Utah - April 22, 2020 - With today’s changing times, so many are experiencing heightened financial stress. Before the Coronavirus outbreak, a survey conducted by the National Endowment for Financial Education found that 79% of U.S. adults were stressed about money. Within that group, saving for money stressed out 54% of adults, and managing debt caused stress for 46% of adults. Mountain America has educational resources to help individuals get through this time and beyond, no matter what their financial situation is.

Personal Financial Counseling

In response to the pandemic, the Financial Education team started offering complimentary one-on-one financial counseling sessions to members by phone or virtual meeting. These are one-hour appointments where members can get a personalized coaching with their current situation and receive recommendations for how they can stay on track to achieve their goals.

"There are a lot of people with specific questions or needs," says Robert Steed, financial education manager at Mountain America. "It’s free and focused on financial principles. We can talk about credit repair, debt repayment, general financial planning, basic investing, and anything money matters in-between." During these sessions, Steed says, "I really want to focus on making sure I understand an individual’s goals. We’re looking beyond the moment to how we can help set you up for continued success."

Members interested in a one-on-one session can click here and select "Financial Counseling" to schedule an appointment.

Seminars

Mountain America has always prioritized the importance of serving members and the public with high-quality financial education. Mountain America even has a specific team dedicated to providing free financial education to members and the public. In 2019 alone, Mountain America was able to offer free financial education to over 12,000 attendees between live events at schools, workplace seminars, and special community events at places like the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium and the Mountain America Expo Center. With new social distancing measures in place, the financial education team has continued to provide workshops for audiences by offering live webinars and recorded sessions. These webinars are available by request and cover a variety of topics, including budgeting, credit scores, buying a home, retirement, and more.

Banzai

Mountain America also offers access to Banzai, the program that allows children and families to experience real-world financial education in a fun, safe way. The interactive educational platform includes games, helpful articles, coaching, and other free resources to teach both kids and adults about money. The resources go beyond games and articles. "They even have AI (artificial intelligence) coaches where you can input information, and it will help you through the debt calculation process or through the process of creating a budget," says Steed.

Learning Center

Mountain America also offers a variety of free online educational content in their Learning Center. Choose from blog posts, YouTube videos, podcasts, and more on a wide variety of topics. These resources are available 24/7 and are an excellent tool for anyone looking to learn more about how to manage their money better.