Executive Summary
In the midst of the financial planning community's struggles to figure out how to serve the mass middle market in an effective manner, a surprising new entrant to the field may lead the way in showing how to get it done right. Welcome to the Personal Financial Counselor Network, brought to the U.S. military courtesy of the Department of Defense!
The mission of the Personal Financial Counselor program is to provide service members with professional personal financial planning services, through individual and group sessions. The focus will likely include both training in basic skills, such as balancing a checkbook, as well as more targeted financial planning advice.
So what's unique about the program? Well, first and foremost, it has the financial backing of the Department of Defense, who will pay personal financial counselors directly to provide financial planning services to their military "employees." In a world where most middle market financial planning is paid for by the end consumer via a commission or fee, the idea of having "staff financial planners" (albeit structured as independent contractors in this case) to provide employer-paid financial planning services to an incredibly large base of "employees" is nothing short of astonishing!
Ironically, the military seems to be interested in no small part because they realize that financially sound "employees" are able to be more productive and effective. In the case of the military, though, the financial troubles of service members can be particularly problematic - try canceling a top secret strategic mission because one of your key team members has financial problems and can't get security clearance! So for the military, this isn't just about good stewardship, it's also about maintaining overall military readiness!
So what do you actually DO? Apparently there are a few options available. Personal financial counselors may be deployed for local on-demand group presentations at local bases, to support financial fitness fairs, or to offer individual in-office consultations. These opportunities are typically for 1-3 days at a time (usually over a weekend). More significantly, though, some planners may actually be deployed overseas, for assignments as long as 30-60 days, to provide financial planning services to members of the military stationed throughout the world.
Can you get rich doing this? No, the compensation isn't what you might make at the upper echelons of financial planning. It's not even at the median income of experienced planners. But the military is offering to pay a very healthy $50/hour for services. Granted, that's well below the $150-$200/hour charged by many fee-only planners, but the trade-off is that the military has the depth of need (and financial strength) to provide a full work-week. After all, $50/hour for a full week is $2,000/week, which in turn is approximately $100,000/year. Not a bad income at all for helping soldiers and their families with their financial planning needs! (Although it's worth noting that the military's program isn't quite hiring planners for this depth of continuous work at this time.) At a minimum, this might be a helpful supplement for a planner who wants to round out their income with some additional "billable hours," or simply a nice compensation for someone who wants to offer financial planning guidance to the military. For a few, it might be an interesting opportunity to travel the world, courtesy of the Department of Defense, on a financial planning assignment (for travel assignments, the military also provides reasonable expense reimbursement and a per diem).
What does it take to be eligible? You need to have an undergraduate degree, or otherwise demonstrate a level of education and experience that substantiates you ability to serve as a personal financial counselor. You need to have the Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), or Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designations. Beyond that, you need to satisfy a usual litany of basic employment requirements (clear criminal history background check; valid driver's license {to drive to bases}, etc.).
In the near future, the program is looking to expand their counselor network in several geographic areas, including: Seattle, WA; Washington, DC/Northern Virginia/Southern Maryland; Watertown, NY/upstate New York; southern New Jersey/Philadelphia; and Georgia. Ultimately, though, counselors will be needed nationwide, wherever there are active duty, reserve, or national guard facilities (in addition to planners who have the time and inclination to travel for overseas rotations).
Although the Department of Defense isn't going to solve all of the world's financial planning problems, this program is quite a jump start for demonstrating an employer-paid model to deliver mass scale financial planning services at a very reasonable income to a largely middle-market audience. The program is still in the midst of getting up and running, but those who are interested should act now.
For more information about the progam, contact Roy Werthmuller or Cherie Crowther at [email protected] or [email protected], respectively.
To apply, email [email protected].
The Personal Financial Counselor Network is a good attempt of connecting our men and women in the armed forces with financial planners.
I’m somewhat skeptical what the level of interest will be from qualified financial planners. You make a good point that the compensation is below the median of that earned by experienced planners.
Will the charitable and altruistic aspect of this program attract the numbers of needed qualified planners to the program? I’d like to think so, but I think the reality will be that the program simply cannot pay enough to planners.
Bill – FPPad.com
I have been in the program now for 6 months. It is fantastic! It is true that as an independent Financial Planner we could earn more, however, the feel good part of the job, helping military personal is worth more than money. I have 30 years experience, to old to be active military. This is our way of helping and supporting our troops and helping to complete “The Mission”
Does any one know if this program is still running ?