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Health & Fitness

Hope to Survive This Period of Economic Uncertainty? Sharpen Your Financial Focus!

National nonprofit CCCS of MD & DE recently helped launch Sharpen Your Financial Focus, a free educational program with online resources, to help Marylanders deal with the unsure economic times in which we live.

As we recover from the recent federal shutdown and continue to experience the effects of sequestration, many Americans are wondering how to ride out the next economic storm.  Consumer Credit Counseling Service of MD and DE (CCCS), a nonprofit agency with more than 45 years experience helping people deal with financial crisis, offers this advice and hope:  Whether you’ve been furloughed or you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck, you can take steps to become more financially secure. To aid in these efforts, CCCS has become a partner in a new national program.  It’s called “Sharpen Your Financial Focus.”  It offers free personal finance tools to help you survive and transcend this season of economic uncertainty.   

Sharpen Your Financial FocusTM is being launched by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) in partnership with major financial service companies and nonprofit organizations like CCCS of MD & DE.  According to CCCS Director of Counseling and Client Management Nina Heck, the primary goals of the program are to help consumers assess and prepare, so they can make wiser money management decisions and gain greater financial stability throughout their lives.  She says, “Our role is to provide clients with the advice and ongoing support they need.  We help them evaluate where they stand financially and set up a roadmap, so they can get where they need to go. We also offer money management resources to help them navigate this journey.”

The Sharpen Your Financial Focus program is composed of three primary elements:  1) assessment, 2) implementation, and 3) ongoing education.

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Assessment 

At the start, clients schedule a free, confidential financial review with CCCS at one of its local offices or by phone.  Heck says that during this review CCCS’s certified financial professionals help clients take a look at their current situation, set up a budget, identify financial goals, and develop a money management strategy for reaching their objectives and ultimately improving their financial outlook. 

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She notes, “We help them pinpoint areas they may need to address to become more financially secure. For example, if they’ve been using credit cards to pay for basic living expenses, we help them find better ways to cover these.  By spending less on nonessentials like eating out or home entertainment, they may have more money left to cover essentials like rent or the mortgage.  They may even be able to afford putting money into an emergency savings so they’re better prepared to handle unexpected bumps in the road like job loss or furlough.”

Consumers can call 1-800-642-2227 to schedule a Sharpen Your Financial Focus financial review.

Implementation

CCCS offers several tools to help clients carry out the strategies they develop during their financial review.  For example MyMoneyCheckUpTM is a free online financial self assessment tool that was designed specifically for use as part of the Sharpen My Financial Focus initiative. It allows consumers to examine their progress in four key areas of personal finance:  Budgeting and credit management, savings and investing, planning for retirement, and home equity.  After clients answer a series of topic-specific questions, they receive a personalized assessment of their overall financial health and personal money management behaviors. The analysis identifies areas of concern and recommends changes consumers can make to become more financially stable. 

Heck notes, “Clients can use this assessment at any time during their program.  They can even use it at the beginning to take a snapshot of their personal finances at the start. They can also contact CCCS at any time throughout the program if they have questions or to obtain additional resources.”  The online MyMoneyCheckUp tool is available in the Resource section on CCCS’s website.  To gain accurate results, Heck recommends consumers have copies of their recent paystubs, a list of their regular household expenses, and any mortgage and creditor statements on hand.

Ongoing Education

Clients are encouraged to continue increasing their financial awareness throughout the Sharpen Your Financial Focus program.  Heck says, “We live in a financially complex world where economic changes like the current Federal shutdown can have a major impact on people’s lives.  The more we know, the better chance we have to weather these unanticipated events.  People who constantly learn about money management are also more likely to gain new skills and successfully prepare for long-term financial goals like educating their children or retirement.”

CCCS provides a series of free educational resources on its website.  Heck says, “These resources provide deep dive’ opportunities. They help clients build their understanding on specific personal finance issues.” The Education section of the agency site includes podcasts and e-Learning courses on a variety of financial and housing topics, such as how to afford college, how to prepare for homeownership, and how to avoid identity theft.  The Resource section offers financial survival tips and several financial calculators.  “By accessing our online calculators, you can see the true cost of credit, figure out how much you need to save for retirement, and much, much more.  Best of all, these resources are available 24/7.  Learners can access them at any time in the convenience of their homes.”

CCCS continues to offer on-site “deep dive” educational workshops for residents in Maryland and Delaware. “Our educators regularly present in-depth workshops at other local nonprofits, universities, governmental agencies, and for-profit companies.  These cover a broad range of topics that help local residents expand their financial knowledge base.”  The agency also takes part in local financial literacy events and informational campaigns, such as Money Power Day and America Saves. In 2012 it attended 201 such events, reaching more than 26,000 participants.  Organizations that wish to partner with CCCS on financial education efforts can contact Executive Vice President Lori Jankalski at 410-747-2050 or ljankalski@cccs-inc.org.

Heck is excited the Sharpen Your Financial Focus initiative is getting underway now, at a time when it is most needed.  “The strategies clients learn through the program would be helpful to anyone at anytime, but they are particularly relevant now as thousands of Americans worry what their financial futures hold.  CCCS is excited to be a part of this unique national grassroots effort and plans to do everything possible to provide the advice, tools, and resources clients need to succeed.” 

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Consumer Credit Counseling Service of MD & DE, Inc. (CCCS) is an accredited 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency that helps stabilize communities by creating hope and promoting economic self-sufficiency to individuals and families through financial education and counseling.  CCCS MD State License #14-01

 

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