For veterans and their families

Personal and family spending 

There is free and impartial money advice, set up by the government, at the Money Advice Service. Reviewing your spending can be the first step to taking control of your finances and the money advice service has a range of help about how to establish and maintain to a budget.  

You can also reduce your outgoings by ensuring you have the most competitive rates for your utilities, broadband and insurance. Comparison websites, such as Money Super Market, Go Compare, Compare the Market and Confused.com, exist to make this process easier, but remember not every provider will list their services on comparison sites.  

Financial services aimed at the Forces  

Armed Forces Financial Services have been providing Fee Free dedicated independent financial advice to members of the UK Armed Forces, Veterans and their families since 2004. 

Forces Family Finance help military professionals, veterans and their families with home ownership, mortgages and insurances, combining personal experience and professional knowledge to support you through your service life and beyond. 

Benefits 

If you are struggling with your finances, an important first step is to check you’re getting all the benefits that you’re entitled to. You can get information on the benefits you can claim by visiting the government website. You can complete a benefit check here and start a new benefit application.  

Debt advice 

Step Change are a specialist debt charity with 25 years of providing free, expert debt advice. And Turn2Us offer advice aimed at the armed forces community specifically around benefits and finding charitable grants. Finally, the Royal British Legion also has a dedicated benefits and money advice team who can help with a range of financial advice and support.  

Savings on purchases 

The Defence Discount Service is the official Ministry of Defence discount service for the UK’s Armed Forces, Veterans and Armed Forces Community. Registration is free, but the Defence privilege card costs £4.99 for 5 years and can attract a range of discounts from affiliated businesses. 

Veterans Railcard 

In January 2020, the government, in partnership with the train companies, announced a new Veterans Railcard. The new Railcard will be available to former members of the UK Armed Forces later this year and will extend discounted train travel to more than 830,000 veterans not covered by existing discounts.  

Forces Pension Society 

The Forces Pension Society is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that acts as the pension watchdog for the entire military community and provides, a pension advice service, campaigning on military pensions and pension briefings to Forces people. 

Pension Wise 

Pension Wise provide free and impartial government guidance about your defined contribution pension options. 

Pro Bono Financial Advice

Forces MoneyPlan, is a pro-bono initiative offering free, confidential financial guidance to all Armed Forces personnel and Veterans. All guidance is provided by fully qualified financial advisers and members of the Personal Finance Society, who have volunteered both their time and expertise. Forces MoneyPlan enables recipients to be more informed about their financial well-being and less vulnerable to misinformation and scams. We’re grateful to be able to offer support to forces personnel and veterans who are members of theOn Course Foundation, Blesma (the Limbless Veterans charity) or the Forces Pension Society and to all veterans who come to us via the Veterans Gateway. We have financial advisers ready and waiting to support you, wherever you are in the UK.