Below are questions and discussions from our Financial Planning for Military Caregivers Webinar.
Caregiving may involve…
- Less personal time
- Less family time
- Need for work-life balance
- Financial issues
- Physical and emotional stress
Thought from audience member: It can be difficult sometimes for a caregiver to openly acknowledge those costs.
What are the most common issues families face?
Audience member #1: Many of our soldiers are overwhelmed by the idea that they can no longer do what they know and they have to figure out another direction. I often have to use MRT to help them look past this concern and find the answers within themselves.
Speaker: Where are the jobs in the whole bubble of your experience? There are plenty of jobs around what you’ve done. Where can you use your experience in the bigger picture.
Audience member #2: Being a MFLC counselor referrals are made to financial consultants at the installations.
What are the most common questions military family caregivers ask?
Audience member #1: Most of my families are looking at when their payments will begin – there are so many different sources of income that come from different pots they may become overwhelmed. They have a hard time creating a budget without absolute answers
Audience member #2: I like that “you have two choices, to know where your money is going or wonder where it went.” Unfortunately a lot of people live by wondering where their money went
Audience member #3: We call it a spending plan
Audience member #4 to audience member #1: yes, task & info overload is a common challenge. Sometimes the support we can offer is to help families to sort and manage the info & tasks. When we’re under physical & psychological stress, it can be a challenge to remain objective, focused, prioritized, etc…
How do you get service members & caregivers to open up about their needs?
Audience member #1: Taking the time and making the effort to build rapport/relationship with clients can help them to feel safe about talking.
Audience member #2: flexibility and active listening skills are very important
Speaker mentioned humor was very helpful when done respectfully.
Good Resources suggest by speaker and participants:
- Military One Source – Financial & Legal
- Powerpay.org
- ConsumerFinance.gov
- Finrafoundation.org
- Ebenefits.va.gov
- eXtension.org
- eXtenion.org – Online Resources for You!
- WarriorCare.DoDLive.mil
- AFBA.com
- Each military installation has a personal financial manager at the Military and Family Support Center
Audience member question:
Do you have any opinion of leading military caregiver families through Dave Ramsey’s class?
Answer from audience member: I usually encourage clients to study personal finance resources beyond the popular financial gurus. I think it helps clients build a better understanding of the important fundamentals involved in effective personal finance. I also think it helps them to develop their own understanding grounded in their own study and experience.
This MFLN-Military Caregiving concentration blog post was published January 29, 2016.
