US
(2009-08-17)
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SEATTLE, WA
(KPLU) -
Military families have been especially vulnerable to financial scams.
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The Department of Defense is working with the country's largest foundation for investor education to fix that. Nearly 200 military spouses have just received fellowships that will accredit them as financial counselors.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation began training military spouses in financial counseling three years ago. Vice President Gerri Walsh says they had found that less than a third of military members and their partners who identified themselves as investors passed a basic investor literacy quiz.
"Basically what a stock is, what a no-load mutual fund is, what happens to bond-prices when interest rates change," Walsh says. "So, very fundamental basics of investing."
At the same time, the Pentagon had taken note of unscrupulous businesses setting up shop near military installations. And, Walsh says FINRA regulators were disciplining increasing numbers of licensed brokers for selling inappropriate financial products to people who lacked the knowledge to know what they were getting in to.
"And so our concern was that military as an identifiable group were being targeted for payday lending and predatory scams, so we wanted to try to reach out and better help them."
Now the Department of Defense requires military bases to employ financial counselors, and FINRA has certified more than 150 spouses who qualify for those jobs. Seven of the new class are here in the Northwest - in Bremerton, Everett and Oak Harbor.
For more information:
SaveAndInvest.org
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Announces 2009 Financial Counseling Fellowships for Military Spouses
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