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March 26, 2012 at 06:32 AM
Knowledge is power—in money matters as with anything else. And military families need knowledge just as much as civilians with regard to money matters: those who know more face financial challenges with more confidence than those less fiscally aware. So say the results of a new survey from First Command Financial Services and First Command Educational Foundation.
A financial literacy test and survey commissioned by the two entities found that, perhaps not surprisingly, a high level of financial knowledge is associated with feelings of emotional well-being among middle-class military families, defined as senior noncommissioned and commissioned officers in pay grades E-6 and above with household incomes of at least $50,000.
The survey showed that military families who have completed a financial literacy program are more likely to feel extremely or very confident about their finances than those who did not (51% versus 43%). About a third of military families say they have completed such a program.
In an interview, Scott Spiker (left), CEO of First Command Financial Services, said that the predominant area in which military test takers failed to get a passing grade involved the selection of appropriate financial tools or products, like stocks, bonds, CDs or savings accounts, to meet certain needs. The three questions on that topic were answered correctly less than 70% of the time.
