last month as an active duty Soldier. Must be time for another transition article. December flew by due to the holidays, outprocessing, retirement ceremony, and job-hunting activities. Here is a summary of my key events, resources, and lessons learned for the month:

1. Outprocessing: Officially signed out the Army on Dec 11th, after visiting all the appropriate places and having various folks sign off on my clearing papers.

• Central Issue Facility: This was easy since I turned in all but my helmet and Camelback at a previous duty station, both items were clean, and I treated the dude accepting my gear respectfully. Discussed what leeway he has and what little those that act like asses get. Good lesson for life in general.
• Unit: This was the most surreal part as I typed my final out of office messages, completed paperwork, turned in my badge, and was escorted out of the building.
• Finance: This was a critical one and Mr. G. ensured my paperwork, to include leave dates were straight. Due to my fuzzy math and timeline changes, I sold back a few days which is a small bonus, but not typically recommended since it is calculated off of base pay.

• Final Out: Ms. F. was extremely accommodating helping with all the paperwork and provided my vital DD-214, American flag, letters from the Chief of Staff of the Army for me and my wife, and Commander in Chief’s Certificate of Appreciation (COA).

Tip: You can also request COAs from any living and former Commander in Chief, but it takes more time. I requested one from a former Commander in Chief, and it will be mailed to me.

2. Financial: Discussed post-military financial options with three separate financial planners. I called MOAA and was connected to Shane Ostrom, CFP, who was very generous with his time and advice as we discussed universal life (UL) vs term life insurance, SBP, TSP rollovers, IRA types, emergency funds, taxes, and financial planners. Spoke about the same, plus umbrella insurance, with a certified flat-fee wealth manager, (Mr. C.), I heard on a podcast and connected to. Discussed a robo advisor account and UL option with a third planner, but felt less comfortable with their strategy and surprised by no follow-up e-mail like Mr. C provided. Received a few LinkedIn connection requests from financial planners, but have not engaged.   

• Umbrella insurance: “An umbrella insurance policy gives extra protection if you're sued for the things you own, as well as your savings, investments, and in some states, your future wages. It can also help pay for legal defense costs.” Depending on your assets and risks, may want to consider this to protect yourself in today’s litigious society. The challenge was the below yes or no question. Our part chicken/part Boston Terrier may have bitten before when provoked, but without breaking skin, and answering yes to this question resulted in speaking to an additional underwriter. Any at-fault vehicle accidents within the past five years also result in higher premiums.

• Auto/home/umbrella insurance price comparison: Took some time to compare USAA, who I have had for decades, to a heavily advertised company with a green mascot. I still trust USAA and they came out about 5% cheaper overall so will stick with them.
• Survivor Benefit Plan: Elected SBP for now and will re-evaluate between the 24th and 36th month.
• SGLI: SGLI ends when you retire (120 days after your retirement date). I previously had only $50k in SGLI coverage since I had term policies for 1/3 the cost with a very military-friendly company, but changed it to $400k since I will have this additional coverage for 120 days post-retirement.

Tip:  Get a financial plan together, to include an emergency fund, plan for the inevitable state and increased federal taxes, and get decent advice from a few different folks.

3. Health and Wellness: Staying healthy and well despite the upcoming major life transition and occasional challenges and tomfoolery. The VA claim has been my biggest hassle so far.

• VA Disability Claim: Still crickets from anybody about scheduling my Compensation and Pension (C&P) examinations despite countless texts, voicemails, and e-mails to the minimally helpful individual who filed my claim. Finally gave up on him and gave a Power of Attorney to a Virginia Department of Veterans Services Rep who checked my record, and seeing nothing filed a 21-4138. I also uploaded my DD-214 recently which may or may not have been an issue. 
• Fitness: Weather has been moderate for outside riding, and even had one country music ride. This ride started with finding my garage door spring broke, biking through 90 minutes of rain despite the 7% chance of precipitation, and almost included an inattentive driver running into me. I’m waterproof, but usually don’t ride in the rain due to the time it takes to dry and maintain my wet bike. In the end, these are 1st world problems and plenty of folks without a house, garage, bike, or health to even ride a bike, etc…
• Sleep: Santa bought new pillows for me and my wife. Fakespot reviews were positive, they are comfortable, and just need to remove some of the ?” pieces of memory foam for a better head/neck angle. Netflix and the Blacklist do impact sleep.
• Medical: Received my 2nd Shingles vaccine since it was in stock at FBCH. Highly recommend discussing this with your provider, if you are middle-aged, since Shingles is pretty aggravating (speaking from experience) nerve pain that can last several weeks.

