Posted on Feb 29, 2016
The 5 Biggest Mistakes Service Members Make With Their Money
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Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 5
When I was enlisted, I took home 700 a month (after MGIB) and saved 50 dollars a month. I was single and in the dorms. I could have saved more but I was 17, living in FL, and just left my parents house. At that time, I felt like made more money than I can spend...then got a sports car. I went through directed financial education as a young E-3 but my emotional need to be cool and have a cool car (and the high insurance) got the best of me. I still managed to save 10% (once I got the 100/month from MGIB after the 1st year) but I couldn't pay for gas.
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SGT (Join to see)
Lt Col (Join to see), When I was enlisted, after coming home from Vietnam as an E-5 SGT, I made $200.50 a month. I saved all of my money from Vietnam and bought the first Camaro SS sold in my hometown. It was $3250, and $70.00 a month. The only thing I didn't think about was buying gas. I didn't have much money left after payday, and at Ft. Bragg, in the winter, I gave rides to guys hitching to Fayettville and charged a dollar a head going and coming. It paid for my gas for a month and we ate pretty good too. Of course gas was only .25-.29 cents a gallon.
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The only mistake I made in the Army about money revolved around discovering girls.
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I'm curious how many 20K a year Soldiers put 10% of their pay into retirement. While the article has some great points it's not exactly practical for most Soldiers. A better approach is to teach financial tools and train Soldiers how to make good financial decisions.
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SGT (Join to see)
I'm just glad the military is taking an interest in it's members money problems and offering problem solving plans. The only one who cared about what I did with my money was me.
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