II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3837 

To improve financial literacy training for members of the Armed Forces. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 29, 2024 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself and Mr. SCHMITT) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To improve financial literacy training for members of the 

Armed Forces. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Service Members Are 

5 Ready To Save Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘SMART Save Act 

6 of 2024’’. 

7 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO FINANCIAL LITERACY TRAIN8 ING. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 992 of 

10 title 10, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ‘‘grade E– 

2 4’’ and inserting ‘‘grade E–6’’; 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(5) In carrying out the program to provide training 

6 under this subsection, the Secretary concerned shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) use a curriculum across all military de8 partments for such training that— 

9 ‘‘(i) focuses on ensuring that members of 

10 the armed forces who receive such training de11 velop proficiency in financial literacy rather 

12 than focusing on completion of training mod13 ules; 

14 ‘‘(ii) is based on best practices of the Fi15 nancial Literacy Education Commission estab16 lished under section 513 of the Financial Lit17 eracy and Education Improvement Act (20 

18 U.S.C. 9702); and 

19 ‘‘(iii) is designed to address the needs of 

20 members and their families; 

21 ‘‘(B) ensure that such training— 

22 ‘‘(i) is conducted by a financial services 

23 counselor who is qualified as described in para24 graph (3) of subsection (b) or by other means 


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1 as described in paragraph (2)(A)(ii) of that 

2 subsection; 

3 ‘‘(ii) is provided, to the extent practicable 

4 and in a manner that does not harm mission 

5 readiness— 

6 ‘‘(I) in a class held in person with 

7 fewer than 100 attendees; or 

8 ‘‘(II) one-on-one between the member 

9 and a financial services counselor or a 

10 qualified representative described in sub11 section (b)(2)(A)(ii)(III); and 

12 ‘‘(iii) is provided using computer-based 

13 methods only if methods described in clause (ii) 

14 are impractical or unavailable; 

15 ‘‘(C) ensure that— 

16 ‘‘(i) an in-person class described in sub17 paragraph (B)(i)(I) is available to the spouse of 

18 a member; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) if a spouse of a member is unable to 

20 attend such a class in person— 

21 ‘‘(I) training is available to the spouse 

22 through an online program managed by 

23 the Department of Defense; and 

24 ‘‘(II) the member is informed during 

25 the in-person training of the member 


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1 under subparagraph (B)(i) with respect to 

2 how the member’s spouse can access the 

3 training; and 

4 ‘‘(D) ensure that such training, and all docu5 ments and materials provided in relation to such 

6 training, are presented or written in manner that 

7 the Secretary determines can be understood by the 

8 average enlisted member.’’. 

9 (b) PROVISION OF RETIREMENT INFORMATION.— 

10 Such section is further amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 

12 subsections (e) and (g), respectively; and 

13 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol14 lowing new subsection (d): 

15 ‘‘(d) PROVISION OF RETIREMENT INFORMATION.—In 

16 each training under subsection (a) and in each meeting 

17 to provide counseling under subsection (b), a member of 

18 the armed forces shall be provided with— 

19 ‘‘(1) all forms relating to retirement that are 

20 relevant to the member, including with respect to the 

21 Thrift Savings Plan; 

22 ‘‘(2) information with respect to how to find ad23 ditional information; and 

24 ‘‘(3) contact information for counselors pro25 vided through the Personal Financial Counselor proVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Mar 02, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3837.IS S3837

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1 gram, the Personal Financial Management program, 

2 or online programs managed by the Department of 

3 Defense.’’. 

4 (c) REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS OF FINANCIAL

5 SERVICES COUNSELING.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

7 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

8 of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense 

9 committees a report on financial literacy training 

10 and financial services counseling provided under sec11 tion 992 of title 10, United States Code, as amended 

12 by this section, that assesses— 

13 (A) the effectiveness of such training and 

14 counseling, which shall be determined using ac15 tual localized data similar to the Unit Risk In16 ventory Survey of the Army; and 

17 (B) whether additional training or coun18 seling is necessary for enlisted members of the 

19 Armed Forces or for officers. 

20 (2) FOLLOW-ON REPORT.—Not later than 6 

21 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

22 Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense 

23 committees a report on the efforts of the Depart24 ment of Defense to address any concerns raised in 

25 the report required by paragraph (1). 


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1 (3) CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES

2 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘congres3 sional defense committees’’ has the meaning given 

4 that term in section 101 of title 10, United States 

5 Code. 

6 (d) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense may 

7 prescribe such regulations as are necessary to carry out 

8 the amendments made by this section. 

Æ 


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