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Companion guides

Each of these guides supports the toolkit by helping you contextualize the money conversation to the unique needs of specific populations.

This page includes companion guides for:

Military communities

Native communities

People with disabilities

People with criminal records

Focus on Military Communities companion guide

Military life comes with unique financial situations. This guide provides insight and guidance to persons and organizations that serve military communities, including active-duty, reserve and National Guard servicemembers, veterans, and their families. The guide includes tools specially designed to address common financial challenges that military consumers face, such as:

  • Whether to buy or rent a house while serving in the military
  • How to leverage special savings opportunities exclusive to military families
  • How the military relief societies can help when you’re in need
  • How to financially plan for a Permanent Change of Station
  • How to spot military affinity marketing and scams

The guide was developed with the support of people and organizations that serve the military and veteran communities.

DESCRIPTION ACTIONS

Focus on Military Communities companion guide

Download Order

Tool: Planning for important money conversations

Download

Tool: Discussing money productively

Download

Tool: Buying or renting a home

Download

Handout: VA Home loans

Download

Tool: Saving opportunities for military communities

Download

Handout: Understanding your military pay statement

Download

Handout: Veterans: Maximize your income through work incentives

Download

Tool: Spending tracker for servicemembers and veterans

Download

Handout: Military relief societies

Download

Tool: Planning for PCS moving expenses

Download

Tool: Cash flow budget for servicemembers and veterans

Download

Tool: Planning for the year

Download

Handout: SCRA and MLA protections

Download

Tool: SCRA example letter to lenders

Download

Tool: Credit reports and military service

Download

Tool: Deciding which financial services to trust

Download

Tool: Organizing your financial and legal documents

Download

Handout: Marketing and scams aimed at military communities

Download

Focus on Native Communities companion guide

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

Tribes and other organizations that serve Native communities helped develop this resource by sharing their experience and perspectives.

DESCRIPTION ACTIONS

Focus on Native Communities companion guide

Download Order

Tool: Using values to set goals

Download

Tool: Savings and asset limits in Native communities

Download

Tool: Making the most of the IIM

Download

Tool: Annual planner

Download

Tool: Identifying elder financial exploitation

Download

Handout: Getting help for elder financial exploitation

Download

Tool: Preventing elder financial exploitation

Download

Focus on Native Communities training slides

Download slides

Focus on People with Disabilities companion guide

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

"Focus on People with Disabilities" was developed with the support of people with disabilities and organizations that serve the disability community.

DESCRIPTION ACTIONS

Focus on People with Disabilities companion guide

Download Order

Tool: Starting the money conversation

Download

Tool: Paying for assistive devices

Download

Tool: Setting up an ABLE Account

Download

Tool: SSI estimator

Download

Handout: Workforce Investment Opportunity Act (WIOA)

Download

Handout: The role of a representative payee

Download

Tool: Monthly budget

Download

Handout: Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) Discharge

Download

Tool: Identifying financial abuse and exploitation

Download

Focus on People with Disabilities training slides

Download not available

Focus on Reentry companion guide

This guide is designed to help financially empower criminal justice-involved individuals and their families.

The tools, tips and information can help people navigate their financial decisionmaking, including how to:

  • Prepare their finances for incarceration, such as getting a credit freeze, securing a power of attorney, or managing debt while incarcerated
  • Obtain identification documents such as social security cards to help with transition
  • Identify and prioritize payments for both criminal justice-related debt and consumer debt
  • Calculate their take home salary after deductions
  • Access and monitor credit reports, including inside correctional facilities
  • Understand the background screening process and individual rights when applying for jobs

Focus on Reentry can be used any time: while someone is awaiting trial or sentencing, in jail or prison, or following release and in community settings.

DESCRIPTION ACTIONS

Focus on Reentry companion guide

Download Order

Tool: Measuring Financial well-being

Download

Tool: My money picture

Download

Tool: Preparing your money situation before or during incarceration

Download

Tool: Preparing for release: Documents and identification

Download

Tool: Setting SMART Goals

Download

Tool: Putting goals into action

Download

Handout: Saving at tax time

Download

Tool: Saving and asset limits

Download

Tool: Income and benefits tracker

Download

Tool: Understanding your pay stub

Download

Tool: Spending tracker

Download

Tool: Creating a cash flow budget

Download

Tool: Reentry debt log

Download

Tool: Lowering your debt

Download

Tool: Requesting your free credit report

Download

Handout: Requesting your free credit reports by mail from a correctional facility

Download

Tool: Reviewing your credit reports

Download

Handout: Disputing errors on your credit report

Download

Tool: Opening a checking or savings account

Download

Tool: Evaluating your prepaid or payroll card

Download

Handout: Knowing your prepaid card rights

Download

Handout: How to handle identity theft

Download

Handout: Submitting a complaint

Download

Handout: Background screening reports

Download

Tool: Reviewing your background screening reports

Download