Are finances adding extra stress to your life as you begin reentry? Are you having trouble paying the bills, making enough money for the things you’d like to buy or even figuring out how to open a bank account?
Financial stress can affect your life in a number of ways. These vary from anxiety and frustration to being unable to deal with money and financial matters. And you’re not alone. Most people worry about their financial situation.
The good news is that there are free financial wellness resources that can help you learn how to manage money, reduce stress and plan for the future. Some banks and nonprofits also offer financial wellness programs through employers to help workers build healthier financial habits.
Financial wellness resources can help people move ahead
Here are a few financial wellness resources you may want to look into:
Khan Academy – The Khan Academy is offering an excellent free in-depth financial literacy course with 16 units that cover a variety of subjects. These include how to create a budget and save money, choose a credit card, establish financial goals, open a bank account and understand taxes. Quizzes along the way ensure that participants understand the material.
US Bank – US Bank has created Financial IQ, its online resource for helping people to gain financial knowledge with articles on a variety of subjects. The home page asks “What goals would you like to accomplish?” And depending on what you choose, you can learn how to establish a budget, spend money mindfully and handle unexpected expenses. It will also help you figure out what questions to ask about personal loans and countless other matters relating to financial wellness. It’s not organized like the Khan course, but you can pick and choose from scores of articles. And it’s free.
Intuit – Intuit, the business software company that includes QuickBooks, Credit Karma, Mailchimp and TurboTax, offers the Intuit for Education program. Its 13-unit Self-Paced Personal Finance course includes lessons that focus on money mindsets, banking, building and managing a budget, saving money, and using credit cards, among other subjects. The course is free, but it requires registration.
Banks that offer financial wellness programs to companies
And if you’re an employer and would like to help your workers establish better financial habits, here are a few examples of programs to check out:
First Financial Bank – With branches throughout Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, First Financial Bank through its f1RST WORKlife offers free and customized financial wellness classes for the employees of companies that request them. It also provides a banker on site, who goes to a business to help employees with their banking needs, which it says is especially useful for those working the night shift and can’t handle their banking needs during normal business hours.
Operation Hope – Financial nonprofit Operation Hope’s Hope Inside the Workplace works with Wells Fargo, Bank of America, U.S. Bank and other financial institutions to offer free financial counseling and coaching to their clients. If you have an account at one of these banks ask whether it participates.
Patelco Credit Union – This greater San Francisco Bay Area credit union offers a financial wellness program that Bay Area employers with more than 50 employees can offer as a benefit. Participating companies and organizations are assigned a dedicated Wellness Program consultant, who is a certified financial coach. They can do one-one-one sessions with employees to discover what financial situations they’re dealing with and provide solutions. The coaches will help employees create a budget, save money, reduce their debt and build their credit. And each of the company’s employees will receive a free checking account with a $100 bonus.
If you can’t connect with any of these programs and would like to offer financial wellness as a benefit, you may want to consider contacting your local bank or credit union to see if it can set up something similar to the programs described above.
Taking small steps to improve your financial knowledge can make a big difference over time.
