Military Saves Week may be over, but the message stays the same throughout the year.
"This year's theme is "Set a Goal. Make a Plan. Save Automatically," said Zilpa Oseguera, program manager, Financial Readiness Program at Army Community Services. "The idea is to motivate military service and family members to financially plan for their future."
With the financial uncertainties of furloughs for civilians and budget cuts to the military, being financially stable is more important than ever.
It's a frightening fact that about 43 percent of American families spend more than they make each year, average households carry some $10,000 in credit card debt and personal bankruptcies have doubled in the past decade.
The military is no exception to personal financial woes. To combat the mounting personal debt, the Military Saves campaign is a Department of Defense financial readiness campaign to persuade military service members, family members and the wider military community to reduce debt and save money. Doing so helps ensure personal wealth and stability, and positively impacts the nation's personal and household savings rates.
Military Saves is sponsored by the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America. The campaign was launched throughout DoD in 2007. It is part of two larger campaigns -- the DoD Financial Readiness Campaign, and the national America Saves initiative.
According to military leaders, personal financial security of service members is a crucial aspect of military readiness.
"All members of our Army family should set a personal savings or debt reduction goal, make a simple savings plan and take action on that plan," said Oseguera. "[They can also] take another positive wealth-building action during Military Saves week, and pledge to sustain that action the following year."
The Military Saves campaign encourages: developing a personal financial plan; establishing good credit; saving a portion of each paycheck; enrolling in Service members' Group Life Insurance, the Thrift Savings Plan, and, when eligible, the Savings Deposit Plan.
Pledge to save
Part of the campaign strategy includes the "Saver Pledge," a commitment to exercise good financial habits and encourage other Americans to do the same.
"I encourage everyone to show their commitment to exercise good financial habits by signing the Saver Pledge and encourage others in your organization to enroll at www.militarysaves.org and commit to saving and reducing debt," Oseguera said. "Savers who enroll online receive electronic newsletters and e-Wealth coach advice."
She added financial stability is about a lot more than knowledge -- it takes consistent action over time.
"Most of us do better when we have a supportive environment. Military Saves is a campaign to make every military community that supportive environment. When enough military members, civil servants, contractors, retirees, other veterans, family members, military organizations, private organizations and companies belong to Military Saves, the entire military culture will be changed. The U.S. armed forces will have become a saving community," said Oseguera.
"In a saving community, people encourage each other to save money regularly and habitually. They discourage excessive spending on non-necessities. Financial institutions help people save by offering incentives and other perks to favor saving over spending," she explained.
Workshops, other resources
According to Oseguera, social marketing is a process that takes time.
"This is not a quick fix, a specific savings program or a one-time promotional campaign. It is a long-term, on-going effort to make real change in our nation's future," she said. "The Financial Readiness Program also offers education opportunities through financial readiness workshops."
To meet this need, financial workshops will be offered throughout the year, and Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation eligible patrons can also stop by Army Community Services for one-on-one coaching and access to resources to increase their savings.
"Soldiers and families can also get a free FICO score and credit report," she said. "The key is to live below your means not above your means. That means having a spending plan which covers the necessities first and then seeing if you have enough money for variable expenses, like entertainment."
The Financial Readiness Program mission is to provide financial education and training to Soldiers and families and enhance their personal financial readiness and ability to deploy through the use of sound money management and consumer skills.
Oseguera said the program has a team of two financial counselors; three Soldier Army Emergency Relief caseworkers; and one intern. "We have a good team who are all passionate about helping Soldiers and families," she said.
The financial readiness team also assists Department of the Army civilians.
"We are here to assist the entire community. The FRP has awesome financial tools to help everyone save money and plan for their financial future."
One way to save money for customers is to take advantage of the coupon program at ACS.
"We have coupons available for anyone to pick up here at ACS, and they can save you a lot of money when shopping," said Oseguera.
She added her team is always ready to assist customers with ways to save, reduce debt and plan their financial goals.
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