June Walbert is an Army reservist, a former stock broker and a financial planner with United Services Automobile Association, whose advice turns up on CNN, The New York Times, AFN, Military.Com and many other media outlets -- even YouTube. June was in Germany this month conducting financial seminars for military spouses, and I spoke with her about how military families are affected by the current economy.

The May 31st Spouse Calls column contains highlights of our conversation. She had more good advice to share than print space allows, so here are more of her words of wisdom on various financial subjects.

Asset Allocation and Investments:
June: “Asset allocation is a decision that you make about how much you have in stock mutual funds and what kind of stock mutual funds, and how much of your money is allocated to more conservative investments like the money market and bonds.
"Here’s the secret of success: Select an asset allocation that works for you in good market times and bad market times. Stick with it – re balance on an annual basis.
"We need to pretty much have the same allocation whether times are good or bad. That prevents us from being tempted to liquidate or sell our investments at exactly the wrong time, or buy them at exactly the wrong time.”

College and retirement investments:
June: "In the case of college savings, often what people do is invest money in a 529 college savings plan. Those typically have what is called age-based investments. …  When the little one is four years old, it will be invested a lot more aggressively. As the years go on and you get closer to school age, the account itself, morphs into a more conservative investment so that you’re not stung so badly by a bear market that happens when your little baby is 17."
"I still recommend that parents look at the content of the age-based fund to make sure they are comfortable that it has enough bonds and conservative investments in it.
You can change those investments once a year within a college savings plan."

Emergency fund:
June: “Put it in either a savings account or a money market account, wherever you get the highest yield, little to no risk. With money market acct, there is some small risk, but it is negligible. It’s accessible, it’s working for you. Another key component is to separate it from your operating account. You definitely don’t want it sitting in your checking account. It’s not getting interest, and you might inadvertently spend it.”

HERO Act: Invest combat pay rather than spend it
The Heros Earned Retirement Opportunities Act allows troops to put tax-free combat pay in a Roth IRA – “Tax free going in and tax free going out,” said June.
“These are some things uniquely military that they can do to really help to jumpstart their financial future,” she said.

Buying a House:
Terri: "On this subject, I have a personal question: My husband has been in the military for 20-plus years, we have been married for 24. In all those years, we have never owned a home. We have never lost money on real estate, but are we handicapped by this lack of equity?"
June: "No you’re not handicapped by not ever having owned a home, and here’s why: Yes, it’s true that a lot of wealth has been accumulated through real estate … but the thing you must never forget about buying a home is that it is a long-term investment. I would say ten years or more. How long do we typically stay in a duty station? Maybe five years. You are taking a big risk if you buy a home with the intent of keeping it only five years.
It has certainly worked out for many people, but it has certainly worked against many people too, especially in the past few years.
Like stocks and bands, the real estate values goes up and down. If you happen to catch it in the right part of the cycle, well get out the hats and horns. It’s time to celebrate. If not you have to have contingency plan for what you plan to do.
If it’s worth less you have to make some tough decisions. Sell it at a loss, swallow hard and consider it a lesson learned. If you choose to rent it, you take the chance that you will be able to rent it out at an amount that covers your expenses.”

June also advised that for a rental, homeowners need to set up an account for emergency funds for that house -- in case it goes unrented -- to cover the mortgage, the taxes, the upkeep. The account, she advised, should contain funds to cover a lapse in renters for up to six months.

Additionally, prospective buyers who have not owned a home in the last three years should look into the first-time homeowner’s credit available to those within certain income limits.