By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The government shutdown isn’t just a Washington story — it’s now hitting military families around the world.
“If somebody turned off my paycheck, it wouldn’t be a happy moment. So when I talk to military families in the noise I’m hearing out, there is a lot of concern right now,” said Joseph Montanaro, financial advice director of the USAA Military Affairs team.
The budget stalemate in Congress is rippling far beyond the Capitol dome. The Pentagon says all military personnel will remain on normal duty status and must report for work. Nearly half of the Pentagon’s 741,000 civilian employees could be furloughed — meaning no work, and no pay.
Fewer civilian employees could impact administrative services, and mean less staff to run child care centers or maintain housing. Military families who depend on those services could soon feel the squeeze.
But there are steps they can take to weather the storm.
“There’s still time for service members and their families to do a to a good assessment of what the impact would be on,” Montanaro said.
Montanaro recommends the “Four C’s” approach.
“The first C is calculate or assess — what are the resources I have myself or we have as a family to be able to respond if we don’t have a paycheck. Maybe it’s an emergency fund we have, maybe it’s other investments that we might be able to reposition to use,” Montanaro said.
And if paychecks pause on Oct. 15, he says don’t stay silent.
“Communicate to your lenders, communicate to your service providers, see what type of arrangements they can make. But the bottom line is, if they don’t know what you’re going through, they’re not going to be able to respond or assist you,” Montanaro said.
Third on the list: connect.
“Connect with resources and organizations that can help you,” Montanaro said. “They have a structure of support out there that is robust and standing by and ready to help. But help doesn’t just show up on your doorstep. You’ve got to go out and reach and ask the questions.”
And lastly, the fourth C is confidence. Montanaro reminds families that while the wait is tough, back pay is guaranteed once the shutdown ends.
“This is going to be temporary, whether it lasts a day or three days or 30 days,” Montanaro added.
For service members and their families, the shutdown may mean hard choices — but with a little planning, it doesn’t have to mean financial chaos.
