Reach Your New Year Family Financial Goals
BY CHRISTINE ROBERE, PRESIDENT AND CEO, UNITED WAY OF THE LAKESHORE
It’s a new year, which means new financial goals. According to CNBC, nearly half (49%) of Americans want to save more money, and another third (33%) want to either improve their credit score or create a personal budget.
For many, January is a clean slate that allows individuals to recenter and refocus on their goals. If you are with the half of Americans who are focusing on improving their financial savings this year, consider using United Way to help you along the way!
One of United Way of the Lakeshore’s impact goals is to strengthen economic mobility in Muskegon, Newaygo, and Oceana counties. By increasing job readiness, creating financial products to help individuals manage their income, and providing financial support services to provide expertise on financial planning, United Way can help families reach their financial goals. This article will explore a handful of the resources you can use as part of your new year resolutions.
New Directions – Love INC
Love INC’s program equips participants through certified and non-certified classes hosted at eight sites in Muskegon County. Classes include financial literacy, parenting, nutrition, cooking, fitness, spiritual, and support groups. The program includes mentoring, and meets the individual at the point of their need and within their own unique context. Financial assistance is offered to help ALICE families overcome financial obstacles keeping them from achieving their goals.
Visit LoveIncofMuskegon.com/new-directions/ to learn more and enroll!
Homeownership Program – Lakeshore Regional Community Development Corporation
The Lakeshore Regional Community Development Corporation is dedicated to assisting residents of lower income to gain and retain wealth through home-ownership. This program helps develop courses and plans with clients to increase their credit scores to be able to apply for a mortgage. It also helps with aftercare of purchasing a home to support individuals and families who need additional assistance.
Contact them today at (231) 769-9305
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance – Goodwill Industries of West MI
Goodwill's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program offers free tax preparation services to low-income households in Muskegon, Newaygo, and Oceana counties. The objective is to increase household income for struggling families in Muskegon County by connecting them to all eligible tax credits for free.
Need to schedule a tax appointment? Call 211 today!
MySmartMoney
MySmartMoney is a product of United Way and the SunTrust Foundation. This tool is designed to help guide, advise, and lead people along their road to financial security and wellness. The program is divided into two sections “Immediate Financial Needs” and “Planning Secure Futures”. You can access any of the below resources by visiting UnitedWay.org/my-smart-money
Immediate Financial Needs. The Immediate Financial Needs section is centered around taking back financial control. Managing your money can be confusing and overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. This section is full of tips, processes, and agencies that can help you get back on track.
Emergency Experience. When emergencies happen, life can be stressful and decisions have to be made quickly. MySmartMoney has worksheets, expert advise on next steps, and resources for four main financial emergencies.
Emergency Expenses: Unplanned expenses, from a broken water heater, leaking roof, or dead car battery, can ruin your monthly budget.
Workshops:
• Finding ways to pay for emergencies
• Unexpected expenses
• Financially prepared for emergencies
• Affording life events
• Planning for big purchases
Identity Theft: Identity theft is a growing problem, with impacts that range from a minor inconvenience to a major financial burden. This section will help you recover from identity theft.
Workshops:
• Setting up fraud alerts and credit freezes
• How to spot identity theft and action steps afterwards
• Dealing with charges that are not yours
• Protecting yourself from theft and financial fraud
• Getting help if you’ve been conned, scammed, or defrauded
Natural Disasters: While the health and safety of family and friends are most important, you will need to assess and address the financial issues caused by natural disasters.
Workshops:
• What to do after a disaster
• Watching out for scams after disasters
• Planning for disasters
• Making insurance claims following a disaster
A Family Member Has Died: Few people consider the financial costs that result when a loved one dies. Often, those left behind are responsible for funeral and burial costs, which can be significant.
Workshops:
• Immediate steps to take when a loved one dies
• When there is not a will
• Dealing with final expenses
• Managing financial issues when a primary income earner dies
• What is a beneficiary designation?
Struggling to Pay Bills. An immediate need does not need to have an emergency behind it. When a person is struggling to pay their bills choices need to be made on what can and cannot be paid. The consequence often are a result of “no-win” situations that can cause emergencies and immediate need. For Struggling to Pay Bills, MySmartMoney has workshops for the following.
Affordable Stable Housing: Housing is generally people’s largest expense.
Workshops:
ª Coming up short on monthly rent
• Emergency housing resources
• Transitional or short-term housing
• What to do when you can’t pay mortgage
• Understanding rights as a renter.
Affordable Healthcare: Without health insurance, even basic doctor’s visits and prescription drugs can be prohibitively expensive.
