I asked Benjamin Brandt how deploying to a war zone prepared him to be a financial planner.  He said in the military they learned to act without thinking.  In his profession now, it’s important to think without acting.
He was a member of Task Force Trailblazer where he was a combat engineer.  Their mission was to identify IED’s so US and coalition forces are assured mobility.  While deployed in 2003-2005 for 15 months, he saw IED’s get more and more sophisticated.
Now 12 years later he has a successful business teaching people how to retire.  He also gives us solid advice how to plan a vacation on a limited budget by:

* have 30 daily (not monthly) budget meeting with spouse
* do not round numbers, be specific.  You can save a few dollars here and there that will add up each month
* Press pause on what you can – cable, Netflix, lawn maintenance, etc

We have a great talk about actionable steps we can take to put ourselves in better financial positions.  And Benjamin is open about his PTSD and how he has no side effects now.
Retirement Starts Today
You can watch him on his weekly show “Money Monday” in a Gorilla suit here:
http://www.myndnow.com/news/bismarck-news/money-monday-trick-or-treat/603482833
He’s an interesting guy with no secrets.  He even hired a private investigator to find out everything about him and he published on his blog.
Learn more about Brandt here, including listening to his podcast:
http://retirementstartstoday.com/
Blog
Subscribe to his podcast
Benjamin created this link for our listeners:
http://retirementstartstodayradio.com/patriot/

Music courtesy of Soundroad – Believe.
Copyright 2017 Thad Forester
http://www.patriottothecore.com
email questions to thad@patriottothecore.com