Emanuel and The bank

[james A Luper]

I am putting this information out for our members to possibly help their relations that joined the military with understanding the banking system. I am not doing this to critizize the bank. My son jopined the Navy June of this year. When I went to Great Lakes for his graduation it costs us about $1000 for three days , a car and r/t plane. (I am retired on SS). After graduation he brought stuff at the Nex. His pay is direct deposited and with direct deposit there is something called Navchek advance, where the person that has the direct deposit can get a advance on their direct deposit account up to $500. His bank statements come to me (they are mailed to his home) and I would read them and at first I couldn't understand how when he got paid on the first and fifteenth how he could be overdrawn a few days later. What I discovered when I got his 2 month statement , was that he had been spending the Navchek advance between paydays , so that when he got paid he was just paying back the advance he had got, and what this did was to make him automatically start spending the advance again. So what I did was to come up with a plan to break this cycle. I paid his phone bill plus sent him some money so that he wouldn't have to use the advance. To show you much the bank had him in the cycle, I had him check his balance this month when he got paid and not to spend anything, He said that all he had left from his actual pay was$23, and the Navchek advance to take care of his expenses until his next pay day. Now when he gets paid on the 15th , he will have his actual pay plus the $500 Navchek advance in case of emergency. I hope This story helps some other person's relative out. I am not talking against the bank , Which in this case is NavyFederal Crdit Union of which I am a member, but as information and to help any others that might be caught in this cycle of spending.

[Brenda, aka Sailor Moon]

Thanks for sharing. Something to look into. My sailor is always broke too. His excuse, I do what I want with my money~I earned it, but I think he may be caught in something like this as well. Like you guys mention-free room/board, food. He had no debt when he left. I am scared for such a mistake being made when they are in the top security clearance jobs. They could mess themselves up. Thanks again. That was really thoughtful to share. Shows you care.

[E.G. - ND's Creator/Admin]

Pros & Cons for our Sailors and Navy Federal Credit Union. It depends on your Sailor and how good they are with money. I've heard of many Sailors saving their butts off and never having money problems. On the other hand, more of them struggle with their finance's. Remember, this is the first time for our Sailors to make a steady paycheck and to have a bank where they actually have credit. This is what my son did as I believe most of them have done. Once he was in A school he was always living in overdraft. Like James said when he would get paid it was $o because he had already spent it. On top of that he took a thousand dollar loan in A school, just to piss away, which most do. He bought a computer, TV, etc on credit. Once he was with the fleet, he had so many allotments coming out of his paycheck car, bills, etc that when it came to payday he only had a few dollars left. My son had to take a part time job off base just to live because he screwed his paychecks up so bad. Most 18yr olds do not know how to handle money well. The Navy requires our Sailors to take money management class's to help with this problem but it is ultimately up to the Sailor. It took my son a year to get his paycheck back and I'm glad to say he is now straight.

He had an account at home in our bank but when he went in the Navy he opened the Navy account. I believe it mainly was to not let mom and pop know of the money he was pissing away. The best thing we did was made him have a $100 go directly into his bank account at home every paycheck which ended up being $200 a month. Since this is a home town account he could not withdraw money from it. So as he was calling home for money we would withdraw money from his account and western union it to him. I think I used western union maybe twice in my lifetime but with my Sailor I've been there sending money at least 6 or 7 times. LOL I could write a book about Sailors and their finance's but have rambled on enough for now. Just remember these are broke Sailors coming out of high school and instantly having steady pay and credit. They will be fine, like we always told our son, you have a free place to stay and eat. You won't die because you have no partying money.

[Mike]

Thanks for your informaton as I was about to ask if anyone had any suggestions on how to deal with or handle a new recruit's paycheck. My son Wes leaves Monday morning at 11am for basic training and we're trying to put everything together. His recruiter advised him to not do direct deposit to a bank here localy but to use the "Navy Bank". Is that a generic term or is that the name of a bank? Thanks.

[Mike]

Thanks for your information as I was about to ask if anyone