Financial Literacy, Coaching and Counseling

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Your Money, Your Goals [1]

• This resource is available in print in your branch of the Washington State Library. Please access the print resource and request photocopies of the pages you need.
• The toolkit gives you the resources you need to help people set goals, choose financial products, and build skills in managing money, credit, and debt. It is designed so you can pick the tool or tools that meet the needs of each person you’re working with.
• Focus on Reentry Companion Guide [2]
  • This guide is focused on the needs of justice-involved individuals. Used in combination with the Your Money, Your Goals toolkit, the guide helps frontline staff work with people to: Identify financial challenges to successful transition, Obtain documents related to identification to help ease the transition process, Identify and prioritize debt, including criminal justice debt, Understand individual rights to obtain and review background screening reports during the employment application process.
• Focus on Native Communities [3]
  • This guide provides organizations with information that meaningfully connects Your Money, Your Goals to the financial lives of Native community members. The companion guide includes: Tools and information that cover topics such as making the most of an Individual Indian Money Account, using values to set financial goals, and annual planning that reflects seasonal income and expenses, An additional module on "financial empowerment and elders" covers ways to identify, address, and prevent financial exploitation of elders, Guidance on how to integrate Your Money, Your Goals into your work with Native communities.
• Focus on People with Disabilities [4]
  • This guide contains tips, information, tools, and skill-building resources for people with disabilities and from organizations that serve the disability community. It’s based on the idea that everyone has a right to control their own money and make their own financial decisions. The companion guide includes 11 new tools that are fully dynamic and accessible for how to: Set up an Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Account and build savings, Pay for assistive technology to achieve independence, Understand how income from work impacts Social Security Income (SSI), Identify financial abuse and exploitation and how to get assistance.
• Source [5]

CFPB Financial Coaching Delivery Sites [6]

• Whether you’re a veteran who has recently transitioned to life in the civilian world, or a consumer facing economic challenges, having a trusted, well-informed advisor can increase your odds of success. Our financial coaching initiative provides guidance to recently-transitioned veterans and vulnerable families in places where they’re already going for help. We’ve joined forces with the DOL and more than two dozen non-profit social-services providers to place 60 certified coaches in DOL American Job Centers and community-centered nonprofits across the country. These professionals provide one-on-one free coaching to help these consumers craft a personalized plan for financial success.
• Source Page [7]

Department of Justice List of Credit Counseling Agencies in Washington [8]

• Credit counseling agencies listed on this Web page are nonprofit budget and credit counseling agencies approved to provide counseling that individuals must take before they are eligible to file for bankruptcy protection, 11 U.S.C. § 109(h). Many of the approved agencies listed on this Web site may also provide other counseling services to assist individuals not considering bankruptcy. The United States Trustee Program has not reviewed nor approved the content of these other services.
• Instructions for using the Approved Provider List [9]
• Source [10]

MIT Living Wage Calculator [11]

• Families and individuals working in low-wage jobs make insufficient income to meet minimum standards given the local cost of living. We developed a living wage calculator to estimate the cost of living in your community or region based on typical expenses. The tool helps individuals, communities, and employers determine a local wage rate that allows residents to meet minimum standards of living.
• Washington Counties & Metropolitan Areas [12]
• Ask library staff for a print out of information from your county. Note: most of the information is by county but some information is city/metropolitan area specific. For the most accurate information tell library staff the city & county you want the information for.

The Self Sufficiency Standard for Washington State [13]

• The Workforce Development Council is publishing The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Washington State 2017 in an effort to ensure the best data and analyses are available to enable Washington State’s families and individuals to make progress toward real economic security. The result is a comprehensive, credible, and user-friendly tool. This report presents and analyzes The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Washington State 2017. This measure calculates how much income a family must earn to meet basic needs, with the amount varying by family composition and where they live. The Standard presented here is a tool that can be used in a variety of ways—by clients of workforce and training programs seeking paths to self-sufficiency, by program managers to evaluate program effectiveness, and by policymakers and legislators seeking to create programs and pathways that lead to self-sufficiency for working families.
• Additional Resources & Source Page [14]

Kitsap Community Resources Financial Education [15]

• Mission : To empower Kitsap County residents with the financial skills and information need to increase their confidence, enable them to make sound decisions, and to be better prepared to meet their financial goals.
• 2018 Class Schedule [16]
  • Also on Kitsap County page.