I have nothing but respect for the soldiers who have been over in Iraq. It’s not important whether I believe they should or shouldn’t have been sent there. They got the call and they served their country. I just wish, instead of reading the below article, I had read an article that said, “Soldiers back from Iraq, save, save, save. Of course, that article doesn’t exist because, just like most other people in our country, many of the soldiers spend all they make.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060121
The soldiers in my unit in Germany back in 1997 did the same thing when they came back from Bosnia. The PX sold out of game consoles, stereos, and Sony Vaio computers.
The problem is that the military doesn’t really have a program in place to educate soldiers about how to best utilize their money. When I went in at age 21, I already had an IRA in place and just snickered at the only savings plan offered by the Army–an automatic monthly savings bond program. My roommate and many of my fellow enlisted soldiers, however, thought that the savings bonds were the niftiest financial vehicle ever. The few who saved signed up for the program. I tried to explain the benefits of opening an IRA account to them, but no one would listen.
When you take into account how young most of the men and women who enlist are (18-20 years old), and realize that many of them didn’t even have their own bank accounts until they got to basic training and got signed up at the post credit union, it comes as no surprise that they would rather spend than save.
Consider this: an eighteen year old who is covered by mom and dad’s insurance and lives at home joins the Army. Insurance, medical care, food, housing and clothing costs are transferred from his parents to Uncle Sam. The new soldier starts pulling in around $1000 a month after taxes that doesn’t need to go towards any living expenses. Why would he feel the need to budget, save, or otherwise invest that money when no one has taught him to be responsible for his own money?