What You Need To Know Before They Go

No matter how much time you have to prepare, deployments always sneak up on you. “There’s so much to do,” says Michael Kothakota of Wolfbridge Financial, “Things like finances can fall by the wayside very quickly.” But Kothakota says that’s the last thing you want to happen – even a few missed bills or late payments can damage your credit and it takes time to repair that. “Your system for managing the finances needs to be rock-solid before you deploy.”

He should know. Kothakota was an Infantryman in the Army, who has been deployed himself. He thinks the most important thing you can do to prepare is to create a budget. “A lot of people think they’ll be getting all this tax-free money,” he says. “They see more take home pay, so they spend more.”

Al, a Master Sergeant in the Air Force, says it’s easy to forget how much you spend on little things when you’re at home. “You don’t realize how much you really spend on things like shampoo and shaving cream because your wife just picks those things up for you.” When he deploys this spring, Al and his wife, JoNell, will work out how much spending money he needs. “As long as I keep getting my allowance – I’ll be good!”

JoNell has always doen the family’s finances. But for some military families, the spouse at home is not the one who usually takes care of the bills. Rich Strickler, a Deployment Assistance Program Manager for USAA, says it’s common for one person to be in charge of the family’s money, giving their spouse information on a need-to-know basis. “That can be a prescription for trouble during deployment.” He suggests sitting down as a team to go over the monthly budget, how much debt you owe, and what funds you have for emergencies and if you need some more business finance help you can also go online to find some information as well.

Alyson, whose husband, Joseph, is a Private First Class in the Army National Guard, got married just a month before he deployed. “I went from my parents taking care of me to having to take care of both of us while he’s gone!” In addition to paying the couple’s bills, Alyson maintains a separate account for Joseph. “I’m constantly putting money in there for him to get more minutes on his calling card.”

In addition to budgeting, your pre-deployment financial checklist should include putting all of your accounts in both partner’s names, designating someone to have Power of Attorney for the deployed service member, and making sure your homeowners and auto insurance policies are up to date. You may also want to consider setting up automatic bill pay – at least for the first few months of the deployment, when things are going to be the most stressful for the spouse at home.

Still unsure? Kothakota suggests consulting a professional. “It’s a good idea to have someone you can talk to about money while your spouse is gone.”

Read Deployment Finances II: Setting Financial Goals during a Deployment.

Read about how Mark handled finances while overseas.