WEBVTT

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- This is Dave Clifton,
your executive deputy.

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I wanna take a few
minutes of your time today

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to talk a little bit
about personal finances.

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In the Marine Corps, we spent a lot

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of time and effort talking to our marines

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about personal financial responsibility.

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We provide them with training, counseling,

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and other assets to assist them.

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And so we don't really
spend quite so much time

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with our civilians; in fact very little.

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There's numerous resources available

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that we're gonna publish
on our command channel

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just as a reminder to everyone.

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But what caused me to think about this

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was the recent 30 day-plus
government shutdown

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that affected over 800,000 federal workers

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who in many cases were not able

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to financially weather,
even missing one paycheck.

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Not to mention two or more.

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And so I think there
is a need for all of us

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to become more financially strong

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and not financially fragile

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and I think that the shutdown
can be a wake up call

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to all of us for the need
to have emergency funds,

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not only for purposes
of a government shutdown

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but any other number of
potential disruptions

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that could occur.

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And I think for all of us,

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we can always remember
the old Boy Scout motto

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that says be prepared.

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Some of the statistics
I think are relevant

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for us when we're thinking about this.

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There's a survey of federal workers

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to determine if they had
sufficient cash funding

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available during the shutdown.

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41% of the respondents
said "No they didn't."

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and some of things that they did

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to try and get themselves through

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the shutdown were interesting.

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17% were required to take out a loan.

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19% dipped into retirement savings.

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13% applied for a new credit card

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in order to get through the shutdown.

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22% borrowed from other family members.

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4% cashed out on home equity

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and 3% used crowdfunding sites.

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The bottom line is the shutdown

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showed the importance for everyone

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including federal workers

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as well as contractors to
build up an emergency fund

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for times that are not so good.

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Emergency fund is a good personal practice

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and that account should be
quickly accessible to you

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for these unexpected
times of financial need

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and serves as a good cushion against

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the potential for future missed paychecks,

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or other unexpected
higher-than-normal expenses.

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A general rule of thumb is that each of us

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should have between three
and six months worth

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of expenses stashed away
in this emergency fund.

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I encourage you all to give some thought

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to your personal situation.

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Do a quick assessment of what
are your bare bones expenses

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that you have on a monthly basis

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and if you haven't, start
today to build yourself

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an emergency fund that can
carry you through hard times,

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missed paychecks,

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unexpected costs,

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disruptions, or any other unexpected event

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that might cause a readily accessible

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cash availability to be important to you.

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So thank you for your time and attention

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and good luck to everyone and walk high.