Your Financial
Readiness Starts
Here.
Not with a budget app. Not with a 15-minute in-processing briefing.
With a battle plan.
From an AFC®-credentialed military financial counselor who has been exactly where you are — and fought his way out. Written for Active Duty, Guard, and Reservists at every pay grade.
The System Failed to Prepare You.
"I've sat across the desk from an E-4 with a $32,000 car loan on a $2,400 monthly paycheck. That's not a financial problem. That's a system that never gave him the tools to make a different decision."
— Todd Maki, AFC® | [TODD: Personalize this opening story with your voice]
Nobody taught you how military pay actually works.
BAH, BAS, COLA, SDP, SCRA — these aren't acronyms. They're money on the table you're walking past every month.
FINRED briefings check a box. They don't change behavior.
One slide deck during in-processing isn't financial education. It's compliance theater. You deserved more.
Predatory lenders know your BAH better than you do.
Every car lot, payday lender, and rent-to-own store near every gate is staffed by people who studied your LES before you did.
The military rewards physical readiness. Financial readiness is on you.
There's no APFT for your bank account. No one flags you when your net worth goes negative. That changes today.
The average service member loses an estimated $72,000 over a 20-year career to preventable financial decisions — car loans, missed TSP matching, payday debt, and PCS moves without a cash reserve. This book exists to stop that bleeding.
[TODD: STAT/SOURCE — Replace with a verified FINRA/NFCS or DoD statistic before launch]
Warrior Personal Finance
This is not a civilian finance book with the word "military" added to the title. It is built from the ground up for the BAH, deployment pay, PCS moves, SCRA, SDP, and transition realities that no civilian author has ever lived.
What's Your Readiness Score?
7 questions. 2 minutes. You'll get a RED / AMBER / GREEN readiness tier — and a specific action plan based on where you actually stand.
Do you know exactly how much BAH you receive and how it's calculated?
Do you have 3–6 months of expenses saved as an emergency fund?
Are you contributing to TSP? If so, at minimum enough to get the full government match?
Do you have any high-interest debt (credit cards, payday loans, car notes above 10% APR)?
Do you track your monthly spending — and does your spending match your plan?
Do you know what the Savings Deposit Program (SDP) is and have you used it on a deployment?
If you received PCS orders tomorrow, are your finances ready for the move?
Todd Maki, AFC®
"The first time I watched a brother-in-arms financially destroy himself, I stood by and said nothing. I was wrong. That moment — and the dozens like it I witnessed over the next two decades — is why this book exists."
[TODD: Replace with your exact voice from the intro chapter]
Todd has supported service members and families across Army installations in the United States and Germany, building a career at the intersection of military service and financial readiness. He came to the AFC® credential the hard way — broke, figuring it out through free resources, one repetition at a time.
Get the Field Manual
Two paths. One mission. Pick the channel that works for you.
Higher margin supports the mission directly. You own the purchase — no Amazon account required.
[Stripe checkout — activate after CPA review]
Prefer Amazon? Reviews and discoverability help the series grow — and help the next service member find it.
Buy on Amazon →[TODD: Add Amazon KDP URL before launch]
Part of the 9-Volume Financial Bootcamp Series. Book 1 is your foundation. Books 2–9 cover the full lifecycle: TSP optimization, transition income strategy, real estate, veteran benefits, and building generational wealth on a military timeline.