Financial Health Amongst U.S. Military Veterans: Implications for Practice

Background and Purpose:

Many service members leaving the military struggle during their transition to civilian life (citation). One area that has received little attention, yet is a major issue influencing successful transition, is financial preparation. Many transitioning service members report being unprepared for the financial challenges of setting up and living as civilians. While in active duty, they have access to financial counseling, but in civilian life, they have few places to turn for guidance. In this paper we explore the financial health of veterans and how it is related to their overall wellbeing. 

Methods: 

Data were examined from over 4,000 veterans from four cross sectional veteran needs assessment surveys conducted in Los Angeles County California, Orange County California, Chicago, Illinois, and San Francisco, California. In each county, an extensive recruitment strategy was employed, including utilizing collaboration with national, state, county, and local organizations that work with veterans, along with a social media campaign to obtain a nonprobability sample.  The survey assessed veterans’ needs across various aspects of life.  All responses were based on self-reports and were provided through online and in-person surveys. The present study investigated the prevalence of financial difficulties and the relationship between such challenges and mental/physical health. 

Variables included the PhQ-15, assessing physical health, the PCL-4 (LA/OC) or PCL-5 (CH/SF) measuring PTSD, and the PHQ-9 measuring depression. Participants were also asked to identify (yes/no) if they had experience major financial problems within the last three years and whether they would like help managing their finances. The prevalence of financial difficulties was estimated as propositions of the number of veterans in the sample. The association between experiences of financial difficulty and health were examined using odds ratio. Data from the four studies were compiled into two data sets, LA/OC (n=2,424) and CH/SF (n=2,021) and presented accordingly.

Results:

Nearly one-fourth of veterans (24%) in LA/OC and 31% of veterans in CH/SF indicated major financial problems over the last three years. Participants in LA/OC who indicated having financial difficulties were 3.9 times more likely to meet the diagnostic criteria for depression, 3.5 times more likely to meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, and 2.7 times more likely to have physical health challenges. Participants in CH/SF who reported financial difficulties were 2.8 times more likely to meet the diagnostic criteria for depression and PTSD, and 3.4 times more likely to have physical health problems. Almost a quarter (24%) of LA/OC participants and over one in five participants in CH/SF (22%) indicated wanting help with their finances.

Conclusions and Implications:

As predicted, a significant number of veterans experienced financial difficulties, which were related to their mental and physical health. While preliminary, these findings indicate the need to further understand how financial preparation of and financial guidance for service members can improve successful transition from military to civilian life. Further research is also needed to establish the causal relationship between health and financial problems.