Posted on Nov 19, 2013
Have you taken advantage from the Savings Deposit Program (SDP) while deployed?
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When I was in Afghanistan working in Finance Office, I noticed that only aprox. 15% of service members make deposits for this program. This is a great opportunity for service members BOG to get an annual 10% of interest, better than any current savings account in the market.
Posted 12 y ago
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Yeah this was an a awesome program for me while I was in Iraq. The money in the account which I maxed in like 4 or 5 months ended up going towards the first house my wife and I bought.
Great program and one I pushed my soldiers to participate in.
Great program and one I pushed my soldiers to participate in.
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SSG (Join to see)
That's great Sir. As fast as you can max it, the better. I have good savings habits, so I deposited 100% my pay the first 2 months
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As a Finance NCO, how are you reaching all the Soldiers to 'get the word out' about the benefits and ease of saving?
I used this while deployed but I also had other investments and made more money on those.
I used this while deployed but I also had other investments and made more money on those.
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SSG (Join to see)
MSG Quick, we used to brief incoming units. Also, I always verified in DDS the history transactions for every soldier before the exchange transaction and there I could see if was the first time visit to the office. For me that was a good time to offer the services we provide, etc. Personally I have other investment options too. For me, I think that it is an excellent program for SMs that only want to save the extra $$ made while down range and being able to use it after deployment. What I mean with this is that we have a lot of young service members that go deployed and dont even have good habits for saving and this is good way to start and be sure that they will have at least something saved after the deployment. I could see a lot of them spending everything in Afghani Shop, PX, poker, etc etc.
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I participate in the SDP every time I deploy, it is an easy way to make around $1600. I am almost certain that you were the one who helped me last time I was in Afghanistan:)
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I think the SDP is a great way to limit how much a soldier can spend while they are on deployment. I also think that the return on investment especially considering the lack of risk is good. Can a soldier make their money work for them in better ways, probably depending on their circumstance. I myself did not invest because I am paying down my mortgage. I will save in interest this year alone almost 1500 dollars versus the 1000 potential return for the SDP. The SDP program was explained to everyone in our unit befor MOB and many in my unit are taking part in the program.
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SSG (Join to see)
I remember that the
finance briefing I got in MOB was an automatic power point presentation and the
civilian in charge was outside the room the whole presentation. I
understand that we as a Finance Unit know about the finance stuff but there
were other units not related to finance. This kind of orientation should be conducted slide by slide with someone present to use examples & answer questions.
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I have and am right now as i am deployed. I have encouraged my soldier to take advantage of this program that pretty much offers free money, and have told them my success stories with it and now roughly half my guys are. Are there anymore programs other than SDP available to deployed soldiers i should be aware of?
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One more detail for real caring leaders at troop level to explain in great detail. Other posts relate to Soldiers lack of knowledge regarding "benefits" even in change of station affairs. This is another that puts money into Soldier's pockets!
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