Survey Finds Many Struggle to Make Ends Meet; Get Tips Here

A National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) survey that finds 55 percent of military service members are ill-prepared, financially-speaking, for an emergency, and 77 percent of service members have financial worries.

The survey also finds that:

• Nearly half of service members (49 percent) have taken out a loan in the past 12 months, which included sources such as a credit card (18 percent), friends and family (13 percent), or cash advance or payday lender (6 percent).
• Twice as many (28 percent service members vs.14 percent general population) have applied for a new credit card in the last 12 months;
• Almost six in 10 (58 percent) carry some credit card debt from month to month vs. the general population where only about one in three (34 percent) carry over credit card debt every month;
• Twice as many have paid less than the minimum required payment in the last 12 months (6 percent vs. 3 percent); and,
• Service members were more than twice as likely to obtain a cash advance from a credit card in the last 12 months (5 percent vs. 2 percent).

Financial worries are of course not just limited to members of the military, and on today’s episode we will talk about how you can take greater control of your personal finances and achieve a greater sense of financial stability. 

Your Money. Your Matters is a weekly show broadcasting every Tuesday from 11 a.m. to noon Central Time. The program features radio personalities Linda Webb-Mañon and Rick Grady, Cornerstone Credit Union League; Courtney Moran, Cornerstone Credit Union Foundation, and Todd Mark, Consumer Credit Counseling Services.

Each week, the four discuss financial issues of most importance to consumers. Tune in; share your thoughts; or gain helpful advice.