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July 11, 2016By Paula Pant

#33: How I Became a Millionaire on a Military Salary – with Doug Nordman

military millionaireAfter serving in the Navy for 20 years, Doug Nordman, then age 41, retired from his military career.

Most of his peers started second careers in the civilian world. But Doug didn’t.

He had an ace up his sleeve: he had spent his military career saving 40 percent of his income. By the time he turned 41, he held an investment portfolio worth $1 million. Those investments, coupled with a Naval pension for $30,000 per year, propelled him into financial independence.

He’s remained retired since leaving the Navy. He’s now 55. He surfs three times a week. He travels to Europe on a whim. His retirement portfolio survived two recessions and is now worth $1.7 million.

In this interview, Doug shares the story of how he became a millionaire on a military salary. He also talks about the fulfillment he’s found through financial independence. Enjoy.

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#34: How I Built a Six-Figure Online Store -- with Steve Chou from My Wife Quit Her Job
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#32: Ask Paula: The Market Might Drop Soon. Should I Sell?
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Posted in: Episodes, FIRE, Personal Finance 101

9 Comments
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  1. Julie

    # July 11, 2016 at 10:18 am

    Great interview!

    For a period of several years my husband, daughter and I lived on his salary as an enlisted Airman. We managed to pay off student loan and credit card debt and save about $30,000 in 4 years despite his salary never exceeding $30,000 a year.

    The military provides many financial benefits (education, healthcare, housing and food allowance, etc) and many companies offer military discounts. If you’re willing to live frugally, the low cost of living makes it relatively easy to save a large percentage of income.

    Reply ↓
  2. Walli

    # July 12, 2016 at 1:43 pm

    Great interview! I’ve been listening to the podcasts since the very beginning. Although it was another good episode. I absolutely hated that the interview was interrupted by a commercial or a “word from the sponsor.” I heard it at the beginning no need to do it right in the middle of the show. Very annoying. I stopped listening to one pod-caster when they began doing that very thing.

    Reply ↓
    • Paula Pant

      # July 13, 2016 at 1:44 pm

      Hi Walli — Glad you liked the episode! The ads are necessary for paying the production costs, including paying Steve for his awesome editing work. I hope that helps you understand why these ad spots are necessary. By putting a 30-second ad spot in the middle of a show, we can keep this podcast on the air.

      Reply ↓
  3. Janet

    # July 17, 2016 at 11:42 am

    Excellent interview. I have been listening to your podcasts from the beginning, and this is one of my favorites. Interviews highlighting how folks achieved financial independense without a windfall are most interesting to me. I don’t mind the ads in the podcast if it keeps them available.

    Reply ↓
  4. Mark

    # July 24, 2016 at 3:55 pm

    Thank you for this fine episode. My biggest take away from it was the power of supplemental income / multiple streams of income even in retirement. Your guest’s well earned $30k/yr pension helped soften the blow of down markets. It’s like he has a well paid part-time job. Or, alternately, it’s like he saved an extra $750k in his portfolio.

    I’m still 10 years out from retirement and will have no pension, but this show got me thinking that even when retired, I need to have multiple sources of income established that aren’t all subject to stock market fluctuations.

    Reply ↓
  5. Camille

    # January 27, 2017 at 9:14 pm

    Fantastic interview, Paula! I loved how well Doug articulated the idea that saving 40% of his income bought him the option of leaving his career before his pension vested at 20 years. He’s an articulate, intelligent guest who was humble enough to honestly discuss the errors that were made on his journey to wealth. I appreciated the fact that he provided details respecting his final salary when he retired at 41, his annual pension payment, and the fact that his pension is indexed to inflation. These details provide benchmarks to people like me who are trying to do what he did, even though my numbers might be slightly different than his.

    Reply ↓
  6. Donald Drzewiecki

    # May 11, 2018 at 9:47 am

    Please Check out the story, “Who says you cant retire a millionaire while serving in the military””. Basically a retired Gunnery Sergeant in the Marine Corps. Now he is a multimillionaire. His monthly income around 30k a month. Here’s a guy who wrote the book on using the military to his advantage.

    Reply ↓

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