Leaving the Military? Free Financial Counseling Is Available for 365 Days After You Separate – Military.com

Leaving the Military? Free Financial Counseling Is Available for 365 Days After You Separate  Military.com

Military OneSource keeps its financial services open for a full year after separation or retirement for members discharged honorably. Delinquencies and defaults are between two and 10 times more likely to appear on a credit record in the six months after separation. Military OneSource financial counseling does not end the day a service member leaves the military. Retired and honorably discharged members keep access "until 365 days past end of tour of service, retirement date or discharge date," according to the Military OneSource eligibility page. About 200,000 service members transition out of the military each year, according to a Congressional Research Service overview of the Transition Assistance Program. The program's core workshops include a Personal Financial Planning session, and Defense Department policy lists transition as a required point for financial training, with a "Financial Planning for Transition" course part of the program, according to DoD Instruction 1322.34.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau studied what happens afterward. In a November 2020 report on the credit records of young veterans in their first year after separation, the bureau found that among those who served at least seven months, delinquencies and defaults are between two and 10 times more likely to appear on a credit record in the six months after separation than in the six months before. The bureau said a sizable