The statistics are stark and heartbreaking: veterans are 1.5 times more likely to die by suicide than civilians. On average, at least 18 veterans die by suicide every day. Behind each of these numbers is a story, a family, and often a preventable tragedy. For too many military families, these aren’t just statistics—they represent friends, battle buddies, or loved ones who couldn’t find their way through the darkness.
While mental health challenges and PTSD often grab the headlines, a critical piece of the veteran suicide puzzle has been hiding in plain sight: financial stress. Recent research is revealing just how devastating money problems can be for our nation’s heroes, and more importantly, how addressing military financial stress could save lives.
The Hidden Crisis: Financial Stress as a Veteran Suicide Risk Factor
The Department of Veterans Affairs, working with the National Veterans Resource Center (FINVET), has identified the stark reality of financial stress in veteran suicide attempts. A groundbreaking study published in JAMA Psychiatry examined the top 20 risk factors for veteran suicide attempts nationwide, and the findings should concern every military family.
Among these critical risk factors, four are directly related to financial stress:
#7: Experienced major financial crisis, bankruptcy, or unable to pay bills on time in the last 12 months
#13: Current or most recent job challenges
#15: Family income concerns in the last year
#19: Personal income struggles in the last year
Think about that for a moment—one-fifth of the top suicide risk factors are financial. When veterans struggle to pay bills, face job challenges, or experience income problems, they’re not just dealing with money issues. They’re facing life-threatening stress that compounds with military-specific challenges like PTSD, deployment trauma, and the difficult transition to civilian life.
Why Veteran Financial Stress Creates Dangerous Challenges
Military life brings financial stressors that civilians rarely experience. Frequent PCS moves drain savings accounts. Deployments can strain family finances in unexpected ways, from added childcare costs to reduced pay for the spouse at home taking on extra responsibilities. Military spouses face unemployment rates significantly higher than civilian spouses due to frequent relocations. The transition from military to civilian employment often involves pay cuts or periods of unemployment.
For veterans, these challenges can multiply. VA disability claims are complex and often take months to process. GI Bill benefits may not cover all education expenses. Career transitions can be financially devastating, especially when combined with untreated trauma or physical injuries from service. There’s a clear need for veteran financial crisis support.
The Financial Stress Assessment Saving Military Lives
Here’s where hope enters the picture. GoVA’s financial education platform, The Edge, has developed a revolutionary Financial Stress Score—a quick assessment that helps military families understand and address their financial stress before it becomes overwhelming. We’re focusing on military suicide prevention through financial wellness.
Based on research led by a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, this tool measures the factors most likely to contribute to financial wellbeing. The assessment asks about experiences many military families know all too well: feeling overwhelmed by finances, being distracted by financial regrets, avoiding financial discussions due to stress, or difficulty focusing at work due to financial concerns.
The scoring system ranges from 1 to 40, with anything over 30 indicating high financial stress. But here’s what makes this tool different—it doesn’t just identify the problem. It immediately connects you to specific resources and action plans tailored to your exact stress factors. Whether you’re struggling with budgeting, debt, credit issues, or planning for major expenses like PCS moves, the platform uses AI technology to guide you toward solutions tailored for your situation.
Military Financial Stress Relief: Real Families, Real Results
The impact of addressing financial stress goes far beyond numbers on a bank statement. Military families using The Edge are seeing life-changing results quickly—often within the first month.
Hilda Calix Araujo, an active duty soldier, discovered that “The Edge helped me discover great budgeting tools, comparison sites for better deals, and even tricks for negotiating bills… Browsing through financial blogs, I learned how small habits like tracking expenses, automating savings, and following the 50/30/20 rule can make a huge difference.”
Army veteran Linda Cerase experienced a transformation many military families dream about: “I have been able to save instead of spending everything. I no longer live paycheck to paycheck. I put away money every pay period to an account I have little to no access to.”
For families navigating military-specific challenges, the results are especially powerful. Leona Jordan, an Air Force spouse moving overseas, shared how The Edge helped during a PCS move and single-income transition: “We ran a budget spreadsheet and feel that we are in a good position now to not stress which takes a big weight off our free time together!”
Wendy Lawson, an Army veteran, found hope in debt reduction: “Laying out each expense and each goal helped me to see the light at the end of the tunnel and truly start to see progress with paying off our debt. Thanks so much!”
A Measurable Path to Veteran Financial Wellness
What makes this approach uniquely powerful is that financial stress can improve much faster than many other suicide risk factors. While healing from trauma or finding the right mental health treatment can take months or years, small financial wins can reduce stress immediately. Paying down a credit card debt, building a small emergency fund, or simply having a clear budget can provide relief within weeks.
Your Financial Stress Score becomes a benchmark you can track and improve. Unlike credit scores that take months to change, or bank account balances that build slowly, your stress level can improve rapidly as you gain knowledge, build confidence, and take small action steps.
Take Action: Assess Your Financial Stress Today
Over 8,000 military members nationwide have already joined The Edge community, finding the tools and support they need to reduce financial stress and build stronger futures. The platform is completely free for military families—no charges to sign up, no hidden fees, and we never ask for credit card information. This support is made possible through donations from sponsors who believe in supporting our military community.
If you’re ready to take control of your financial stress and potentially save lives in the process, your first step is discovering your Financial Stress Score. This isn’t just about improving your budget—it’s about addressing a proven suicide risk factor that affects too many military families.
The connection between veteran financial stress and veteran suicide is real, but so is our ability to break that cycle. By addressing financial stress head-on, we’re not just improving bank accounts—we’re potentially saving lives, strengthening families, and building a more resilient military community.
Join The Edge today and discover your Financial Stress Score. Your family’s financial wellbeing—and peace of mind—may depend on it.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact the Veterans Crisis Line: Call 988, then press 1, or text 838255. Help is available 24/7.