Financial Readiness Program

Program Overview

The Financial Readiness Program's mission is to provide financial literacy training and education, personal financial counseling, and Information and Referral services to assist service members and families in developing skills and strategies to fulfill their financial obligations, meet their financial goals, and maintain their financial and mission readiness.

During a personalized session, our Financial Readiness Program (FRP) counselors will review your relevant documents, provide you with an individualized assessment, and work with you to develop a personalized spending plan based on SMART goals.

In response to the recent spike in identity theft/unauthorized charges on debit card purchases here at USAG Humphreys, the Financial Readiness Program put together the attached “Unauthorized Charges Toolkit”. This toolkit will be available, along with our Personal Financial Readiness Specialists, at Army Community Service for anyone affected or looking to learn more about Credit Management.

Group Training Topics

Common Military Training:

• Continuation Pay: This course will help service members in the Blended Retirement System with 8-11 years of service understand what Continuation Pay is, how to apply for it, and how best to use it.
• Disability: This course will help service members understand and manage the financial implications of dealing with a disabling sickness or condition.
• Divorce: This course is designed to help service members considering divorce make smart, informed financial moves so they can emerge from their divorce with greater financial confidence.
• First Child: This course is designed to help service members organize their finances efficiently and prepare them for the changes that come with a growing family.
• Marriage: This course will help service members organize their finances, adjust to life as a married person, and get on the same financial page as their partner in order to improve communication and minimize stress.
• PCS: This course is designed to help service members better understand and prepare for a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move.
• Post Deployment: This course will help service members think about their attitudes toward money and consider how their finances may be affected after returning from a deployment.
• Pre Deployment: This course is designed to will help service members navigate finances before, during, and after deployment and learn more about some of the benefits and potential financial pitfalls of deployment.
• Promotion: This course will help prepare service members for the financial aspects of a promotion and teach them how to take advantage of certain opportunities to improve their situation.

• Vesting: This course is designed to help service members better understand Vesting in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP).

Ancillary Training:

• AER For Junior Leaders: This course will help junior leaders better understand all aspects and applications of the Army Emergency Relief program.
• Blended Retirement System: Provides learners with information on how the Blended Retirement System works and explore the benefits and entitlements under this system.
• Credit Management: Provides learners with the knowledge to build and protect their credit health and reduce the cost of credit. FRP will provide the information resources and strategies necessary to make informed decisions about obtaining credit and establish good habits for using credit wisely.
• Emergency Financial Preparedness: Provides learners with knowledge that can help them identify the information and resources they need to be physically and financially ready for an emergency or natural disaster.
• Home Buying: Designed to increase the knowledge of first-time home buyers on the home buying process and financial considerations when deciding to buy a home.
• Planning for Your Financial Future: Provides information resources and strategies necessary to develop personal financial goals and adjust personal spending to attain those goals.

• Milspouse Money Mission: This course will help military spouses set short, intermediate, and long-term financial goals, create/adjust spending plans, use credit wisely, protect their assets, and learn more about various investment tools. 
• Saving and Investing: Introduces learners to saving and investing terminology, types of saving and investing accounts in terms of risk, liquidity, rate of return, and types of retirement accounts in terms of contribution limits, taxes, and withdrawals. Provides all necessary information to distinguish between Roth IRA and Traditional IRA options.
• Tax Considerations: Covers the terminology associated with federal income taxes, where the information needed to prepare IRS Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return comes from, and where figures are entered on the form.
• Thrift Savings Plan: Provides learners with knowledge on this long-term retirement savings and investment plan available to both federal civilian employees and members of the uniformed services. Covers description and benefits of the plan, participation rules, account management, and investment options.

Personal Session Topics

Financial and Money Management:

• Banking, Credit, and Debt Management Strategies
• Budgeting
• Consumer Decisions
• Evaluating Financial Planning Services
• Financing Education Goals
• Insurance Needs
• Investing
• Financial Record Keeping
• Major Purchases
• Preparing for Transition
• Retirement planning (BRS, lump sum, TSP, and SBP)
• Savings (emergencies, periodic expenses, and long-term goals)
• Tax Considerations

Information and Referral (I&R)

Common I&R Topics

• Estate Planning
• Powers of Attorney, Wills, and Trusts
• Predatory lending and practices prohibited to the Service members Civil Relief Act and the Military Lending Act
• Contract execution and dispute resolution (sales, credit, and housing)

Army Emergency Relief

The Financial Readiness Program also provides support through Army Emergency Relief (AER).

As a non-profit organization, Army Emergency Relief provides emergency financial assistance to active or retired Army Soldiers & their dependents as interest free loans or grants based on financial need; assistance to widow(er)s or orphans of deceased Soldiers in the form of grants. AER can assist with:

• Food
• Rent/Utilities
• Emergency transportation & vehicle repair
• Funeral expenses
• Medical/dental expenses
• Other emergency financial needs

AER partners with other military aid societies to enable local assistance for service members from the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. AER also provides scholarships toward education. AER gives spouses and dependent children of service members great opportunities for scholarships for their first undergraduate degree.