Finra is hoping to increase financial knowledge among military families by reaching out to the spouses of service people.

Finra announced Monday that 50 military spouses throughout the U.S. and overseas have been awarded the Finra Investor Education Foundation's 2015 Military Spouse Fellowship.

The fellowships provide spouses with the training necessary to earn the Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC) designation. The accreditation gives the recipient a marketable skill and provides the designee with the resources to help military families with their financial planning, Finra says.

The Finra Foundation first launched the Military Spouse Fellowship program in 2006 and continues to administer it in partnership with the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE) and the National Military Family Association. The fellowship covers the costs associated with completing the AFC training and testing and has been awarded to 1,360 military spouses.

“For nearly a decade, Finra Foundation military spouse fellows have worked to build the financial capability of tens of thousands of military service members and their spouses, both at home and around the world,” says FINRA Foundation President Gerri Walsh. "Spouse fellows are helping service members and their families avoid financial traps and take charge of their financial futures.”

Recipients of the Finra Foundation Military Spouse Fellowship commit to working in the financial counseling field ,serving their communities for up to two years. Current accredited spouses serve as financial counselors at family readiness and support centers, credit counseling and tax centers, financial aid offices and local military credit unions, Finra says.

“Military spouses truly understand the financial challenges that military life brings,” says Joyce Wessel Raezer, executive director of the National Military Family Association, a nonprofit organization supporting military families. “This program helps military spouses build portable career skills while helping military families.”

The program is open to spouses of active-duty or retired Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Army or Air National Guard or reserve component service members, as well as to spouses of U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration professionals.