Finance tips for vets? There’s an app for that

THEY SERVED our country. Now they need some protection of their own — financial, that is.

A new free app is being made available to veterans and their families to help them make smart decisions about their money.

Developed by McGraw-Hill in partnership with the Better Business Bureau, the Military & Money App provides service members and their spouses with practical money management tips, including tools to reduce debt and maximize savings.

“Many of our military personnel are young and inexperienced with money management, and their finances are impacted dis- proportionately by long deployments, protracted family separation and frequent moves,” said Brenda Linnington, director, BBB Military Line.

“This free, independent resource offers unbiased information tailored to address the unique personal finance issues that confront our men and women in uniform.”

Military service members are often the targets of consumer fraud and high-interest predatory loans, and often carry heavy debt loads.

Accord- ing to a 2010 survey by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, 27% of military respondents had $10,000 or more in credit card debt, compared with 16% of civilians.

Key features of the app include training videos on budgeting and managing debt, calculators to track cash flow and build savings, and debt reduction plans. The Military & Money App is available for free on iTunes. A companion website can be found at militaryandmoney.com.