{"id":5127,"date":"2016-02-24T11:19:05","date_gmt":"2016-02-24T16:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afcpe.org\/?p=5127"},"modified":"2019-04-23T15:44:24","modified_gmt":"2019-04-23T19:44:24","slug":"taking-the-first-step-to-savings-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.afcpe.org\/news-and-publications\/blog\/taking-the-first-step-to-savings-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking the First Step to Savings Success"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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In May 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) launched its\u00a0Financial Coaching Initiative<\/a>, targeting recently-transitioned veterans and economically vulnerable consumers to help them with their financial goals. The program places 60 certified financial coaches at organizations around the country to provide individualized educational services.<\/p>

A client shares her story about working with CFPB financial coach, Donna O\u2019Connor, AFC\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0candidate.<\/p>

I began working with a financial coach in the summer of 2015. As a 26-year-old working professional I had very little understanding of the options available to me financially. I had been paying my bills and living month to month since graduating University with my Bachelors. In 2014 I took a new job and moved to Seattle, but in order to do this I maxed out my highest limit credit card to pay for moving expenses. I had tried to save for the move during the previous year but was unable to as I was making a low wage and my income went almost exclusively to bills. By the summer of 2015, when I started working with a financial coach, I was at the point where I felt that I was falling apart financially. I had more credit card debt than I could handle. I had missed payments that year due to not having the money to pay them, causing the minimum payments to increase to over $300. I had hit the point where I was panicking and had no idea what to do about it.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>

I was surprised to find how much easier it was to accomplish my goals when they were based on my personal wants and needs.<\/p>

I was terrified for my first meeting with a financial coach as I felt embarrassed and vulnerable. Within the first 5 minutes of the meeting the fear was gone and I felt confident that I had made the right choice asking for help. I expected to be told what I should do to fix my financial problems but this was not the approach of the financial coaching program. Instead my coach asked questions that enabled me to come up with a financial plan on my own that fit my wants and needs. I was unsure if I\u2019d be able to implement my financial plan in real life. I was surprised to find how much easier it was to accomplish my goals when they were based on my personal wants and needs. It has now been 8 months since I started working with my financial coach and I am impressed with myself at how much I have been able to accomplish. I have paid off all my collection debt and have been able to get all my credit cards back into good standing. My credit score has improved immensely and I feel confident that I have the skills to keep my finances stable. I have started a 401k and am excited to continue growing in my knowledge and financial abilities.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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February 24, 2016<\/span><\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In May 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) launched its\u00a0Financial Coaching Initiative, targeting recently-transitioned veterans and economically vulnerable consumers to help them with their financial goals. The program places 60 certified financial coaches at organizations around the country to provide individualized educational services. A client shares her story about working with CFPB financial coach, Donna O\u2019Connor, AFC\u00ae\u00a0candidate. I began […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42,24,1,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-budget","category-financial-education","category-uncategorized","category-saving"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTaking the First Step to Savings Success - AFCPE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.afcpe.org\/news-and-publications\/blog\/taking-the-first-step-to-savings-success\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taking the First Step to Savings Success - AFCPE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In May 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) launched its\u00a0Financial Coaching Initiative, targeting recently-transitioned veterans and economically vulnerable consumers to help them with their financial goals. 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