Financial Education Elevates Confidence Among Soldiers and Military Families

New data released by First Command Educational Foundation and First Command Financial Services highlights the sharp rise in confidence among service members and their families who exhibit higher levels of financial literacy. The results of the survey are timely in that their personal financial confidence is critical at this time when military families are concerned about potential cutbacks in retirement and other benefits.

Participants who scored well on the financial literacy test and who participated in the related survey exhibited results that underscore higher levels of confidence in their ability to retire with sufficient financial security (61 percent vs. 42 percent of lower scorers), greater financially secure on a month to month basis (61 percent vs. 39 percent), and more confidence that their overall personal financial situation will get better in the next 12 months (52 percent vs. 44 percent).

With widespread speculation that cutbacks in defense spending and sequestration will impact the financial futures of military families, the results suggest that affected individuals can decrease their anxiety and limit their uncertainties about personal finance issues by boosting their financial literacy.

Financial education proponents have focused on military families for a long time and many programs across the U.S. continue to administer and support initiatives aimed at providing financial literacy services to those individuals. The results highlighted in the report released by First Command Educational Foundation and First Command Financial Services demonstrate the success that such initiatives can have among military families and, indeed, in the broader population as well.