Army&You spoke to The Savvy Squaddie, aka Sgt Cameron Eden, about what led him to create the character well-known for demystifying all things financial in the military world…
WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO START THE SAVVY SQUADDIE AND HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN GOING?
The first videos and posts went live on The Savvy Squaddie in October 2021 but the idea for it began towards the end of 2020. I was on my re-trade course to become an army photographer between the middle of 2019 and February 2020. During that period, I used my evenings while sitting in the block to go deep into personal finance and the benefits of the military. I’d saved up a lot of money over my five years of service and I wanted to put it to work.
In my research I came to understand that those of us in the armed forces are uniquely positioned to set ourselves up for a comfortable future financially. This realisation, coupled with seeing my peers in debt at the end of the month, while I was able to save, and the lack of understanding of basic personal finance principles and awareness of our benefits prompted me to do something about this gap in knowledge. Instead of complaining, I could use my skills to solve the problem.
WHY DO YOU THINK IT’S NEEDED?
Basic personal finance skills are not taught at school and some parents are unable to teach their children due to not having the skills themselves. Understanding the basics of budgeting, living within your means, debt, saving and investing are all important life skills. With an understanding of the basics, people can then make much more informed financial decisions which will benefit them and their families.
When it comes to armed forces benefits, many of these are not well understood. A lot of people don’t realise how sheltered we are from many of the financial realities on civvy street. For example, our subsidised accommodation is a great benefit, although the standard of some is a different topic.
Our pension is one of the best workplace pensions available. Yes, some will say it’s not as good as the 75 scheme, but that scheme closed 20 years ago – a time when people who are joining the military today were not even born.
According to the Institute of Fiscal Studies and their income distribution calculator, a private who lives in Single Living Accommodation (SLA) and is single with no dependants is better off than 61 per cent of the UK population in terms of disposable income. And that’s on an annual salary of £25,200. It’s unlikely many would be able to walk into a job and have the same level of disposable income on civvy street.
Many soldiers just look at the salary and compare it to similar jobs in civvy street. But they fail to make a fair comparison because they leave out our non-contributory pension and subsidised accommodation. They don’t consider that part of that civvy salary will be sacrificed for their pension and that their accommodation costs will probably be higher. Of course, this is not applicable to all because many people will already have their own home.
WHAT BENEFITS DOES IT BRING?
Over the last three years The Savvy Squaddie has helped thousands of people understand what is possible with their hard-earned money. The primary benefit is increasing the financial literacy of the audience, allowing them to make better informed decisions which will positively impact their future.
The content I create is very accessible. I break down complex topics like pensions and explain them in simple terms so everyone can understand them. I present them in various different ways so people can benefit from a wider perspective.
We are a growing community and I have a large reach. This benefits the audiences because if people have a certain query I am unable to answer, or we are looking for a general consensus etc, we can lean on the audience to provide their thoughts, opinions, ideas and expertise.
The Savvy Squaddie also brings practical tools and insights to the audience which provides them with actionable tips to sort themselves and their families out financially.
ARE THERE ANY CHALLENGES YOU’VE EXPERIENCED ALONG THE WAY?
The main challenge I have faced is time. I alone run the page. I do all the research, write all the scripts, record the audio, edit all the videos, upload them all and answer the questions and comments I get daily.
I do all this in my free time and use public information. It’s important for me not to be a mouthpiece for the MOD. By acting independently, I have more creative freedom, and it also builds trust and authenticity with the audience. But the other side of that coin is that it’s just me doing it and the challenge is balancing this while having a young family, a busy day job and also completing a Diploma in Business Studies. But the mission to improve the financial knowledge of serving personnel and have a positive impact in their lives keeps me going. Having a very supportive wife also helps!
WHAT FEEDBACK HAVE YOU RECEIVED?
Feedback over the last three years has been overwhelmingly positive, from soldiers all the way up to two and three-star generals. I have upset some along the way but they are a very small minority.
A recent video covering the Refund of Legal Expenses (new buyer) prompted a number of people who were unaware of the allowance to put in a claim, and they received the maximum £1,500 when they didn’t even realise it was possible before watching the video.
After my recent debt repayment strategy video, I had a number of messages from people saying they had sat down and made a plan to tackle their debt and get their finances back on track.
All of my pension videos have been well received, and many people have decided to stay at least to their 20/40 Early Departure Payment point in order to benefit from that.
I have sat down with my peers in the office and gone through their pension calculator with them. When they see the thousands of pounds they would lose out on if they don’t stay in for those extra few years, they have all changed their mind and have decided to stay. So, it’s not a great stretch to say that I have positively impacted retention, albeit by a small degree.
Many people have started looking into investing, something very accessible to do these days, in order to build up additional retirement pots for the future. Many have also benefited from my free budget and tracking spreadsheet.
WHERE CAN A&Y READERS FIND THE SAVVY SQUADDIE?
Predominantly I am on Instagram instagram.com/thesavvysquaddie and YouTube youtube.com/@thesavvysquaddie. I also have a small presence on Facebook and X.