The Financial Welfare of Military Veterans: Descriptive Evidence from a National Survey

Using a large national household survey, this analysis provides evidence on the differences in financial decision-making and outcomes between military veterans and nonveterans, as well as between different types of military veterans. I find that veterans have slightly better overall financial standing, more problems with spending, and slightly better savings outcomes relative to comparable non-veterans. For outcomes related to targeted public policies, veterans experience better employment outcomes, slightly better health care outcomes, mixed education outcomes, and slightly worse housing outcomes. Within the veteran population, I observe few differences by military service. Military retirees fare better than military non-retirees, and veterans who separated longer ago are less satisfied with their financial condition than more recently separated veterans despite more stable income. JEL Codes: D12, D14, G28, H56 William Skimmyhorn Office of Economic and Manpower Analysis, Department of Social Sciences United States Military Academy West Point, NY 10996 [email protected] Note: Thanks to Anthony Camilli, Susan Carter, Gary Mottola, Bud Schneeweis, and Gerri Walsh for helpful comments. This paper was prepared with financial support from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation. The opinions provided herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of FINRA, the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, the U.S. Military Academy, the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense.