b'Consumer Financial Protection Bureaulaunches education program for military members MAY 23, 2019 Press ReleaseBy Kathleen Kraninger | Consumer Financial Protection Bureauwww.consumerfinance.gov/practitioner-resources/servicemembers/mimm/The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is launchedtheir families to make better informed decisions regardingits Misadventures in Money Management financial consumer financial products and services. The officeeducation tools for all active duty service members maintains a financial education website for serviceat the Academic Support Building, building 1467, at members, veterans and their families, along with aJoint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston on May 23. resource page for practitioners who work with theMisadventures in Money Management, or MiMM, is military community. a virtual financial education learning experience that fills While the military provides a financial educationa critical gap in consumer financial education topics forclass during basic training, the information is not alwaysfuture service members. The program is currently in usewell absorbed due to the rigorous physical, emotionalby all of the military services: the Army, Navy, Air Force,and temporal demands of that time. As a result, manyMarines, Coast Guard and National Guard. young service members may leave basic training not yet It is in the form of a graphic novel that teaches serviceready to make important consumer financial choices.members about making financial decisions in the style The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB,of a choose-you-own-adventure novel.It was initially created the MiMM education program to reach futuredeveloped solely for future service members who signedservice members prior to basic training, during thea contract to enlist in the armed forces, but had not yetdelayed entry time period that starts when a prospective shipped off to basic military training.service member signs a military enlistment agreementOver the past three years, MIMM has provided financialand continues through departure for basic training.education to more than 22,000 future service members. ItThe CFPB helps consumer finance markets work bywill now be available for all service members on active duty,making rules more effective, by consistently and fairly in the Reserve or National Guard, and for anyone who hasenforcing those rules, and by empowering consumerssigned up for future military service, including high schoolto take more control over their economic lives.and college cadets enrolled in a Reserve Officers TrainingThe program covers topics including consumerCorps program. financial decision-making, choosing a financial institution, The MIMM program is managed by the Bureaus Office understanding protections under the Servicemembersof Servicemember Affairs, which is responsible for developingCivil Relief Act, avoiding impulse purchases and understanding and implementing initiatives for service members and theirhow debt can affect a military career.families to educate and empower service members and .continued on page 36Aberdeen Proving Ground Military Appreciation Resource Magazine 35'