First Command Reports: Servicemember Families Reining In Holiday Spending

First Command Financial Behaviors Index® reveals two out of five servicemembers plan to spend less than $500 on gifts

FORT WORTH, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- America’s career military families intend to tighten their belts again this holiday season, making gift spending a major focus of their frugality.

First Command's annual holiday spending survey reveals that 94 percent of middle-class military families (commissioned officers and senior NCOs in pay grades E-6 and above with household incomes of at least $50,000) plan to cut back this year, statistically unchanged from the past three years. More than one third (37 percent) expect to spend less on gifts this year, making it their No. 1 cost-cutting strategy for the holidays.

The penny-pinching urge is strong for the 2015 holiday season. Military shoppers plan on average expenditures of $786, roughly half the $1,464 they estimate having spent last year on holiday gifts. Two out of five families (40 percent) say they expect to spend less than $500.

Military families also anticipate reducing their gift giving expenses by:

• Setting a maximum amount for gifts (32 percent)
• Giving gifts to fewer people (30 percent)
• Giving fewer gifts per person (29 percent)
• Buying gifts at discount stores (24 percent)
• Making gifts (17 percent)

Black Friday surfaced as another frugal spending strategy in the survey. Two out of five survey respondents said they planned to do most or all of their holiday shopping on the day after Thanksgiving.

Other ways military families are cutting back for the holidays include spending less on travel (34 percent), decorations (26 percent) and food (22 percent).

The 2015 holiday shopping season marks the eighth consecutive year that the Index has pointed to leaner spending in military families, reflecting a year-around dedication to frugal living.

“Through careful consumer spending, our men and women in uniform are giving their families and themselves the gift of financial confidence,” said Scott Spiker, CEO of First Command Financial Services, Inc. “Frugal financial behaviors are helping military families feel more confident that their financial situation will improve next year and in their ability to retire comfortably. This willingness to continue their belt-tightening ways into the holiday season underscores a larger commitment to the pursuit of long-term financial security.”

About the First Command Financial Behaviors Index®

Compiled by Sentient Decision Science, Inc., the First Command Financial Behaviors Index® assesses trends among the American public’s financial behaviors, attitudes and intentions through a monthly survey of approximately 530 U.S. consumers aged 25 to 70 with annual household incomes of at least $50,000. Results are reported quarterly. The margin of error is +/- 4.3 percent with a 95 percent level of confidence. http://www.firstcommand.com/fbi/

About Sentient Decision Science, Inc.

Sentient Decision Science was commissioned by First Command to compile the Financial Behaviors Index®. SDS is a behavioral science and consumer psychology consulting firm with special vertical expertise within the financial services industry. SDS specializes in advanced research methods and statistical analysis of behavioral and attitudinal data.

About First Command

First Command Financial Services and its subsidiaries, including First Command Bank and First Command Financial Planning, assist American families in their efforts to build wealth, reduce debt and pursue their lifetime financial goals and dreams—focusing on consumer behavior as the first and most powerful determinant of results. Through knowledgeable advice and coaching of the financial behaviors conducive to success, First Command Financial Advisors have built trustworthy, lasting relationships with hundreds of thousands of client families since 1958.

First Command Financial Services, Inc., is the parent of First Command Financial Planning, Inc. (Member SIPC, FINRA), First Command Advisory Services, Inc., First Command Insurance Services, Inc. and First Command Bank. Financial planning services and investment products, including securities, are offered by First Command Financial Planning, Inc. , a broker-dealer. Financial planning and investment advisory services are offered by First Command Advisory Services, Inc., an investment adviser. Insurance products and services are offered by First Command Insurance Services, Inc., in all states except Montana, where as required by law, insurance products and services are offered by First Command Financial Services, Inc. (a separate Montana domestic corporation). Banking products and services are offered by First Command Bank. In certain states, as required by law, First Command Insurance Services, Inc. does business as a separate domestic corporation. Securities products are not FDIC insured, have no bank guarantee and may lose value. A financial plan, by itself, cannot assure that retirement or other financial goals will be met. First Command Financial Services, Inc. and its related entities are not affiliated with, authorized to sell or represent on behalf of or otherwise endorsed by any federal employee benefits programs referenced, by the U.S. government, or the U.S. armed forces.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151223005474/en/

First Command Financial Services
Mark Leach, 817-569-2419
Media Relations
[email protected]

Source: First Command Financial Services

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