Workshops:
• Affordable health insurance options
• Paying medical bills at a reduced cost
• Health insurance for children
• Paying for healthcare without insurance
• Managing medical bills
Can’t Pay Bills: Struggling to pay your bills every month is stressful. If you are in this situation, you are not alone.
Workshops:
• Get help paying your bills
• Using community resources to stretch money further
• Ways to increase income
• How to deal with collection agencies
• Prioritizing monthly expenses
• How to cut monthly expenses
Feeling Financially Unstable. Although it may not seem like an “immediate need” to others, just the feeling of feeling financially unstable can shift and discourage individuals to setting goals and plans for healthier financial futures. Often times it can feel like there is no way out or where to even start. MySmartMoney has workshops for the following.
Managing Income Workshops:
• How to read your paycheck
• Managing unemployment income
• Using workplace benefits
• Dealing with wage garnishment
• Managing inconsistent and seasonal income
• Using direct deposit systems
Affordable Financial Products: Financial products, like checking and saving accounts, help you manage your money more effectively, but they can come with fees and other costs that aren’t always clear.
Workshops:
• Opening bank accounts
• Obstacles that come with opening accounts
• The basics of borrowing money
• Avoiding fees charged by banks and credit unions
• Understanding alternative financial service providers
Saving for Beginners: Saving is an important piece in financial well-being. Building savings can help you deal with emergencies as well as achieve your financial goals.
Workshops:
• How to start saving
• Setting up an emergency fund
• Staying motivated to save
• Tips for saving
• Where to put your savings
Debt Maintenance: Often the first step to feeling more in control of your finances is to get a handle on your debt.
Workshops:
• Dealing with debt collectors
• What to do when you receive a notice to sue
• Five steps to getting rid of debt
• Options for dealing with debt you cannot afford
• Dealing with debt
• Avoiding account garnishment
• How to figure out how much you owe
• How much debt is too much debt
• The truth about co-signing a loan
Needing more income: If you don’t earn enough to pay your monthly expenses, this section will provide strategies for increasing your income.
Workshops:
• Getting community resources
• Exploring job training
• Making the On-Demand economy work for your
• Applying for public benefits
• Tax credits
Improving Credit Scores: Your credit history impacts your finances, but it may also impact your ability to get a job, an apartment, and/or insurance.
Workshops:
• Getting and reading credit reports
• Understanding credit scores and how they are used
• Understanding Specialty Consumer Reports
• Building a credit report
• Improving credit
• Disputing errors on credit reports
• The costs of poor credit
• Building a non-traditional credit report
• How to maintain your credit
Financial Planning – Planning for the Future
As you see above, there are a plethora of resources available for those who are in financial crisis. However, just because you are not in financial crisis does not mean that you have a strong financial plan or meeting your goals that you have set. MySmartMoney still has sources for you! There are lots of options for you to explore on how to prepare yourself for different stages in your life!
Living On Your Own. Every journey begins with a single step. But where do you want to go? Envision a day when you are at your best – what are you doing? Where are you? Who are you with? Look for the broad themes as well as the details of what this day looks like. This vision should excite and motivate you. It should give you the materials to make your goals a reality. MySmartMoney helps you explore finding places to live, buying a car, supplementing income, how to pay off student debt, starting your retirement goals, and setting up realistic long-term financial goals.
Starting and Providing for a Family. Developing a household budget isn’t just about dollars and cents; it’s also a reflection of your values and goals. Talking about money with your spouse or partner might be more difficult than talking about many other topics because how you relate to money is a reflection of your background and life experiences. Few people were taught about money at home or in school and therefore feel insecure about how to manage their financial lives. All of those factors create a situation that’s ripe for misunderstandings and arguments. So, how do you develop a budget that both works for the present day and supports your future financial goals? In the “Starting A Family” section of MySmartMoney, you can find resources and workshops about moving in together, the costs of raising a child, getting health insurance for your partner, building credit together, managing the costs of weddings, and developing household budgets.
Once you have figured out the basics, then comes the even harder part. Providing for a family on the household budgets that you set. Some extra tips MySmartMoney has to offer for families is emergency planning, saving for college, and how to care for aging parents.
United Way of the Lakeshore is uniting to inspire change and build thriving communities. Our Bold Goal – 10,000 more working families meet their basic needs by 2025. For more information, contact United Way of the Lakeshore at (231) 722-3134. Learn more about United Way of the Lakeshore at UnitedWayLakeshore.org, like the organization on Facebook and receive up to date information from Twitter at twitter.com/uwlakeshore.
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