In article <44457f6f.0309281402.21b6cd7c[at]posting.google.com> , Andr? Kok
<ndrkk[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

First off, find a stock broker or financial planner that you can
trust. Make sure that it is a national organization so you can deal
with them after you move. Open an account. Put all your money into
a money market fund, and get a checking account and credit card that
can draw against it. If you have your investments scattered, move
them to this institution to get everything on one statement. Roll
over your government plan if you can. Getting everything organized
and at one place eliminates a lot of mess and worry during and after
your move.

Next, don't pay down anything right now. You want maximum flexibility.
You don't know where you are going to be living, what kind of job you
might get, or even if there are any jobs out there right now. You
also don't know if you are getting into something long-term, or if
you are going to have to rent for a while.

Save your money for a down payment on a house. Use the rest to pay
off your higher interest loans. Don't accelerate the payments on the
lower interest rate loans. Keep some in savings for emergencies.
Put the rest in short term CD's. Once you get established, then
move the short term CD's into longer term CD's using a ladder. You
broker or financial planner will know how to do that.

Finally, check on student loan consolidation. There is some deal
going on right now where you can lock in a 3 point something student
loan if your consolidate it. You can find info at the student loan
marketing corporation web site.

-john-

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John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john[at]johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
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Hello All,

First a brief introduction, I'm a military officer who has been on
active duty since 1999. During my years of service I was diagnosed
with Crohn's disease, a chronic illness. Thankfully, my illness is
under control with minimal drugs and a healthy lifestyle. Due to my
condition, I am being medically (and honorably) discharged from the
military and will leave the service sometime around January.
Thankfully it looks like I should be able to get a good government
civilian job after my military service. I will receive approx.
$35,000 in severance pay from the military as well as a paid move
from where we are now to anywhere in the U.S. where I can get a job.
I'll have 60 days of medical insurance after I seperate, to cover me
inbetween military and civilian service. My wife and I both have roth
IRA's (~$10,000 me, ~$7,000 my wife) and Thrift savings plans (a
federal employee 401K type of thing, ~$5,000 me, ~$2,000 my wife) and
about $4,000 in a liquid savings account. Oh yes, and most valuable
of all, our first child is due in December.

My question for the group is this, what should I do with the severance
pay?
My wife and I have student loans (low interest, interest payments tax
deductible, total ~$27,000), a car loan (~$7,400 6.25%) That's it for
our debt, should I pay off as much of that as possible?
or, should we use this money towards a down payment on a house when we
get to our new home? Or should I stick it in some sort of investment
and try to earn some interest off it? Any other ideas? Or would you
reccomend a combination of multiple options?

Thanks for any opinions

-Andre