Blog

Disasters and emergencies happen often with little or no warning – whether it is a fire in your house or a massive hurricane, the unexpected can take a toll on your financial planning. Being financially prepared helps disaster survivors to bounce back much more quickly from a disaster, yet research...

December 18, 2018

Times of separation are hard on a family and relationships in many ways. One of the most challenging aspects of separation is how to handle the finances – how to budget and continue to make progress toward your financial goals. Service members (SM) experience this challenge on a regular basis...

December 17, 2018

At the 2018 AFCPE Symposium, Lucia Reed, AFC® and her colleague George Reuter received the Outstanding Symposium Practitioners’ Forum Award for “Delivering Financial Counseling to Families with low Incomes through the Federal Government’s Largest Wealth-Building Program for Families with Low Income”. Lucia is a financial coach for Compass Working Capital in...

December 14, 2018

Many financial coaches and advisors report difficulty in working to improve their clients’ consumption patterns for the purpose of increasing their savings rates. One helpful approach in this endeavor is to provide concrete evidence of the future value that a client will receive by improving his or her consumption habits today. Compound growth...

December 10, 2018

At the 2018 AFCPE Symposium, Matt Goren, CFP® and Michael G. Thomas, AFC® received the Outstanding Consumer Financial Information award for their podcast, Nothing Funny About Money. Recipients of this award, nominated by their peers, provide innovative consumer information in the field of financial counseling and planning. Nothing Funny About Money (NFAM) is...

December 07, 2018

When I received the notification that I could attend the 2018 AFCPE Symposium, thanks to a scholarship from FINRA Foundation for military spouse fellows, I had no idea how much of an impact it would have on me.  How do you put into words the feeling of having your purpose...

December 05, 2018

While I typically present about love and money, it could easily be stated as loving money. Guiding couples through the love and money discussion may just end up with a scenario of the couple loving their money story—“loving money.” For individuals, money has reportedly been the top stressor for the past decade...

December 03, 2018

Edna Forero, AFC®, FFC® is the spouse of a Marine Corps veteran and the Military Family Advisory Network (MFAN) financial education manager. Over the past 22 years, Edna has worked in the financial industry to provide relevant and objective financial education and financial services to both the civilian and military communities....

November 30, 2018

When you teach personal finance, how do you know if the lessons are really sinking in? There is an added challenge when you teach adult and nontraditional learners in that you often don’t know participants’ level of financial literacy beforehand and, unless you follow up afterwards, there’s no way of...

November 27, 2018

Earlier this month, we added a new staff member to the AFCPE team, Summer Red, AFC®. Since earning her AFC®designation in 2015, Summer has been an active member of the AFCPE community. She has taught several sessions of the AFC® Webinar Review Course to AFC candidates and served as a member...

November 23, 2018

A good credit history is crucial in today’s economy. Far more than just a number, a good credit score is a prerequisite for every day financial services like a low-cost credit card, a bank account or car loan. A good credit history can make the difference in accessing the affordable...

November 16, 2018

Imagine a work environment where you can share with your colleagues, learn from each other’s experiences, and use that shared knowledge to be a more effective financial professional. A place where your knowledge is valued, a place where employees build each other up, and a place where learning is valued:...

November 13, 2018