How seeking financial advice can help you if you’re leaving the armed forces
After years of service, the prospect of settling down into civilian life can be appealing for many veterans. This is an opportunity to buy a home, spend more time with your loved ones, and enjoy a significantly less stressful lifestyle.
Of course, for anyone about to make this change, knowing how to effectively manage your money can be an essential skill. If you want to be able to enjoy your new life with your family to the fullest, financial problems are the last thing you need.
If you’re leaving the armed forces and want to be able to seamlessly transition to your new civilian life, seeking professional financial advice can be invaluable. Read on to find out how it can help you.
Many veterans leave the military without being taught about financial matters
Throughout your time in the armed forces, you’ve probably mastered a wide variety of useful skills. However, a key one that you may not have learned is how to manage your money. This is a very common problem that many veterans face when they leave the military. It’s also especially true for those who joined the armed forces at a young age and so don’t have much experience of the responsibilities of civilian life. Furthermore, if your support network mostly consists of other ex-servicemen and women, they might be in the same boat as you when it comes to financial knowledge. While it might be tempting to put your best foot forward and give it a go anyway, this approach could cause you problems. If you’ve ever tried DIY and something has gone wrong, you’ll know how expensive it can be to make a mistake. This is where speaking to an expert can benefit you. Working with a financial planner can help you to make properly informed decisions with your money, enabling you to grow and manage it effectively in the long term.Seeking financial advice can help when making important decisions regarding your pension
One of the biggest issues that many ex-servicemen and women face when leaving the armed forces is how to manage their pension. As you may know, when you leave the armed forces, you will be asked how you want to take your pension entitlements, including a monthly pension and a cash lump sum. Typically, you will be given the choice of taking a larger lump sum in exchange for a reduced monthly payment. On the face of it, this can seem very tempting, but it isn’t always the best decision for your long-term wellbeing. In many cases, keeping the larger monthly payment can be better for your financial stability. Despite how important the consequences of this choice can be, many servicemen and women don’t seek professional financial advice. Working with a financial planner while you’re deciding what’s right for you can help you to make a properly informed decision.Working with a planner can make it easier to access your benefits
Another area of confusion that many veterans often come across when returning to civilian life is working out what benefits you are entitled to for your years of service. For example, veterans and their dependants may be able to claim:- Child benefit
- Sure Start Maternity Grants
- Jobseekers Allowance
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Tax credits
