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 A Colonel in the 1st Theater
Sustainment Command Has Money on His Mind
Maj.
Carol McClelland
1st Theater
Sustainment Command, Public Affairs
U.S. Army
Camp
Arifjan, Kuwait -- Army Col. George Fields, the Chief of Intelligence,
or G2, has been teaching a free "Managing Your Money" class
here in his spare time. More than 400 students have attended his six
week-long class to learn more about increasing their own finances.
"All
I did was sit down and listen to a guy one day who showed me what he
was doing" said the colonel as he explained how he became
interested in what he calls, "becoming financially free."
Interested in looking at life after his Army career, Fields signed up
for a business seminar and wanted to know more about the speakera
former Army cook who had $10 million in the bank by age 43.
"He
talked about using common sense principles, so I started applying them
to my own finances," Fields said. But Fields didn,t stop there. He
wanted to share the knowledge he learned with other military members.
"Most
Soldiers don't learn about money until they get into trouble. There's
no class on how to grow your money," he said. At Camp Arifjan,
Fields created a class that taught Soldiers how to do just that.
The
tall, financially savvy colonel from Brooklyn, N.Y. said some of his
pupils are overwhelmed when they begin. But he said he uses a fun and
casual approach to teach practical applications. "I show them what
they didn't see before. No one should care more about your money than
you," he stated.
Using
plain-speak language, he talks to attendees about IRAs, 401Ks, mutual
funds, stock market investments and how to develop strategies that will
help students meet their financial goals. He said one of his goals is
to teach military members to start developing discipline that will help
them make life-financial decisions.
"We
talk about stocks. There are lots of people weary of the market. But
look at the things you buy. What do you eat or use for your laundry
detergent? What do your parents buy? Where do you go?" Fields
asked. Then he walks the class through what everything means. But he's
quick to note that he won't tell them what to invest in. He focuses the
class on doing the research and making their own decisions.
"It's
like putting a puzzle together and your finished product is your
financial freedom," said Fields, who described researching
investments as fun.
By
the time the class is complete his students embrace a paradigm shift believing
they don't have to have a lot of money to invest and number two, that
they can be their own financial broker.
One
student, who attended the class in April and returned for more during
the June/July course, said he gained insight on investments during the
first course but wanted to go back for more to apply what he
learned.
"I've
been deployed so many times but havent been able to save. I needed to
learn more about how to save then how to spend "said Army Sgt.
Reginald Wright, 4th Sustainment Brigade Public Affairs, who's on his
fourth deployment. "I learned a lot from the classes and liked how
he fused humor into them."
"You
just have to get comfortable with the terms and develop the mindset
of 'I can,'" said Fields, whose undergraduate degree is in
political science and masters is in human resources. "It's taking
all the PhD level wording out and bringing it down to the PFC level of
understanding, and get everyone excited on how to grow money. They can
embrace a whole different lifestyle."
After
teaching two hour classes nearly every Sunday since last August, Fields
has a number of financial followers who run ideas past him for sanity
checks or tell him about their investment results, an article they've
read or a new financial book recommendation. He's had e-mails from as
far away as Djibouti.
And
participation is encouraged from the all-ranks, all-branch classes that
were only advertised by word-of-mouth. From employees of investment
companies to "closet investors," military members get excited
about sharing their insights and their new level of understanding,
Fields said. His classes grew each week with individuals taking what
they learned in class then returning the following week with investment
results.
But
as he moves up to his new position as Army Central Command's
intelligence director, Fields said it's time for him to step down from
teaching and let some of the people who started out as students take
over the class.
Military
Saves was made possible in part through the generous support of the
FINRA Investor Education Foundation. Please visit www.SaveAndInvest.org.
Military
Saves is also supported by Wells Fargo Bank, Chase Bank, and
Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University Military Edition. Together, we
can build wealth, not debt!
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