Military Personal Finance Research

Abstract

This chapter reviews the literature in the nascent field of military personal finance. The terms personal finance and household finance (as it is often referred to within the economics discipline) are used interchangeably. The beginning of the chapter briefly describes the demographic characteristics and income of military members as background for readers new to this area. A thorough review of existing research follows in three broad areas directly related to personal financial outcomes: (a) financial decisions, (b) military life, and (c) military programs and services. Given the potential for military service to affect financial outcomes and vice versa, these topics are complicated and much of the existing evidence is only descriptive. In concluding, the authors provide suggestions for future research that could identify causality in these relationships, lead to a better understanding of the military population, and increase understanding of personal financial challenges more broadly.