This Army vet launched a nonprofit to teach soldiers finance

This week on Yahoo Finance’s podcast Warrior Money, hosts Patrick Murphy and Dan Kunze are joined by Brendan Duebner, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Life Skills for Soldiers. Duebner, a Wharton MBA graduate, launched the organization in 2019 in the hopes of better preparing service members for life outside the military. For Duebner, that mission began as a platoon leader in the US Army, when he decided to leverage his money skills to help his soldiers. One success story in particularly inspired him to continue his efforts.
“We had this one soldier … who [had] a lot of disciplinary issues,” Duebner recalled. He discovered that the soldier’s issues were rooted in financial insecurity, spurred by bad money habits that were preventable. After a budgeting class, the soldier “quickly became one of our best soldiers,” Duebner said. “His actual behavior improved. … He had less stress in his financial life, but more important is that he realized … we cared about him. We wanted him to do better.”
The Life Skills for Soldiers team created a series of courses on topics such as budgeting, choosing the right credit card, and buying a car aimed at junior military audiences. Using a “train the trainer” model, those service members can then, in turn, lead courses themselves. The model was designed in the belief that “the best people to train soldiers are their leaders,” Duebner explained.
Aside from the material, the courseware provides any leaders who may be struggling to grasp a certain topic with the ability to connect with other trainers for assistance. The organization offers entry-level learning modules free of cost to all military leaders. it has also holds pilot programs with military units, conducting independent research to test the efficacy of its programs.
Hosted by former Congressman Patrick Murphy and veteran investor Dan Kunze, Yahoo Finance’s Warrior Money is a weekly podcast dedicated to uplifting military veterans transitioning into civilian life. Through insights from fellow veterans and high-ranking government officials, Murphy and Kunze are helping set vets up for success through financial education and inspiration.
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