USAA + Financial Advisor = Free*

*For USAA members

The day I found out my wife was pregnant with our son, I cried like a little baby. I was honestly scared s**tless and had no clue how we were going to afford to feed another mouth, buy diapers, crib, and other baby stuff on a surgical residents salary.

In that moment of vulnerability, I did like I tend to always do, I went looking for answers.

I called my closest confidants (aka my Brothers) and asked for their advice.

In those conversations there was a common theme:

God always has a plan and I always find a way to figure it out.

After I hung up the phone that day, I dried up my tears and immediately went to work, to figure it out.

This period in my life is what most would consider a life changing event.

i.e. something that has a significant enough impact that it changes your economic outlook and how you spend money each month.

Having a baby, getting married, buying a house, changing careers or jobs, etc are all life events that have potentially life altering financial consequences. The time before the execution of these events is a great opportunity to review your financial plan and make sure you were secure.

I cried that day because I didn’t feel secure. However I didn’t stay that way for long.

One resource I utilized was USAA. I had remembered a while back that USAA had a financial advisor segment in its bank. I had questions so I decided to call.

Well it turns out for USAA allows for its members access to a financial advisor for free.

And who doesn’t love free?

After a quick 30 min conversation, I had enough information to put me on the right track and it helped me develop a plan of attack to feel more secure about adding a new baby to my crazy life.

As a resident, I most definitely could not afford a financial advisor (which is a problem in general for the financial advisory industry). Thus having free access to one via USAA was game changing.

For someone likes me who enjoys learning and reading about new things, having someone to bounce ideas off of can come in handy. The advisor I spoke to that day was just that.

And for that I am grateful.