<prompt> Human: Hey everyone I was just wondering if anyone here knows of anything cool I could do with the 20k i have sitting in a CD right now? I was thinking of using it for a down payment on a vacation rental in Florida BUT the bank says I dont make enough money to qualify for a loan. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.  <response>: I read that as 26 years as an E3. But seriously, as a former 26 year old who got out as an E5 after six years and didnt have anything to show for the time I was in, keep the money, stay away from credit cards and dont tell anyone you have it. This includes the person you are dating or plan to marry. This information should be off-the-books so to speak so its not leveraged away from your control through manipulation. What you use it for might be the education you want to get the job you need. You should build your homestead on that career. Dont buy anything you cant afford or take care of responsibly. As a sailor, you will be asked to go on deployments from time to time forcing you to put your stuff into storage. In my personal experience, this was never a good thing as some of my stuff was damaged moisture, mice, and general mishandling by personnel in charge of storage. Deployed parking wasnt nice to my car either. again with the mice, dead battery despite disconnecting it, and flat tires despite putting it up on blocks. 