A comprehensive resource to help you prepare for deployments and duty station changes. Focuses on a wide variety of financial issues and concerns of service members with children. Discusses money traps and scams; gives tips on investing and saving.

Introduction: The Value of Being Financially Prepared
A life in the military means a life of change—including changes in duty stations and deployments around the world. This life of moves can be a positive experience—for you and for your spouse and children. Moves can provide unique opportunities for a broadening of perspectives as well as career and personal enrichment. Deployments, too, can be positive. Many servicemembers view deployment as a meaningful way to fulfill their duty to the nation.

Of course, a life of moves also can be stressful. “Pulling up roots” isn’t easy and it can be expensive. The difference between a painful move and a positive one often depends on your family’s level of readiness—especially financial readiness.

Much of this publication is written for active duty servicemembers, married or single, with children. The first chapter contains information for active duty servicemembers on deployment and for National Guard and Reserve members called to active duty. The final chapter on investing may be helpful to all servicemembers.

If you are married, we urge you to share this publication with your spouse and discuss the financial steps you can take—together or separately—to prepare for deployment or to move to the next permanent change of station. We also urge you to include your children in some of the age-appropriate financial discussions and decision making. Talking openly with them about money will provide valuable information they can use throughout their lives.

The National Endowment for Financial Education, the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, and the National Military Family Association are honored to make this publication available to you. We understand that your commitment to our nation’s defense is not based on financial motives. Knowing your family’s financial needs have been addressed can eliminate worry and enable you to focus on your mission. In short, your financial preparedness has an affect on military readiness—and can lay a solid groundwork for your future.

Visit Money & Mobility: For Military Personnel and Families Download Page

Read Money & Mobility: For Military Personnel and Families online, or you can download Money & Mobility: For Military Personnel and Families in PDF format.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: The Value of Being Financially Prepared . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 1—When Duty Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Make a Family Financial Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
What Happens toMy Mortgage Payment, Car Loan,
and Credit Card Bills? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
What About My Student Loans? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Will I Have to Pay Income Taxes? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Leases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Your Rights Under SCRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Can I End the Lease on an Apartment or Car? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
What About My Life Insurance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
What About My Car Insurance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
LegalMatters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Wills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Powers of Attorney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Medical Power of Attorney and LivingWills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Child Care and Other Issues Affecting Your Spouse and/or Children . . . . . . . . . 10
WhoWill Look AfterMy Children and What Additional Money
WillMy Spouse and/or Children Need? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Helping Your Spouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Arranging Care for Your Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
WhoWill Take Care ofMy Pets? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
For Guard and ReserveMembers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
WillMy Income Change? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
What Happens toMy Health Care Benefits? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Will I Get My Old Job Back? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
What Happens toMy Small Business? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Plan Your Reserve Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Tips for Talking About MoneyWith Your Spouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Chapter 2—PCS Moves: Before and After . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
How OftenWill IMove? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Military Homefront: PlanMy Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Branch Housing Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
WhenWill I Know If I’ll Have On-Base Housing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
What If I Have to Live Off Base, or If I Choose To? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Should I Rent or Buy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
IWant to Buy a Home.What Should I Consider? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
What ItemsWill theMilitaryMove? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
How Do I TransferMy Child to a New School? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
What About My Car and Car Insurance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
TransfersWithin the Continental United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Transfers Out of the Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Can I KeepMy Pets withMe? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
What Paperwork Do I Need? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Managing YourMilitary Travel Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
WillMy Family Still Qualify forWIC? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
After YourMove: Settle In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Get Organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Review HowYou Did . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Think About Jobs and Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
I’ma Spouse with a Job.Will I Qualify for
UnemploymentWhenWeMove? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Check Your Credit Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
ScamAlert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
KnowThe Score: HowYour Credit Score Impacts
Your Financial Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Review YourMove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Chapter 3—Plan for Future Moves and More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Make aMoving Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Four Steps to an Even Better Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Change Your Spending Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Set Your Goals for Today and Tomorrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Safeguard YourMoving and Emergency Funds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Taking the Next Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Chapter 4—Avoid the Money Drains—and Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Credit Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Cash Advance Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Save Big Bucks on Credit Card Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Check-Cashing Stores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
New Car Loans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Protect Yourself From Identity Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Rent-to-Own Stores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Payday Loans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Pawnshops and Title Loans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Digging Out of Debt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
SaveAndInvest.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Direct Deposit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Be a Smart Saver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Bankrate.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
MilitarySaves.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Look for These Signs of Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
The Magic of Compounding Can Make Small
Savers Into Millionaires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Get to Your Money When You Need ItWithout
Paying Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Chapter 5—Tips for Smart Investing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Investing for Your Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Investing in Stocks, Bonds, andMutual Funds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Investing in Stocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Investing in Bonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Investing in Mutual Funds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Balancing Risk and Rewards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Diversify! Protect Your Money by Spreading It Out
Among Different Asset Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Tax-Free and Tax-Deferred Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Investing for College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Investing for Retirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Retirement Plans for Servicemembers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Protect Your Retirement Money When Changing Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Investing in Annuities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Dollar-Cost Averaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Getting Help from an Investment Professional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Types of Investment Professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Choose Your Investment ProfessionalWith Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Before You MeetWith an Investment Professional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
While You MeetWith an Investment Professional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
After You MeetWith an Investment Professional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
How to Avoid Investment Scams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Resources—Where CanMy Family and I Get More Information? 88
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

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