By: Denise Keiser, AFC®, Vice President of Empowerment
Part of the Thought Leader Series.
In the world of financial wellness, we often cite three to six months of living expenses as the benchmark for…
By: The BALANCE Marketing Team
In July, 2024, BALANCE’s Financial Educator, LauRae Upchurch, delivered an insightful and highly engaging webinar, ‘Planning for Money Milestones,’ as part of our monthly webinar series available to all our partners. The session, held on Tuesday, July 9th, was a resounding success, attracting…
By: The BALANCE Marketing Team
Grants available for credit unions of ANY size to establish programs supporting foster youth with basic financial education. Read to learn more about how to apply for a grant to support foster youth…
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
When helping a member with their budget, how much time are you spending discussing their income? I think many times we, as financial coaches, ask them for their take-home pay for use as the starting place in the monthly budget and then we move on to the expenses. Most counselors are quite…
By: Kelly Fiddner, Contributor,
Money may not buy you happiness, but studies show that your relationship with it impacts your health. Did you know money is tied to our basic, hard-wired drive to survive? When that drive can’t be attained, it compounds into stress. Maybe it’s why the age-old saying, “health is wealth,” is more than just a cliché. In the last 30 years…
By: Denise Keiser AFC®, Counseling Programs Manager
“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people that they don’t like,” — Will Rogers. In the spirit of garnering helpful advice from one of the wittiest performers in history, let’s review how money and debt shape today’s credit scores.
By: Shellye Carpenter, CCUFC, Director of Partner Relations
While we originally developed this content for veterans as a consumer-facing article, and will share it as such, it’s also extremely valuable information for you to use as a training tool or resource for your staff who work closely with veterans in…
By: Shellye Carpenter, CCUFC, Director of Partner Relations
As we all navigate through the “Great Resignation” and the changes taking place in the workforce, one thing employers should keep in mind is: for all the talk about rising wages and workers being able to “name their price,” many workers are still struggling financially. This leads to…
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
If you are wondering what your members may need right now, I would suggest they need understanding and creative solutions. Recently, I have had conversations with two people who called BALANCE wanting financial counseling. They both had a gap that needed…
By: Denise Keiser, Counseling Program Manager
…Seeking the advice of a Financial Counselor isn’t just for those who’ve experienced a financial blunder in the past. For clients looking to accomplish financial goals, counseling can be a supplement to what they already know. There is no shortage of financial goals these days. But, the challenge with…
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
We all have messages about money that we have internalized over the years. These messages have shaped our money personality. Shame is the feeling of humiliation over a perceived wrong action or foolish behavior. Shame causes a feeling of…
By: Daisha Badgett, Financial Empowerment Manager
When I think about the CUFinHealth21 Conference, the first thing that comes to mind is… Mind Blown! I am the new Financial Empowerment Manager at BALANCE, and attending this conference early in my tenure was perfect. Last week, my first lesson was to …
By: Tina Herndon, Financial Education and Training Manager
It is easy for clients to lose their ability to dream for a better future when they are in survival mode. The pressures of living on the brink of financial disaster can cause clients to make decisions that take them farther away from accomplishing their goals. However, motivating a client to dream is…
By: Denise Keiser AFC®, Counseling Programs Manager
People seek financial counseling because they want things to be different in their financial lives. They are looking for change like relief from surmounting debt, less financial stress, or they have important financial goals to reach like buying a home or saving for retirement. Regardless of the individual’s reason, the counseling process is the same. The process starts with…
By: Lindsey Deinhardt, Director of Organizational Development
Over decades, we have integrated social media into our lives: it is how we connect with people and organizations. Consequently, companies have taken advantage of this and turned what used to be a networking tool into an easy way to advertise. The average American will spend more than…
By: Jen Martin, Director of Partner Relations
In the first article in this series, we discussed how searching for the perfect financial fitness partner is like dating. Then in part two, we reviewed that every great partnership requires commitment (similar to a marriage), goal alignment, and working together. In part three, we will talk about how relationships change or adapt over time…
By: Lindsey Deinhardt, Director of Organizational Development
If you are curious about the life of a working mom during a pandemic—here it is… Remote learning. Working from home. Snacking. Managing simultaneous virtual meetings. Monitoring screen time. Multitasking. Snacking. Sharing funny stories on…
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
February is Black History month and the best way credit unions can celebrate is by designing their business models to help create economic equality. The first step is admitting we have a problem. The Joint Economic Committee released a report called…
By: Denise Keiser AFC®, Counseling Programs Manager
But, let’s be honest. Saving money isn’t something that comes easily to many of us, including the people we serve. We know it’s important, but so often, it seems like an overwhelming task. Instead of…
By: Denise Keiser AFC®, Counseling Programs Manager
Getting out of debt for many people is like losing weight. As easy as it was to rack-up, just like those few extra pounds, it now seems overwhelming to clear up. Most don’t know where to begin. If they do, they may lack the motivation to start. Turning to a…
By: Meaghan Hiller, AFC®, Director of Financial Education
I was not always an expert in personal financial management. Years ago, like many other 18-year-olds, I stumbled into the credit card trap and fell…hard. I was finishing up my freshman year in college when I maxed out my first credit card, which was soon…
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
There is a parable used in the healthcare industry that has changed the way I think about serving people. I would like to share this parable, which I heard told by Dr. Rishi Manchanda, the founder of HealthBegins, in a TedTalk called, “What is an Upstreamist in…
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
In the healthcare field there is a concept called, “patient centered medical home” (PCMH). It is a model that puts patients at the forefront of their own care. Patient centeredness refers to healthcare that establishes a partnership among practitioners, patients, and…
By: Cynthia Campbell, MBA, MEd, CUDE, Chief Operating Officer
When I first heard of the Financial Health model created by the non-profit, Financial Health Network (formerly CFSI), I was thrilled. This framework offers four main pillars of financial health and under each pillar, there are two indicators. It is beautifully simple. They offer…