Finance
Camp Zama finance expert offers free advice to boost net worth of Soldiers
Han Xue, a certified financial planner, teaches a class on the Thrift Savings Plan at Camp Zama, Japan, Feb. 11, 2025. Xue, a former Soldier, holds a monthly financial education training class on various topics for members of the Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program inside the Community Recreation Center.
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CAMP ZAMA, Japan – While serving in the Army, Han Xue had worked in the public health field. But his curiosity and doubt over his financial future steered him in another direction.
Xue decided to use the Army’s tuition assistance to enroll in courses that led him to obtain a bachelor’s degree in finance. He then earned his master’s degree on the same subject following his military career.
“I didn’t have that peace of mind when it came to money, and I wanted to learn more things about money management,” he said. “And I just fell in love with it, and I started helping others.”
As a Soldier, Xue’s leadership and battle buddies noticed his fiscal aptitude grow, and it didn’t take long for him to become the unit’s finance guru, as they often sought his advice.
Now, he helps guide the financial journeys of service members and their families as a certified financial planner at Camp Zama.
“I was once in their shoes,” he said. “I want to empower them. Knowledge is power, and I want to help them understand how money works, how to save money, and how not to live paycheck to paycheck.”
Last spring, Xue began to teach monthly financial education classes to strengthen the personal finance skills of members in the Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program. Topics have included how to create a budget, investing, the Thrift Savings Plan, cryptocurrency, how to use a Veterans Affairs home loan, tax planning, and credit management.
Xue, who has years of experience in the wealth management industry as a financial advisor, recognized that finance is not a subject typically taught in high school, and for many people, they either need to study it in college or comb through online resources to educate themselves.
“I feel like it’s a big missing piece in a puzzle,” he said. “How can you be mission-ready without having your money ready? That’s why I’m doing this.”
Sgt. Minh Le, the 88th Military Police Detachment’s S-1 noncommissioned officer in charge, attends a class on the Thrift Savings Plan at Camp Zama, Japan, Feb. 11, 2025. Han Xue, a certified financial planner, holds a monthly financial education training class on various topics for members of the Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program inside the Community Recreation Center.
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Han Xue, a certified financial planner, teaches a class on the Thrift Savings Plan at Camp Zama, Japan, Feb. 11, 2025. Xue, a former Soldier, holds a monthly financial education training class on various topics for members of the Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program inside the Community Recreation Center.
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On Tuesday, Xue taught his latest one-hour class, which was on the TSP, inside the Community Recreation Center here.
Sgt. Minh Le, the 88th Military Police Detachment’s S-1 noncommissioned officer in charge, attended the training session to gain a better understanding of his future retirement.
“I have been putting money into TSP,” Le said, “but I haven’t seen what else I can do with it.”
Xue briefly explained the TSP funds beneficiaries can invest in, such as the C fund, which tracks the S&P 500, or the G fund, which invests in U.S. treasury securities, as well as lifecycle funds that tailor investments to one’s projected retirement date.
Using rough estimates of someone contributing monthly for 30 years to the TSP with only a small percentage of their pay, Xue showed they could have well over $1.5 million by the time they reach 60 years old.
“I didn’t know it would jump by that much, but it looks pretty nice,” Le said of the potential of his investments. “It’s something to look forward to when you retire.”
And with tax season underway, Xue said he plans to teach Soldiers how to file their tax returns in his next classes scheduled for March 4 and April 8 at 2 p.m. inside the center.
Xue said financial readiness plays a big role in the Army’s ability to complete its missions, like how Soldiers conduct physical training to be combat-ready.
“It’s a skill set,” he said. “If you don’t learn that skill set, you will have no idea how [you are] supposed to save money or where the money that [you] saved is going for the future.”
By setting financial goals, Xue said Soldiers can witness their money compound over the years through various investment options such as the stock market or a high-yield savings account.
“That can help them be ready financially even if they stay in [the Army] for 20 years or get out to find a new opportunity in the civilian world,” he said. “Having that skill set is essential to living a comfortable life and for that peace of mind too.”
