Financial health means a better life for veterans

Home to more than 706,000 veterans who live and work right here, Illinois has the 10th largest state veteran population in the country. While we owe a debt of gratitude for the service of veterans and their families, we also owe it to ourselves to recognize how integral they are - and will be - to our lives every day.

The need for greater financial education among veterans and military families is as great as it's ever been. A 2015 study by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling found that service members carry higher credit card debt and unsecured debt balances than their civilian counterparts. And in a survey from Blue Star Families last year, financial issues rated among the top concerns for service members, veterans and their families. Nearly 90 percent of respondents said that financial readiness training should be more tailored to fit specific family needs.

Statistics aside, many simply struggle navigating the complex system of benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense, and figuring out credit, lending, savings and mortgage options can be daunting for those who are facing them for the first time.

Proper financial education can make a massive difference for all of us and for military families in particular. It can help to relieve financial stress - one of the major causes of tension in service members' relationships - and it can improve the lives of entire families. For some, it can even be the difference between homelessness and gainful employment in a fulfilling career.

Here in the Chicagoland community, Bank of America works with military organizations like Bunker Labs, a not-for-profit organization built by military veteran entrepreneurs to empower other military veterans as leaders in innovation by providing educational programming, mentorship, events and thriving local networks. To date, Bunker Labs has generated a total of $17,432,094 in revenue, helping to create 290 jobs and fostering 1,442 connections that helped to lead to success.

In addition, through BetterMoneyHabits.com - a financial education resource that Bank of America developed with education innovator Sal Khan and Khan Academy - we launched new content earlier this year specifically geared toward veterans and military families. The new content offers transitioning service members guidance on issues like navigating the complexities of the GI Bill, a tutorial on how VA home loans work and a primer on buying a car.

It has never been more urgent to ensure our community's veterans have the financial education they need to succeed. More importantly, as citizens and members of the community, we each have a responsibility to use our unique skills and gifts to help unlock the potential of the veterans and military families we encounter every day. We, at Bank of America, are proud to do this through financial literacy.

• Simon Wlodarski, senior vice president, public policy and state government relations, North Central Region, Bank of America & Major, Illinois Army National Guard and former Marine.