How are veterans faring financially? Updates and new evidence from a national survey

This research provides new and updated evidence on the financial capability of military veterans. We leverage data from two waves of the FINRA Investor Education Foundation’s National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) to examine how veterans are faring over time, relative to comparable civilians. Overall, veterans in 2018 fared better than non-veterans in several areas. They reported higher financial satisfaction, less difficulty covering expenses, and a higher likelihood of having an emergency fund and non-retirement investment account. However, veterans were more likely to report having experienced a large drop in income, problematic credit card behaviors and late mortgage payments. Notably, though several indicators of overall financial well-being and saving behaviors improved from 2015 to 2018 and spending and credit outcomes worsened, these relative changes did not differ between veterans and non-veterans. •Military veterans are a large, policy relevant and relatively understudied population in consumer finance.•Veterans are more financially satisfied and more likely to have emergency funds and non-retirement investments than civilians.•Yet, veterans are more likely to have had a large income drop, problematic credit card behaviors and late mortgage payments.•These differences between veterans and non-veterans do not appear to vary over time, at least from 2015 to 2018.