Building Blocks for Financial Capability
How do I save money for my goals? How do I make a budget and what does my credit score have to do with anything? It has never been more important to understand your financial situation. Professionals working with people who want to learn about financial capability often hear these questions.
University of Minnesota Extension created “Building Blocks for Financial Capability”, a website featuring free toolkits for professionals that cover a number of topics for learners such as budgeting, credit, debt, savings and investing.
The site was developed as a response to an overwhelming request to provide financial capability programming for community partners. “The strength of the toolkit is that facilitators don’t have to be content experts in order to lead a class. All the information needed is included in the recorded videos and facilitator guides”, says Extension educator Sharon Powell, who led the development of the resources. Each toolkit contains a facilitator guide, instructional videos, participant handouts and instructions for class activities. The toolkits are flexible. They can be used exactly as written or professionals can choose from the resources that their class participants find most useful.
“The financial toolkit videos provide rich content on personal finance in a short, engaging format,” says Shawna Thompson, financial counseling program director at LSS Financial Counseling and coauthor of the credit module. “These are great resources that can be shared with trainers and community members alike.”