For more information on the financial classes, call DSN 263-5316 or 046-407-5316, or 080-4456-8899 to schedule an appointment with Xue for one-on-one counseling sessions or unit-level training.
Related links:
U.S. Army Garrison Japan news
USAG Japan official website
Banks have had a stellar first quarter. The major U.S. banks raked in nearly $50 billion in profits in the first three months of the year, The Guardian reported.
That was largely due to Wall Street bank traders, who profited from a volatile stock exchange, Reuters showed.
But even without the extra bump from stock trading, banks are doing well when it comes to interest, the same Reuters article found. And some banks could stand to benefit even more from this one potential rule change.
Morgan Stanley thinks it could have a major impact on Citi in particular.
Upcoming changes for banks
To understand why Morgan Stanley thinks things are going to change at Citi, you need to understand some recent bank rule changes.
Banks make money by lending out money, which usually comes from depositors. But people need access to their money and the right to withdraw whenever they want.
So, banks keep a percentage of all money deposited to make sure they can cover what the average person needs.
But what happens if there is a major demand for withdrawals, as we saw during the financial crisis of 2008?
That’s where capital requirements come in. After the financial crisis, major banks like Citi were required by law to hold a higher percentage of money in order to avoid major bank failures.
For years, banks had to put aside billions of dollars. Money that couldn’t be lent out or even returned to shareholders.
Now, that’s all about to change.
Capital change requirements for major banks
Banks that are considered globally systemically important banking organizations (G-SIBs) have a higher capital buffer than community banks as they usually engage in banking activity that is far more complicated than your average market loan.
The list depends on the size of the bank and its underlying activity, according to the Federal Reserve.
Current global systemically important banks
A proposal from U.S. federal banking regulators could drastically reduce the amount that these large banks have to hold in reserve.
Changes would result in the largest U.S. banks holding an average 4.8% less. While that might seem like a small percentage number, for banks of this size, it equates to billions of dollars, according to a Federal Reserve memo.
The proposed changes were a long time coming, Robert Sarama, a financial services leader at PwC, told TheStreet.
“It’s a bit of a recognition that perhaps the pendulum swung a little too far in the higher capital requirement following the financial crisis, making it harder for banks to participate in some markets,” he said.
Natasha Luscri and Luke Miller consider themselves among the lucky ones. The couple recently bought their first home in the northwest suburbs of Melbourne.
It wasn’t something they necessarily expected to be able to do, but some good fortune with an investment in silver bullion and making use of government schemes meant “the stars aligned” to get into the market. Luke used the federal government’s super saver scheme to help build a deposit, and the couple then jumped on the 5 per cent deposit scheme, which they say made all the difference.
“We only started looking because of the government deposit scheme. Basically, we didn’t really think it was possible that we could buy something,” Natasha told Yahoo Finance.
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Last month they settled on their two bedroom unit, which the pair were able to purchase in an off-market sale – something that is becoming increasingly common in the market at the moment.
Rather perfectly, they got it for about $20-30,000 below market rate, Natasha estimated, which meant they were under the $600,000 limit to avoid paying stamp duty under Victoria’s suite of support measures for first home buyers.
“They wanted to sell it quickly. They had no other offers. So we got it for less than what it would have gone for if it had been on market,” Natasha said.
“We didn’t have a lot of cash sitting in an account … I think we just got lucky and made some smart investment decisions which helped.”
It’s a far cry from when the couple couldn’t find a home due to the rental crisis when they were previously living in Adelaide and had to turn to sub-standard options.
“We’ve managed to go from living in a caravan because we were living in Adelaide and we couldn’t find a rental with our dogs … So we’ve gone from living in a caravan, being kind of tertiary homeless essentially because we couldn’t get a rental, to now having been able to purchase our first home,” Natasha explained.
Rate rises beginning to bite for new homeowners
Natasha, 34, and Luke, 45, are among more than 300,000 Australians who have used the 5 per cent deposit scheme to get into the housing market with a much smaller than usual deposit, according to data from Housing Australia at the end of March. However that’s dating back to 2020 when the program first launched, before it was rebranded and significantly expanded in October last year to scrap income or placement caps, along with allowing for higher property price caps.
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