money coaches Archives

More Employees Are Making Their Best Money Moves

by Emily Pfund | Sep 16, 2016 | Blog

This week we launched another customer into the Best Money Moves program: the Kenneth Young Center, a nonprofit organization offering community mental health and senior services in Chicago’s northwest suburbs.

We’re thrilled to have them on board and excited to work together to help their employees reduce stress and build a strong financial foundation for the future.

While we were at Kenneth Young Center introducing them to the program (and handing out our new Best Money Moves swag!), we asked the crowd how many of them were experiencing some kind of financial stress. Unsurprisingly, almost every hand went up.

Employees told us about the financial stresses they’re facing, from newly-graduated social workers staring down a seemingly insurmountable pile of student debt to a single mother of two who sits awake at night wondering how she’ll make ends meet for the month.

Within hours of the launch, about one-fifth of Kenneth Young Center’s employees had signed in to their Best Money Moves accounts to start exploring the program, identifying the areas of their finances that stressed them out the most and learning how to dial back their financial stress.

The best part? Employees don’t have to pay for it. This resource, along with our accredited Money Coaches they can call day or night with their questions, is provided to them by their employer as part of the organization’s benefit plan.

And we’ve got more companies lining up to join the Best Money Moves movement! Next week we’ll launch a Washington, D.C.-based real estate company.

Want to join us? Email us at info@bestmoneymoves.com for a free trial. You can build your budget, read our growing library of articles, use our cool tools (like the Stressometer) and understand why we believe Best Money Moves is the right move to help your employees dial down their level of financial stress.

5 WAYS BEST MONEY MOVES MAKES YOU SMARTER ABOUT MONEY

by Ilyce Glink | Jul 11, 2016 | Blog

When it comes to money, it’s easy to feel like a dummy.

After all, the entire financial services industry is set up to confuse you. That way, you’ll feel relieved and, yes, even grateful to pay someone to do things that you should be able to do yourself – that is, if you had the confidence and knowledge to take those first few steps.

Best Money Moves is all about building up your confidence. And we do it in a simple way – we teach you how to manage your money step-by-step. Here are 5 ways that Best Money Moves will make you smarter about money:

We help you measure your level of financial stress. Sometimes, the problems pile on. it’s easy to feel as though you’ll never be able to pick just one to work on. By measuring your financial stress in 14 categories, we do the sifting for you. We believe that by sorting through each of our stress categories, you’ll be able to prioritize your top problem more easily – and then we can help you solve it.
We show you the shortcuts – and how to achieve the best results. Whether you’re paying down debt or trying to save for a down payment on a car, we’ll show you how to “run the numbers” with the best of them – without trying to confuse you. Want to compare paying down your debt using the “snowball” vs. “avalanche” techniques? We’ll do the math for you and show you the “big secret” so-called experts want you to pay extra for.
We use easy-to-understand language designed to empower you. We’re not trying to confuse you into a big sale. Why? Because the only sale we’re interested in is to your employer. Instead, our whole goal is to help you better understand how money works, and how you can use it to your advantage.
We’re not trying to sell you anything. Most so-called “financial wellness” programs are about selling. They’re either trying to sell you products you don’t need or get assets under management. So, they build in a thin veneer of information designed to sell more stuff. at Best Money Moves, there’s no hidden agenda. We’re not trying to sell employees anything. We’re simply trying to help you engage with your finances in a more positive way.
Tools, calculators, award-winning content, contests, money coaches and more. Managing your money doesn’t have to be excruciatingly painful or boring. It can be entertaining, engaging and, yes, even a bit fun. At Best Money Moves, we’re always looking for another way to make this more fun, so you’ll spend more time reading, thinking and doing. That’s why you get points every time you do something with Best Money Moves, whether it’s reading an article, working on your budget, or measuring your level of financial stress.

We want you to succeed. We want you to pay down your debt faster, save more money, and avoid getting ripped off. And, we’ll be there with you, every step of the way. Contact us at Best Money Moves. We can help.

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT

by admin | Jun 19, 2016 | Blog

Most so-called “financial wellness” programs are really out to do one of two things: They’re either trying to sell your employees something they don’t need (like more credit cards) and most likely can’t afford, or they’re looking to accumulate assets under management. Which would be fine – if your employees had any spare change to begin with.

But they don’t. Because they’re broke:

63% of them don’t even have $500 in cash in case of emergencies.
More than 70 percent of them don’t even have $15,000 saved for retirement – which as an employer you already know because you see the 401(k) reports.
And 80% report feeling moderate or severe financial stress.

