Financial counseling is performed by financial counseling professionals, often employees of a nonprofit organization organized to assist clients in financial difficulty on a one-to-one basis. Clients are helped to resolve problems that impact their financial well-being, to make decisions that have financial implications for life now and in the future, to improve their financial management, to handle difficult transitions, and to improve functioning in the consumer market and/or legal systems by handling financial or consumer collections and other dilemmas. Financial counseling utilizes information and skills to assist clients in changing behaviors in resource management, consumption, lifestyle, and communication in order to obtain and maintain increased financial security. (more…)

There seems to be an abundance of activity on the financial literacy front. Vitt et al. (2000) identify 91 programs offered by schools, Cooperative Extension, colleges (including community colleges), the military, faith-based organizations, community groups, employers, and others. The National Endowment for Financial Education lists over 150 educational resources from a wide range of agencies, organizations, and firms in its Economic Independence Clearinghouse database; many of these materials are available in multiple languages. (more…)

You can keep your financial documents in different places—in a home file, in a safe-deposit box, or on a computer. To organize your documents as effectively as possible, you may want to use all three. Each method has advantages and disadvantages, depending on the types of documents being kept.

A home file is one place to keep financial documents. (more…)

In examining your financial condition and setting financial goals, you succeeded in nailing down where you are and where you’re going financially. But it’s important that you conduct these exercises at least annually. Keep the cash in a checking account, and watch it disappear! Wouldn’t it be better to put all the money you’ve saved on that extravaganza toward financing your child’s pay college education? (more…)

The first thing when setting financial goals automatically should be an emergency savings plan fund designed to cover six months’ worth of living expenses. Make sure it’s enough to cover any emergencies—like a job loss, car repair, medical or dental expense, or natural disaster. This way, you won’t have to tap those high-cost credit cards crisis! Plus, if you have any investments, you won’t be forced to cash them out when they’re down in value. (more…)

Have you ever used and worked with a financial advisor to manage and arrange your financial goals? If yes, you know that the first thing that he or she told you is for you to understand the important of financial goals. The second thing is to make financial priorities for your financial level development. But if you are depend on yourself for this without the need of financial advisor, you know that goal settings and executing financial plan are two most important steps in financial planning. (more…)

When family has budget plan, they are heading to right direction of successful family financial planning. Let see for an example The Thompsons family. The Thompsons then list all their monthly expenses. They start by listing their fixed expenses, or those that do not change from month to month. That includes their mortgage, automobile and student loan payments, and insurance premiums. Their budgeted total for fixed payments totals $1,200. Below are some of practical budget techniques that they applied. (more…)

For a complete look at your financial situation, you should create a personal balance sheet and a cash flow statement. These reports are known as personal financial statements. A personal financial statement is a document that provides information about an individual’s current financial position and presents a summary of income and spending. (more…)