Military Lifestyle

The US Department of Defense recently stated that "financial readiness equals mission readiness."

Can family and financial planning lead to success in your military life? In fact, as the DoD noted, it's indeed the most direct route to military success. Because if you're serving in the military while you're preoccupied about your bills, your military family's care, or your credit card payments, you can't fully focus on achieving the goals of your military mission.

The military lifestyle is clearly unique. It involves issues not present in civilian life, including maintaining consistency for your children throughout the many moves of your military career; managing financial and personal responsibilities to your family while you're also serving your country; raising happy and healthy children who may have to face realities other children don't have until they are much older.

There are as many advantages and as there are challenges in the military lifestyle. Knowing how to weave it all together will help you to proactively plan for success in all the more personal aspects of your military life - and that leads to a military career that shines.

MILITARY PCS

Military relocation can be stressful even if you've moved every two years since you joined the military. But proper planning can ensure this move will be a positive journey for your entire military family.

FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

What is your financial responsibility as a military servicemember? Every branch of the service has different rules, but there are three basic areas of financial responsibility: family care, car insurance, and on-time payments.

GROWING UP MILITARY

As a military family that moves often, maintaining consistency in raising your military children can be a challenge. While the demand for military child care is high and spaces are often limited, many military families don't realize the scope of child care resources available to them, both on and off their installations.

HEALTHY LIVING

You want to teach your military kids to be healthy, but what chance do you have to get their attention? They seem to trust the fast-food commercials on the cartoon network more than you, when it comes to choosing foods. And when they're glued to their computer gaming systems or personal computers without coming up for air, how can you get in any words of wisdom?