J.J. Montanaro, USAA Certified Financial Planner

Latest Articles

Checking Up on Your Financial Well-Being

Answering a few questions could give you insight into where you stand financially.

Financial Rule of Thumb: Maintain an Emergency Fund

Money set aside for those unexpected situations can keep you out of financial trouble.

Back to School: Finance 101

It's never too late to learn, especially about finances.

Financial Rule of Thumb: Get the Life Insurance You Need

How much is too much and how much is not enough?

Financial Rule of Thumb: Create a Livable Budget

Budgets aren't exciting, but they are the responsible thing to do.

Are Your Finances Aligned?

When planning a budget, you need to make sure it is rooted in reality.

What You Need to Know About the TSP’s New Lifecycle Funds

The TSP is making it easier to save for retirement without having to manage your investments.

Make Good Financial Decisions When Buying a Vehicle

Know your limits when going to a dealership and don't waiver from them.

A keyboard and calculator in the foreground with a pair of eye glasses on a desk and a person's arm at work in the background.

Knock Out Your 2024 Financial Spring Cleaning with These 6 Tasks

This spring, clean up more than your garage with a focused effort to fine-tune your finances.

Spooky Finances: Take a Hard Look at Financial Realities

Is your financial situation a trick or a treat?

Choose Friends Who Are Financially Responsible

It always helps when your friends share your views

Another Stream of Income: Taking Your Finances to the Next Level

Just because you make more, you shouldn't necessarily spend more.

Top 5 Tips for Sticking to Your Financial Goals

Make your financial goals work for you

6 Financial Lessons from the Pandemic

Begin your personal financial assessment and implement your own improvement plan

Keeping Pace With the Thrift Savings Plan

Are you up to date on recent changes to the savings plan?

Military News

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Most Popular Military News

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego

Marine Recruiter Who Wrote ‘Memoir’ About Teenage Recruit Sentenced to Prison

Nearly a year after then-Gunnery Sgt. Christopher Champagne self-published a memoir about his inappropriate relationship with...

Air Force Special Warfare WIC at the Nevada Test and Training Range

Air Force Has a Problem Recruiting for Special Warfare Jobs, New Report Finds

The Rand Corp. released a study detailing the issues the Air Force has faced in getting recruits to join Special Warfare...

A Quadrupedal-Unmanned Ground Vehicle (Q-UGV) goes over rehearsals at Red Sands IEC

Army Testing Robot Dogs Armed with Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Rifles in Middle East

The Army was testing at least one armed quadrupedal unmanned ground vehicle at an installation in Saudi Arabia.

Artist and songwriter Kris Kristofferson performs ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down’ at the Nashville Songwriters Association International ‘50 Years of Songs’ at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.

Did That Infamous Kris Kristofferson vs. Toby Keith Showdown Actually Happen?

It was, at its heart, juicy celebrity gossip, but it had all the makings of a dramatic feud.

U.S. Air Force F-16 conducts a routine intercept of a Russian Tu-95 aircraft

Startling Video Shows Russian Fighter Jet Flying Within Feet of US F-16 near Alaska

Military officials have released new video of a startling encounter between a Russian fighter jet flying near Alaska and a U...

Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center following Hurricane Helene

Georgia Army Base Struggling with Power, Potable Water After Hurricane Helene

Fort Eisenhower, Georgia, has been without water for days and has had much of its electricity knocked out, leading to...

Latest Military Videos

Master Class: The Postseason Job Hunt: Your Essential Playbook for the Hottest Job Market of the Year

For transitioning military, from here to Thanksgiving is traditionally the hottest job market of the year, which is strange...

Video Shows Russian Jet Zooming by Within Feet of US Plane

Military officials have released new video of a startling interaction between a Russian jet flying near Alaska and a...

Pentagon Says US Got No Advance Warning of the Strike by Israel in Beirut

The Pentagon said Friday that the U.S. got no advance warning of the strike the Israeli military says it...

At UN, Netanyahu Vows Israel Will Keep 'Degrading Hezbollah' Until its Objectives Are Met

His leadership strained by conflicts on two fronts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told world leaders at the United...

Investigations and Features

Army Capt. Jeremy Kuykendall and his wife Kate, cradle their daughter

Unsupervised: Military Child Care Centers Slow to Report Abuse with Little Oversight

A Military.com investigation into military day care centers revealed that service branch rules generally prioritize...

A patch in the home of retired missileer Paul Hunke

They Stood Sentry over America's Nuclear Missile Arsenal. Many Worry It Gave Them Cancer.

For years, it was an open secret among missileers that the Cold War-era missile alert facilities and launch control centers...

Army News

Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center

Five Chinese Nationals Charged with Covering Up Midnight Visit to Michigan Military Site

U.S. authorities charged five Chinese nationals with lying and trying to cover their tracks, more than a year after they were...

Georgia Army National Guard offer relief after Hurricane Helene

1,000 Active-Duty Soldiers Called Up to Assist with Hurricane Helene Response

The 1,000 troops, an Infantry Battalion Task Force formed from the XVIII Airborne Corps, are from the 82nd Airborne Division...

Navy News

Donnie Gregory, Seatack Civic League president, talks about plans for a restaurant that would be built contiguous to his property.

A Developer Wants to Build an Oyster Bar in Virginia Beach. The Navy Says No Way.

A decade-old plan to build a waterfront restaurant in the Seatack neighborhood is reigniting pushback from the U.S. Navy...

Navy quarterback Braxton Woodson throws on the Air Force defense

Navy Football Coach Offers No Sympathy for Air Force Team's Inexperience Woes

Air Force has lost three in a row, while Navy is unbeaten and receiving Top 25 votes.

Air Force News

Navy Football Coach Offers No Sympathy for Air Force Team's Inexperience Woes

Air Force has lost three in a row, while Navy is unbeaten and receiving Top 25 votes.

Air Force Has a Problem Recruiting for Special Warfare Jobs, New Report Finds

The Rand Corp. released a study detailing the issues the Air Force has faced in getting recruits to join Special Warfare...

Space Force News

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 crew, joins Expedition 72 aboard the ISS

Space Force Colonel Becomes First Guardian to Launch into Space on NASA Mission

Col. Nick Hague, a Space Force Guardian and NASA astronaut, launched Saturday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in...

Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman

Space Force Touts Plans for Part-Time Service, Even as Opposition and Space National Guard Proposal Loom

The Space Force won't be accepting applications for part-time service until at least 2026. But a separate push to create a...

Marine Corps News

Marine Recruiter Who Wrote ‘Memoir’ About Teenage Recruit Sentenced to Prison

Nearly a year after then-Gunnery Sgt. Christopher Champagne self-published a memoir about his inappropriate relationship with...

Scott Perry, 89, a Vietnam veteran who served in the Marines

Nearly 100 Veterans Get Rousing Welcome Back After Three-Day Trip to DC Honoring Their Service

As the veterans came down the Terminal 2 escalator after three days visiting memorials and doing other sightseeing, family...

Coast Guard News

Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater helicopter crew rescues a man and his dog

Coast Guard Saves Man, Dog off Florida During Hurricane Helene

A mariner sailing in the path of Hurricane Helene was rescued in dramatic fashion when his boat started sinking off southwest...

remains of the Titan submersible on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.

Titan Implosion Hearing Paints a Picture of Reckless Greed and Explorer Passion

Witnesses testified that the company that operated an experimental deep-water submersible that imploded, killing five people...