Financial Preparation

Deployment Chequebook and Pen

With there being no cashpoints afloat, or in short supply for operational deployments, your chequebook is invaluable. If you have a joint account please be aware of who is cashing what cheques and when. Communication here is essential.

Make a Budget

Your budget should contain bills that you pay every month, such as mortgage or rent, loans, insurance, phone bill, etc;. To assist you in this using a Budget Calculator is recommended. Once you have agreed a budget you can now decide how the remainder is used. For deployed sailors and marines spending sprees can be a great temptation as goods can be very inexpensive in some countries. It is easy to go wild and leave your partner with insufficient funds at their end for items like food or rent money! Honest communication is necessary here to achieve a realistic personal fund for both your needs.

Buying or selling a house whilst on deployment? 

If you are likely to be involved in the buying or selling of a house while on deployment, it might be worth considering giving Power of Attorney to your spouse or solicitor. This will enable documents to be signed on your behalf and help speed up the process.Equally, if you have joint accounts it may be a good idea to have it set up so that either of you have authority to speak to the bank or building society: for example, if the cards are stolen it would be useful if either of the account holders could advise the bank rather than relying on the first named or the signature of both of you - a process which can cause an unacceptable time delay if one of you is deployed.