Lots of talk out here in Iraq about the economic woes the U.S. seems to be in. Most folks out here, if they are managing their money correctly, should be able to save a few bucks while knocking down their debt. But at least for my organization, most of my colleagues here serve only a few months in country before heading back home. By way of example, I'm the only person in my group here on a 1-year tour. In fact, I've just been told that rather than returning home circa December 2008, I'll probably be here until mid to late January 2009 when they hope to have my replacement ready to go. For my colleagues, their limited time on the ground means that they have a shorter window to get their financial situation together. For me, it means that I've got 12-14 months to get our financial situation sorted out, while trying not to get killed. The economic situation comes at an interesting time for us, because part of the "personal" mission that brought me here is the opportunity to build our savings, reduce our debt, and put a good chunk of money down on our first home. Part of the savings plan includes putting aside money for Ami's college (and perhaps private school) tuition. Prior to departing DC, I started gathering info on the various investment options tailored to educational saving plans. Perhaps fortunately, the mayhem surrounding my departure and moving Ami' and Napi up to St. Louis resulted in me arriving in Baghdad without having settled on an option. Given the issues on Wall Street these days, that may have been for the best.
Currently I'm setting aside $200 biweekly towards the Ami' savings fund. That's about $300 less than I think we should be doing, but considering the other goals I've set, it's the number of choice for now. Until both Napi and I have pay checks coming in which would allow for an extra $100-300 towards the Ami' savings fund, $400 a month will have to do the trick. The problem is, will it? By itself I don't see that covering college when he reaches that age. And if we decide to go the private school route, we just may exhaust the Ami' fund before he even gets to the SAT. So what then? Invest and hope that when the time comes the market won't be in turmoil or the country on the brink of a recession? Do we risk buying into one of those state funds where your child is limited to public schools within that particular state? Do I kick up my hours to 100 per week and create a safety risk by not being properly rested to do the stuff that I do? Overtime for me comes at a price. I'm getting home at around 0400 on average. I'm usually so exhausted, that for the last two nights, the only thing that came off my body were my boots. Sleeping with body armor, rifle and pistol mags still strapped in, radio, the entire kit, is not the lick. I haven't had time to call Napi and Ami' in days. It's probably been close to a week since my last video call to them both. I'm hoping a potential cancellation tonight results in me getting in at a decent time to call them. The bigger problem is that my OT takes me outside the wire - the more overtime I work, the more exposed I am to IEDs, rocket attacks, small arms fire, IDF...you get the picture. Getting killed wasn't part of the plan coming out here, so do I just stick with what I'm doing now and figure out the rest as I go? Tough decisions to be made now, for a point in the boy's life that's still over a decade away. And that's just his college plan - what about retirement? What will we leave for him other than life-insurance when that day comes - and it will come...
