PERSONAL FINANCE

 

Too much month left at the end of your money?

There's no doubt, Americans in general could use more education about managing their personal finances. Internet searches provide a myriad of information about how much debt we have, how many overloaded credit cards we have and how much needless interest we pay on an ongoing basis. For instance:

  • The average outstanding credit card debt for U.S. households is over $8,000. 
  • 41 percent of U.S. adults, or more than 92 million people living in America, gave themselves a grade of C, D, or F on their knowledge of personal finance.
  • The average American has 2.7 bank credit cards, 3.8 retail credit cards and 1.1 debit cards, for a total of 7.6 cards per cardholder.
  • On average, Americans spend $1.22 for every dollar they earn.
  • The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that our personal savings rate was just 0.5% in 2007, compared with 9% 25 years ago.

Here are eight signs that you might be headed for financial disaster: (click link to read the entire article.)

  1. You're surprised by your bank balance or credit card statements.
  2. You have no savings.
  3. You're carrying credit card debt.
  4. You have no discretionary income.
  5. You don't know what kind of mortgage you have or when the payment resets.
  6. You're underinsured.
  7. Your business (or rental property) is losing money.
  8. You're ignoring an elephant.

In an effort to help individuals take control of their finances, the Foundation advocates personal finance courses, such as Freed Up Financial Living .

Freed-Up Financial Living is a six-week financial budgeting course, biblically based and proven to change hearts and lives in the area of finance.

Offer the Freed-Up Financial Living program in your church!
Our staff can lead the workshop and assist in obtaining the participant's workbooks. We also provide a communications calendar and materials to help you promote the program.  When planning, allow a minimum of six weeks of promotion to obtain the optimum results. There is no charge for leading the course, and the workbooks are approximately $10 each.  

Contact us to get started!