Posted on Apr 15, 2014

How do we educate Soldiers about car financing?

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I am sure we have all seen it. A soldier shows up at the unit with a brand new car, the majority of them oblivious to the financial trouble they probably just put themselves in with 19% financing from fly by night crooked dealership finance managers.

Are units putting out policy to help fight this?
How can we educate our soldiers from making this mistake?

Ive seen this not just on cars and trucks, but on TV/computer/furniture purchasing as well.

An important note about my past. I worked at a dealership in Newport News, VA and was instructed very carefully over weeks of classroom training on how to take people for as much as we could get from them by playing razzle dazzle with numbers and papers and scripted speeches.

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Money

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Cars

Edited 10 y ago

Posted 10 y ago

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Responses: 7

MSG (Join to see)

Posted 10 y ago

I agree with SSG Taylor, but I would push it a step further. MANDATORY fiancial planning classes. Make the young soldiers do a one on one conversation with a fiancial planner such as military one source. A large portion of the problem is these young soldiers go from having no money to what they see as disposible income. And of course who doesn't want the Dodge Challanger with all the bells and whistles. If they are actually forced to sit there and have the hard discussion about money with someone that is an expert in it , it might go a little bit further.

I certianly wish someone had done that with me before I bought a house when I was 23 years old...it sure seemed like a good idea at the time and now 11 years later I'm finally done paying for that mistake. We offer a phone number for a financial planner but chances are unless we make the appointment and order them to go....they aren't going to do it!

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SFC (Join to see)

10 y

Excellent reference SFC Wesemann, I had completely forgotten about http://www.militaryonesource.mil/

Military OneSource

Confidential services, including non-medical counseling and specialty consultations, are available through Military OneSource. Eligible individuals may receive confidential services at no cost. Check ...

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SGT Thomas Sullivan

10 y

Buying a house can be a financial boon for some, as owning instead of renting can help increase your worth instead of giving money away. But...being stuck with a house you cant sell or rent, could be problematic, especially in an area where home sales are low.

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MSG (Join to see)

10 y

It seemed like a really good idea time...I thought perfect investment. I hadn't considered the cost of insurance or property taxes, or many of the other little things that went a long with home ownership. Had I taken the time to discuss the why I wanted to own a home and the ins and outs I hadn't considered, I might have waited a few years until I was more finanically stable. The thing is I didn't want to discuss my idea or situation at anytime with my family and so I made that dumb decision I wasn't ready for....if only I had discussed that choice. Oh well houses is rented now, credit score is doing good and maybe the housing market will go back up and I can finally sell it.

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SGT Thomas Sullivan

10 y

Im currently in the market for a home, and am a bit worried about cost of houses in Maryland, even though I make more money now than when I was a soldier.

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MSG Wade Huffman

Posted 10 y ago

Good question. Unfortunately, with the exception of placing business 'off limits', there is little to be done to prevent service members from being taken for a ride (pun intended) other than attempting to educate them on financial health. This can be a very difficult thing to do with a lot of our younger members (and probably more than a few of the older ones as well). It is much like the advise to invest early... we all heard that when we were young.. and we all believed that we'd be just fine and have plenty of time.. (and we know how that works). Best you can do is offer advice, recommend they shop for loans through a Credit Union (very common for them to have the best available rates) or a local bank rather than financing through the dealer. In most cases, if the loan is more than they can realistically handle, those reputable establishments will advise them of that situation in a very professional manner and even assist them in establishing and meeting a financial goal of buying a new car.

Something about that 'new car smell' that makes many loose their fiscal sense!

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SGT Thomas Sullivan

10 y

haha!, I cannot agree more, with the puns and all. Credit Unions are definitely the best place to finance a car, USAA is also a great service member focused organization who will help you reach your goals without letting you overextend yourself. I remember when I was a young private, USAA would only finance me for 10k dollars on a car, I was angry they wouldn't finance me for more, but the loan specialist quietly and patiently counseled me on why taking 30 or 40k in debt with my income was not the wisest decision, even at a low interest rate.

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MSG Wade Huffman

10 y

SGT Sullivan, absolutely! The reputable establishments (credit unions and banks primarily) are trying to gain a customer for life (or at least repeat business at a minimum), vs. the finance companies that are looking to make a killing off one transaction and could care less whether or not they see you again. I also agree with you on USAA. I have been a member for years and have always had outstanding service from them.

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