National Guard Financial Management Awareness Program
A Texas Army National Guard mechanic incurs unexpected expenses and needs $300 in advance of his next expected paycheck. The Soldier goes to a well-known local company for a short-term loan that will cover expenses until the next payday. On payday, however, the Soldier’s paycheck is not enough to pay regular expenses plus pay back the cash advance. Believing no other option is available, the Soldier goes to another local payday loan company for an additional short-term loan. A few weeks later, the Soldier has paid $390 in premiums and fees on the original $300 advance – and the loan is still not paid off. Five months later, the Soldier has paid $2,950 to cover the “floats” created by the $300 loan.
This scenario may seem outlandish to some, but millions of Americans are caught in this type of vicious, predatory lending cycle every day – oftentimes, because they are unaware of alternative options available to them.
As with most people – when service members suffer from personal financial problems, it has the potential to have a negative effect on all facets of their lives, including their military performance and readiness. National Guard leadership understands this and has charged commanders with ensuring that service members and their Families are encouraged and supported in practicing sound money management techniques.
The resulting program is the National Guard Financial Management Awareness Program (FMAP), which exists to provide Guard members and Families with an awareness of financial management resources available within the National Guard community. Using a variety of resources, FMAP gives a basic awareness of easily accessible resources to help manage financial health and ensure mission readiness.
FMAP assists Soldiers in making smart choices when dealing with areas such as monitoring financial and credit health, managing debt, making ends meet, and learning how to save and invest disability benefits for members who qualify.
Smart financial management starts with making sound choices. FMAP employs, among other things, a seven-step approach to help teach Guard members how to make the choices that will put them on the path to financial wellness. The steps are:
- Create a spending plan
- Calculate your net worth
- Monitor your financial health
- Track your spending
- Manage your checking account
- Read your leave and earnings statement
- Talk to your spouse about your money, budget and spending priorities
Through FMAP, service members may also learn the basics for purchasing or leasing a car, renting or buying a home, managing personal risks through insurance products, and understanding the risk and return in investments.
To learn more about FMAP or to take advantage of their services, contact the FMAP national program manager at 703-607-5981. The program manager will connect interested parties with a local personal finance counselor. For the latest FMAP financial health-related web resources, feeds and videos, go to JointServicesSupport.org/FMAP/Default.aspx.
By STAFF WRITER Keegan Rammel
