Kargil Vijay Diwas: Financial planning for Indian armed forces

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The Indian Army lives by the motto of service before self – nation above everything. For the service of the nation, they are not deterred by any challenges or familial obligations. They don’t care about their lives, let alone their finances.

On Kargil Vijay Diwas, Money9 pays a humble tribute to these real-life heroes by attempting to help them attain financial freedom. A special panel of Brigadier J. K. Tiwari, Shaurya Chakra (retired), Colonel Sanjeev Govila (retired) and Varun Malhotra, director, EIFS in an exclusive interaction with Money9 discuss the major concerns faced by officers in the Indian Armed Forces related to personal finance during and after their period of service.

Edited excerpts

Has financial planning among defence personnel taken a back seat?

Brigadier Tiwari: There is a thought process that rules the soldier’s life which is basically the ultimate aim of the soldier- serving the nation. The entire soul of their preparation goes into achieving that goal. So, this sentiment governs the mind and financial planning takes a back seat.

Col Govila: Even though I am a financial planner, but I can say this when we were in the Indian army, most of us did not think about financial planning. I had a personal interest in the subject so I was financially literate and which is a very rare occurrence in the army. Mostly the army men realise the need for financial planning when they have kids, they need to fulfill the needs of their kids. This is when they realise that they should have started planning early.

Malhotra, EIFS: So, the basic problems faced by common people and the army are the same, like poor saving habits, financial illiteracy, etc. An army person earns Rs 30,000 per month, of which Rs 3,000 are for NPS. If they start saving Rs2-3 lakh in the initial years when the burden is less then with 15% compounding he can become a crorepati.