Giving Back to the Community: Financial Education

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My girls headed off to school full-time last fall, and while I considered going back to work I ultimately decided that I wanted to be able to pick them up after school and hang out with them a little more. They are growing up so fast, I feel like I need to savor this special time while I can. However after cleaning the house from soup to nuts three times the first week, I decided I needed to find a hobby to fill my child-free hours. I considered a part-time job, but again wanted to maintain flexibility to attend room parties and other events at school. Instead I decided to volunteer my time. After searching through the options available, I didn’t feel like anything in particular suited my skill-set.

I was an accountant by trade before I picked up the mommy gig. I considered volunteering to do the books at Big Brother, Big Sisters or another similar organization. My best friend, ever so wise, presented a different option. She recommended that I volunteer to teach personal finance to the community. I was initially wary of the prospect, I didn’t want to pretend like I could help anyone get rich quick.

However I know that not everyone is given the same personal finance education, and minding simple methods like reading your bank statement and budgeting can make a huge difference when managing a household. I built early seminars around household budgeting, how to manage retirement, when to take social security benefits, and how to pay down debt.

Of course at first the libraries and community centers I offered my class to free of charge were wary of me as well. I think they assumed I wanted to try to sell financial services of some sort to their members. As soon as I made it clear that was not part of the program, I found myself with a regular slot on Tuesdays and Thursdays at a local library branch. My first seminar was not well attended, and at least one person who showed up came to meet with a knitting group not to learn how to execute a budget.

However she stayed and the others who attended served to highlight for me just how confusing the banking process can be for the uninitiated. I must admit navigating some of the questions revealed that banking can be challenging even with a finance and accounting degree. Navigating the schedule of fees can be daunting. I spent much of the first session being a cheerleader encouraging my audience to engage their banks in conversation to cut through the noise and take ownership of their money.

My students left feeling more empowered to at least converse with their banks and lending institutions about rates. I left feeling empowered because I got to use my know how to help people improve their financial lives. I quickly developed future seminars including the positive benefits of 0 interest credit cards, and the pitfalls of not paying them off on time as well as weekend course for teenagers entering college to take some financial savvy with them to their freshman dorm rooms.

If you have a little free time on your hands or a skill or knowledge that can be shared, consider offering your services to the public. Volunteering is one of those life list things that pays back ten fold. There is nothing more gratifying than reaching out to people to help them help themselves!