When Juan Andrade took over as CEO of USAA, the veteran insurance industry executive said one of his key priorities was to strengthen the company’s efforts to support the financial stability of military families.
USAA has a clear focus on serving military members, veterans, and their eligible families through insurance, banking, and retirement products, and has positioned itself as the voice of these organizations since its founding in 1922.
But Andrade said he feels it is the association’s collective obligation to “leverage our voice and brand for the benefit of the military community,” especially when it comes to efforts to help military families thrive, and he feels there is an opportunity to take that a step further.
“You can buy auto insurance anywhere and open a bank account anywhere, but these 14 million members come to us because we share values, because we know what they’re going through, and because we care about them,” he said.
Each year, Veterans Day provides an opportunity to celebrate, support, and advocate for veterans and their families. Andrade said USAA wants to build on this so that they feel supported year-round and are able to succeed in all aspects of their lives, including personally, professionally and financially.
This led USAA to develop a new initiative called “Honor Through Action.” The initiative is a $500 million effort over the next five years focused on helping military families find meaningful careers, financial security, and happiness through a variety of partnerships across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.
These three areas are what Andrade said are critical to a successful transition for veterans.
“One of the things that happens when you leave the military is you lose your tribe,” Andrade said. “I understand that. This is to help them find a new tribe.”
Approximately 250,000 active-duty military members transition into veteran status each year in the United States, but so far “their track record of employment success is very mixed,” Andrade said.
According to the Department of Defense, fewer than one in five transitioning service members feel adequately prepared to secure civilian employment, and once hired, the average length of service is less than one year. Moreover, the unemployment rate for military spouses remains four times that of the average civilian, according to Blue Star Families, which publishes an annual study on the challenges facing military families.
All of this leads to additional financial pressures, Andrade said, adding to the mental and physical health issues many veterans face upon leaving the military. He added that it is important to build a meaningful career in the process of “helping them find their place and helping them find a new identity through a successful transition to the private sector.”
“It starts to create a sense of belonging, which I think is really important from a mental health perspective, and it also has a lot to do with the economic side,” he says. “If you don’t feel like you belong anywhere and you’re not in a good financial situation, you’re going to have incredible stress. We want to focus on solving some of those problems before they become serious.”
Andrade said one of the main focuses of this new initiative is to further build a pipeline of companies looking to hire veterans and to support veterans and military spouses through career navigation, employer engagement, skills development and community support.
“Companies sometimes ignore that label because they don’t realize how[veteran skills]translate to their companies,” he said. “This workforce group is incredibly talented and already well-educated, bringing a level of discipline and leadership that will make an impact in the workplace,” he said.