Best Money Moves is a different sort of financial wellness program because the only thing we’re trying to do is help your employees. We’re trying to help them understand where their personal finance pain points are, and how they can solve those problems to relieve the crushing financial stress they’re under. To do that, we use cool tools, easy-to-use and understand information, and we add money coaches, so that your employees have a real person to turn to who is trained to help you find ways to fix your budget and get your debt paid down faster. All they have to do is click the number in the top left hand of their Employee Dashboard.

You see, we measure financial stress because we know that’s what’s keeping your employees from being more productive, happier and engaged at work. We know that’s what is causing a big part of your retention problems. And we believe financial stress is tied to poorer health outcomes.

As our founder, Ilyce Glink likes to say, “When you’re stressed, you get sick and when you’re stressed about money you get even sicker.”

Contact us today to find out more about Best Money Moves and how to bring this innovative solution to your employees.

BENEFITS OF OUR FINANCIAL WELLNESS PROGRAM

by admin | Jun 19, 2016 | Blog

What is a financial wellness program? That depends on how you define it.

For most employees, financial wellness translates into a 401(k) program with perhaps a side dish of information about why you should open up a health savings account (HSA).

It feels sort of meager, like a plate of diet food. But it isn’t that your company doesn’t care about you and your personal finances – they do. But most so-called “financial wellness” programs actually fall into one of two categories: (1) They’re trying to sell you something (that most employees can’t actually afford); and (2) they’re trying to get more assets under management.

Best Money Moves is a different sort of financial wellness program because we’re built around the idea that if you solve employees’ pain points – problems that are causing a lack of focus, falling productivity and retention, and higher health care costs – then employees will be happier, healthier and more engaged overall.

Our program offers a number of features we think will help employees better understand and manage their personal finances, including:

Our financial Stressometer (R) helps you measure your level of financial stress in 14 categories
Easy-to-use and understand calculators that help you understand what’s happening with your finances, including a budget calculator that gives you your very own Best Money Moves, based on your income
A unique content-mapping system that gives you the information you need, when you need it
Non-profit money coaches, who can help you more deeply understand and tune your budget to help solve critical issues
Point-based reward system that gives you points every time you log in, read an article, work on your budget, set a goal, or measure your financial stress; each point translates into one change to win out monthly contest
And more…

Financial wellness programs are great – if they work. Best Money Moves will work to bring down your level of financial stress, and make you a happier, more engaged partner in your professional success. Contact us today for a quote!

BUILD A BUDGET AND CONTROL YOUR FINANCES

by admin | Jun 19, 2016 | Blog

Some would argue that to be happy, you need to be in control of you life. And, nothing makes you feel more out of control than being underwater with your finances.

Debt, shopping cravings you can’t control, loans that wind up costing more than you thought, and being unable to pay your bills at the end of the month – all of these events (and more) make us feel like life is spiraling out of control.

The best way to regain control of your finances is to build a budget. Put yourself on a money diet – which means you have to make some relatively unpleasant choices so that your spending is much more in line with your income.

And while it’s much more fun to just whip out your credit card, debit card, or phone and pay for the next meal or round of drinks, there’s a very real cost associated with that behavior – kind of like a hangover, it’s no fun to face a budget that’s way out of control the next morning.

So here’s what most people do when facing their own personal financial crisis – they bury their head in the sand and pretend like it isn’t going on. And, then they get stuck.

You don’t have to be stuck. You don’t have to feel as though the debt that’s weighing you down is going to be there forever. Because it doesn’t have to be.

You can get your budget back under control by making a few tiny (though tough) choices and sticking with it. It’s like a money diet.

The diet metaphor works because what you’re doing is putting yourself on a spending diet. You’re only going to spend the minimum you can in order to nurse yourself back to full financial health. We know you can do it: You can build a budget and get your finances back under control.

Best Money Moves can help. We have terrific, easy-to-use and understand tools and information that will guide you through each move, along with our Stressometer(R), which can help you figure out what’s causing the most financial stress right now. And if all seems overwhelming, you can call one of our nonprofit Money Coaches for personal, one-on-one guidance.

Imagine that. Help from someone real, who will pick up the phone when you call, and guide you through the toughest period of your financial life. And, it’s all part of the Best Money Moves program.

If your colleagues are in financial trouble, show this to your employer. Ask them to add Best Money Moves to the company’s financial wellness offerings. Our program is affordable, comprehensive and features award-winning information from some of the most distinguished financial writers and authors.

Best Money Moves. We can help! Contact us today for a quote.