Contents
Cover image: iStockphoto.com (Background: Andrey Kuzmin / Emblem: Grynold)
Cover design: Wiley
Copyright 2014 by Combat Finance, LLC. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Neddenriep, Kurt.
Combat finance : how military values and discipline will help you achieve financial freedom / Kurt Neddenriep.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-118-81750-6 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-81753-7 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-81752-0 (ebk)
1. Finance, Personal. 2. Military discipline. I. Title.
HG179.N4136 2014
332.024dc23
2013038601
To my beautiful wife, Katie, who has walked beside me through two commands, a deployment, and Combat Finance I love you, sweet girl.
To the men and women of 1st squadron, 221st cavalry, both past and present. Thank you for your dedication, service, professionalism, and support. It has truly been my honor to serve with you.
To SPC Brandon K. Steffey and his military working dog Maci, both KIA October 25, 2009, Laghman province, Afghanistan, and to all of our fallen servicemen and -women. May we live lives that are worthy of your sacrifice.
Preface
Combat Finance is a financial self-help book that takes the fog of the everyday financial battle and breaks it down into an easily understandable process that you can use to reach personal financial freedom. I think youll find it to be an uplifting read that uses basic military analogies to help explain financial concepts in a way that you can immediately apply to your personal situation, regardless of whether you are 18 or 81. The purpose of this book is to both educate and entertain and, therefore, it is not a financial dissertation, nor is it a white paper on military doctrine and tactics. It is not a book of war stories about staring down the enemy and its not just for those with military service. It is a book that will make sense even if the closest you have ever come to the military is making cookies with a Cub Scout den mother.
I wrote Combat Finance to help instill the values, principles, and discipline that it takes to succeed financially, so dont expect any gimmicks or get rich quick schemes. But dont get me wronggetting your finances under control doesnt have to be like getting a root canal, either. Youll see that following the fundamentals and maintaining self-discipline is easy when you have a plan and a process. That is what Im going to teach you in Combat Finance , and I think youre even going to have some fun along the way. Who knows, you might even learn to appreciate what you have more and worry about what you dont have less, all the while knowing that you have a plan in place to become wildly successful over time. After all, who wants to just get by? As a Combat Finance reader I want you to set high expectations for you and your family and then surpass those expectations. But to get there you need a plan, a process, and the discipline to see it through, so lets get going.
Acknowledgments
I am deeply grateful for the support, advice, and love of my family and friends, especially my wife Katie, who supports me in all my endeavors, both brilliant and not so. To my father, Doug, who taught me to never quit and my mother, Jean, who loved me no matter what. To Lizanne and Kristie for being the best big sisters a guy could ask for. Thanks to you two, I never had to face anything by myself growing up unless I chose to go it alone.
I would also like to add my sincere gratitude to the following:
John Mack, without whom this book would not have been published. Thank you for your years of support for our firms military reservists. The men and women of the Wildhorse Squadron will never forget that you, and James Gorman flew all the way to Indianapolis to see us off on our deployment and never sought a word of recognition. Thank you both for making our firm a great place to work.
Eric Lupfer of William Morris Endeavor, I knew that the son of a retired armor officer would get results, and you did. Your advice and counsel have been a tremendous resource, and I cannot thank you enough.
My wealth advisory team, Jos Negrete, Deborah Marcom, Joel McConnell, and Ryan Gilbrech, as well as David Lawrence, David Fritz, Curt Petersen, Nick Gormley, and Melissa Gutknecht. Thank you all for your support. I could not have done this without your efforts.
David Darst and Congressman Mark Amodei for your advanced praise for Combat Finance. Thank you for your trust and confidence.
Dr. Ty Cobb and Ted Stoever for your advice and unwavering friendship.
The men and women of the Wildhorse, 1-221 Armored Reconnaissance Squadron, both past and present. Your dedication, discipline, and professionalism will live with me for the rest of my life. It was an honor to serve with you and to command such a fine group of men and women.
Major General Frank Gonzales, Major General Giles Vanderhoof, Brigadier General Bob Fitch, Brigadier General William Burks, Colonel Jerry Bussel, Colonel Dennis George, Colonel John Morrow, Colonel Steve Spitze, Colonel Lou Cabrera, LTC Scott Cunningham, and all of the past commanders of the Nevada National Guard and the 1-221 ARS, thank you for your leadership and support. I could not have asked for a finer group of mentors.