How to counsel military clients

Your Mindset as a Financial Advisor When Working with Military Clients

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Preparation Checklist

Meeting Agenda

Resources/Handouts

By offering your financial planning services on a pro bono basis, you have a unique opportunity to help people in potentially high-risk situations defend their financial lives. By offering them basic financial management information and estate planning guidance, you will be working to develop the essential skills they need to make solid, life-enhancing choices and to prepare their families for any potentially life-threatening situations they may face.

Many clients in military situations, like low-income clients, may live from paycheck to paycheck. Therefore cash flow is one of the most critical issues facing military clients. The other obvious need deals with basic estate planning. There is certainly a very real possibility that military clients may not return from active duty. Thus, the services you provide on a pro bono basis may be of immense value to surviving family members should the worst occur.

Much of the military client's life is structured and arranged for them. But they are left on their own when it comes to handling their finances. They may want you to take command of their finances. Don't let them delegate that role to you. In the short term, you can certainly take a more active, leadership role regarding money. But in the long term, military clients must learn to think about how to handle their finances.

As part of pro bono planning, you will probably have to adjust your mindset about time horizons for military clients. A typical client from your business practice might think in terms of years and possibly even decades, such as for retirement planning. For military clients, "short term" is this week and "long term" may be the end of the month! One of the biggest challenges you'll face is helping military clients to expand their time horizons out to three months or even a year.

Because you'll also have less "control" over pro bono clients, you'll do yourself a favor if you lower your expectations of what you can accomplish with them. That doesn't mean you should handle these clients any less professionally than you do your own; it does mean that being realistic with pro bono clients calls for a different definition of successful planning.

On many occasions, you may only get in one or two meetings before the client is moved to another base or posted to active duty. But if there are other family members involved, you may be able to continue counseling the military client's spouse/family for more extended periods of time. Also, you may not know that military clients enjoy several legislated benefits while on active duty (for more information, see the Reviewing Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act handout). These benefits may include:

A 6 percent interest rate cap on all forms of debt (mortgage, credit card, auto loan, etc.).
Protection from eviction when their rent is $1,200 or lower.
Delayed civil proceedings (such as divorce, bankruptcy, mortgage foreclosures, etc.).
Deferred collection of federal income taxes.
The ability to terminate property leases prematurely without penalty and without obligation to fulfill the remaining time on the lease.

While you have lots of good information to provide to military clients, telling them exactly what to do may inadvertently foster feelings of dependency on you or the sponsoring organization. Instead, encourage these clients to think and explore options and ideas together with you. Help the military client to see the sponsoring organization as a source of information and support. Guide these clients toward a realization that they do have choices, they can take charge of their financial lives, and they don't have to do it alone.

To assist you in this process, NEFE has developed several resources for your use. These resources include a Meeting Preparation Checklist, a Meeting Agenda, and multiple forms, checklists and worksheets focusing on specific areas of need for military clients. The best place to begin planning your approach is with the Meeting Preparation Checklist.