Tip: Just do something for movement/exercise and consume high quality minimally processed fuel. You can’t out-exercise a bad diet.

4. Ceremony: Participated in the Dec 12th monthly group retirement ceremony with the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) and the U.S. Army Band, "Pershing's Own" ceremonial units of the U.S. Army Military District of Washington (MDW). Wrote about this in a LinkedIn post and blown away from the numerous comments from folks I have grown up with, worked with, and complete strangers. Most stressful part of the ceremony was squeezing the flag between my left arm and side after I got it. Visit here if you are a Soldier in the MDW area and interested in the same ceremony. https://www.mdwhome.mdw.army.mil/ceremonial-support/army-retirement-ceremonies

Tip: https://einvitations.afit.edu/ is a free site that you can use to send out your ceremony and other official invitations.  Mine took a few extra days for the appropriate review since I didn’t have access to a government computer and haven’t successfully enabled a CAC reader for my personal PC.

5. Resources: The VA is very good at reminding you that your transition is approaching with 1st of the month e-mails for their plethora of potential services.

Tip: Found this site from a Brian Niswander post and thought it was pretty useful. 

6. Learning: Still learning daily through podcasts, websites, books and people virtually and in person.

• Project Management Professional (PMP): Completed the online portion of the Syracuse University IVMF Onward to Opportunity (O2O) course. Passed 2 of the required 3 online practice exams and the PMP exam studying is time consuming and not much fun. Will pass the other online exam this week and schedule my certification exam which O2O funds. https://ivmf.syracuse.edu/programs/career-training/o2o-admission/onward-to-opportunity-application/

Tip: If you decide to pursue the PMP, take advantage of OPM (Other People’s Money) to fund the course and/or exam.

• LinkedIn: Recommend this as the first stop for any professional that is searching for jobs, networking, or transitioning. Would add a LinkedIn class to professional military education courses to facilitate their own professional development and mentoring or coaching relationships.

Tip: Take advantage of the free one-year LinkedIn Premium Careers subscription for current or former U.S. military service members. https://socialimpact.linkedin.com/programs/veterans/premiumform

• Reading: Finished Herb Thompson’s book last year (Tuesday) and highly recommend it. Herb is the real deal and provides an easy to read, well written, no-BS guide, AND all the book sale proceeds got to SF2BIZ, a 501c3. Also reading James Clear’s and Nir Eyal’s bestselling books.

7. Volunteering: I have benefitted from countless folks who have provided transition advice and feedback so was good to share advice with other transitioning service members through TCONs and coffee.

• Volunteered with NOVA Habitat for Humanity on a renovation project, which they typically don’t due. The house was previously owned by a Veteran who died recently, and his children sold it to Habitat for Humanity, so this project resonated with me as a soon to be Veteran. Good to meet some new folks and learn again how to measure at least twice and cut once.
• National Capital Healthcare Executives (NCHE): Helped plan and execute 2 joint ACHE and AMSUS educational panels on December 2nd which received excellent reviews. Was also elected as the 2020-2022 NCHE Vice President and look forward to a robust educational schedule.

8. Job Search:  Received two different job offers. Thoroughly evaluated them, discussed with mentors and fam/friends, made a counteroffer and accepted a position that I expect to start in a few weeks. Both companies required drug screenings and background checks so will continue to avoid illegal substances or activities even though I am leaving the Army.

Tip: Network, network, network. Do a DOD Skillbridge, if at all possible. Almost always make a counteroffer, if you don’t ask, you know the answer.

To be continued...

Chuck

See also:

D-180 article (most complete and can use 6-24+ months out from transitioning):

 https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/180-days-until-i-transition-from-military-chuck-unruh-mha/