Graduate Exclusive! Veteran Gary H. Retires Early, Buys a Pool, and Volunteers

We interviewed Gary to learn how he went from carrying nearly $60,000 in debt to retiring early and enjoying the simple joys of debt-free life — like volunteering with the Salvation Army, relaxing by his new backyard pool, and taking the whole family on vacation.

Debt Amount: $57,139
Started: May 2023
Graduated: November 2024

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I live in Missouri with my wife and I spent 20 years in the U.S. Army — I was an MP, military police. We were kind of the jack of all trades: law enforcement on base, securing convoy routes, combat support. When I retired from the military in 2004, I wrote and developed training at the military police school. Then, my wife and I both went to massage school and opened our own spa.

I’ve got two daughters, and they’ve given me three grandsons. The oldest is three, then a two-year-old, and a newborn born in May.

We love being outdoors. We’ve got kayaks, and now we’ve got a pool at the house, so that’s our new hobby: sitting poolside. I also volunteer with the Salvation Army. I help with disaster response. It’s work that really fills my soul!

How did you find yourself in debt?

It was just bad financial decisions. You’d think we would’ve learned — we’ve done this a couple times. We’d refinance to consolidate, and then we’d go back out and spend. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Things look affordable when you look at them as individual payments. But then all those payments pile up. It was always, “The bright shiny object won out one too many times.”

It felt daunting. We were living paycheck to paycheck. No savings. If there was an emergency, we had to turn to a credit card.

We were close to retirement, and we knew the debt was what was keeping us from it. We had equity in our home — that was the one thing we had going for us — but the rest was holding us back.

Two of Gary’s grandsons enjoying the backyard pool he and his wife paid for in cash after graduating from Beyond Finance.

What was your experience with Beyond Finance like?

I was actually looking into another consolidation loan, and I didn’t qualify because of my debt amount. They referred me to Beyond Finance. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea at first, but we didn’t have a lot of options.

Everyone I talked to just seemed trustworthy. I leaned into that and let them do what they do best. It was cool! The dashboard on the app made it easy to track everything. I’d see one debt down, then the next not too far off.

I’m kind of a geek — I made an Excel sheet with formulas to track payoff scenarios. Honestly, it got fun! It was motivating. You could see the light at the end of the tunnel — and for once, it wasn’t a train.

Gary and his fellow Salvation Army volunteers making a plan of action for disaster response. He’s grateful that he’s been able to retire early so he can spend his energy and time towards something that “fills his soul.”

What was graduation like and what’s happened since then?

Oh, that was a victory lap. I just turned 60 in August, and I didn’t want to be doing massage past that age. Beyond helped us hit our retirement target a year early.

Everything has changed since graduation. My credit score is back up to 750 now. We paid off our debts and paid cash for a pool. We also paid cash for a new car. We take big family vacations every year — Colorado, Montana, next up is the Smokies for my wife’s 60th!

We’re giving to our church. We’re helping our kids when they need it. We’re paying ourselves in savings. No more going in the red — we’re building the other way now.

Now I have the time to volunteer. I can jump on a plane whenever the Salvation Army needs me. I can help during hurricane season, drive trucks, unload warehouses, whatever’s needed. That kind of time and freedom? It doesn’t exist when you’re buried in debt.

Our financial habits have definitely changed. If we don’t have the money, we don’t buy it. We each have one credit card and we pay it off every month. They’re paying us in points now. I haven’t paid a cent of interest in over a year.

We’re not perfect, but we’re aware. And when we do start spending a little more than we should, we catch it. We know the warning signs. We’ve been on the other side, and we’re not going back.

And the pool? I can’t tell you how many times we’ve said, “This is so much nicer knowing we paid cash.”

Beyond Finance equipped me to be financially responsible — and free.

Real client compensated for a real story.