Commentary

October 19, 2012

Your Financial Minute

by Debi McCoy
Military spouse

Hello Team March!

I am excited to begin fiscal year 2013 with an introduction and tip. My name is Debi, I am a military spouse whose husband is assigned here at March Air Reserve Base, working toward my Accredited Financial Counselor designation. I applied for a Military Spouse Fellowship during the spring of 2011 and was selected along with 200 other spouses from around the world. After two more classes and a residency period, I will have my certification completed. Currently, I have almost 30% of my residency requirement under my belt. I have been busy!

So, what is an AFC designation and how can it benefit you? I will be able to provide remedial, preventive or productive financial counseling. In other words, I can help you with a financial tune-up or major overhaul. This is a free service to military members and their families as well as base civilians.

In addition to on-base, confidential counseling, available through the Airmen and Family Readiness Center, I am gearing up to host ‘Lunch and Learns’ on various financial topics. My first session will be on the recent addition of the Roth option to the Thrift Savings Plan, for both civilian and uniformed service members. Keep an eye out for the announcement of the lunchtime class.

If you want to make an appointment or join one of the classes, contact me via email at mccoyfour@gmail.com or call 951-239-1626. In addition, Valerie Fioretta, director, Airman and Family Readiness Center is also available and can be reached by email at valerie.fioretta@us.af.mil or called at 951-655-5322.

I will leave you with a financial tip:

If you have an escrow account attached to your mortgage, your lender can increase the escrow payment portion an additional 16.67% to allow for any increases in your taxes or insurance. For a $3500 tax and insurance annual bill that would be an additional $583 paid into your escrow account each year. You can contact your lender and ask them to lower the additional amount to their minimum, usually around 10%, thus saving you $233 a year in the escrow payment portion.

Happy Budgeting!




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