Smoothing out military cash flow during military deployment
How will you manage your money during your next military deployment?
Consider doing your military financial planning now, well before military orders are ever issued to you. After all, military readiness creates military success.
Start at the top, by assessing your military money management needs and style. Knowing your military family finances - your income and your expenses - makes you better able to adjust your financial management plan to work while you're deployed. And when you know your family is covered financially, you can better focus on your military mission overseas.
It's not easy, but it can be simple: approach military money management with your same strong military attitude. Along with your spouse, create a written Military Deployment Financial Plan that might look something like this:
Review which bills get paid monthly and when they're due, how much money is in savings and checking accounts, how much debt you owe and how much you have for emergencies. Sign up for online banking services or automatic payment plans. Remember: paying bills on time preserves your credit rating.
Find out now if your military life insurance, auto and homeowners or renters insurance policies need to be changed due to military deployment. Make sure your life insurance covers a combat-related death.
A marriage license doesn't always guarantee legal access to your military spouse's financial accounts, assets or belongings. Make sure you're joint account holders on credit cards, checking accounts, etc., both authorized to make changes and get information.
Through your local JAG office, create or update a durable power of attorney which allows you to manage legal matters for both of you. Create or update legal wills and healthcare directives now.
Take advantage of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which gives active military - including mobilized Guardsmen and Reservists - exclusive benefits such as reduced interest rates on credit cards, mortgages and auto loans (on debts prior to active duty).
Write a will that, at minimum, appoints a guardian for your minor children, outlines how your asset distribution, and names an executor. Invest in the help of a lawyer, preferably one familiar with the needs of a military family.
Maintain your savings, even while you're deployed. If your credit card debt is under control, grow your money in a savings or money market account at the best possible rate. Save for something special - how about a military homecoming celebration? - as well as situations that arise unexpectedly.
