Financial Readiness Program (FRP) :: U.S. Army Fort Jackson

The Financial Readiness Program offers information, education and counseling to enhance your abilities to manage money and invest in your future.

Counselor and Soldier

Credit Reports and Understanding Credit

More than 25% of credit reports have serious errors. These errors will impact your ability to take out a loan or significantly increase the interest rate you pay, restrict employment opportunities, affect your security clearance, determine how much security deposit is required for utilities, rent etc. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires each of the three major consumer reporting companies, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. You can access your free reports through the following website Annual Credit Report (recently accessible to Europe). If you prefer to mail in your request complete the Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
To see how your credit report and credit score relate, plus how to interpret your score, read the Credit Report Guide. Once you receive your report, you can download the following Credit Report Code Guide to understand what each codes means that is reflected on your report.

How would you like to see exactly how much interest you are paying to your creditors and have get a plan to get out of debt? University of Utah developed PowerPay. Take a minute to establish an account.

Money does matter! Living paycheck to paycheck leaves little breathing room. Budget your money and you'll see where you can cut back and begin building emergency funds. Run this spreadsheet in MS Excel and fill out the grey areas to see if you have a surplus or a deficit.

Analyzing your spending habits will allow you to see where your money is going, enable you to institute changes, and prevent you from making a financial commitment before you are ready. No matter what your results are, financial counseling is FREE at the ACS Center and can assist you in finding solutions that will benefit you, your family, and your career. Financial Assessment Tool.