Dear Valued Member,
As we head into August we face many uncertainties this year, including managing the back-to-school transition while keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe. As we consider the physical health of our families it’s important that we think about our financial health as well. The pandemic has created numerous economic challenges impacting personal finances. As your financial partner, we want to help you and empower you to be as financially healthy as possible.
Financial experts evaluate financial health in four key areas – spending, saving, borrowing and planning. Financially healthy individuals and families spend less than their income and pay their bills on time. They have sufficient liquid savings and long-term savings. They manage their debt and maintain prime credit scores. And finally, they carry sufficient insurance coverage and have formulated a financial plan for their future.
Recently Community First launched an improved and expanded moveUP financial wellness program for you. This completely free, award-winning program helps you navigate the most important areas of financial health. The enhanced moveUP website features updated and expanded content including 52 quick, self-guided modules and 12 financial calculators to help you tackle everything from saving for higher education or retirement to creating a monthly budget.
We’ve also launched a new Financial Health Check quiz that provides an instant financial health score that measures confidence in the four key money management areas described above – spending, borrowing, planning, and saving. This financial health score will help you identify the areas, if any, where you have room for improvement. Once you have identified the areas you would like to work on, make an appointment at any of our branch locations to see how we can help.
We hope you’ll access the new moveUP website and engage in one of the many ways we can help you. So far, over 18,000 of you have taken at least one moveUP module to take control of your financial health. We think now more than ever, these tools empower you to make the best financial decisions.
Have a safe and wonderful remaining part of your summer, and I wish you all the best for a productive and rewarding second half of the year. ■