Two ways to use the scale in one-on-one work
Financial education practitioners use the Financial Well-Being Scale and the score to measure how people feel about their financial situation. Traditional measures like income, savings, and credit scores do not capture this subjective state.
Measure individual well-being and progress
Facilitate one-on-one conversations
Measure individual well-being and progress
Some practitioners track peoples’ scores and answers to each question over time to assess changes. Other practitioners compare scores for different groups of people. You can:
- Administer the scale at intake and at regular intervals afterward
- Save individual responses and scores so that you can review changes over time and compare with others
- Compare the scores of the people you serve to national data and benchmarks
Ask all the questions
If you plan on using the score, it is important that you ask all the questions on the scale. Skipping even one question skews the score and provides inconsistent data.
Facilitate one-on-one conversations
Financial educators have found that the scale is a helpful conversation starter. Some practitioners find it useful to talk to people about their responses to specific questions, or about their overall financial well-being scores. It is one way to broach possibly challenging conversations about their financial concerns, aspirations, and needs. You can:
- Review the scale responses and score with the person
- Notice when the questions make clients feel anxious and when the questions inspire confidence
- Be prepared for people to react emotionally to some of the questions
By listening and being patient, you can help create a supportive environment for the person to share their feelings and experiences.
Avoid judgment
Ask open-ended questions about the person’s responses to the statements, like “Tell me more about what you are feeling,” and “Why do you feel that way?”
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