Common Cents

Eddie, a retired military veteran since 2015, found out about the Greater Memphis Financial Empowerment Center (GMFEC) when he had a conversation with a financial counselor at his local utility office. Eddie came to GMFEC because he wanted to learn how to better manage his retirement income. He said “I was spending money without considering what I had coming in, and most times, had more month than money. I thought that working with a financial counselor would help keep me accountable in creating a better financial structure.”

Since coming to GMFEC, his financial counselor worked with him to put together a spending plan and spoke to him about the importance of legacy planning. Having the conversation prompted him to take action to ensure that he had the proper beneficiaries for his bank accounts, locating the title on all the vehicles that he owns, and keeping them in a central, secure location. His concern for being prepared for emergency situations prompted him to use the financial checklist provided by his financial counselor to help him understand what he must do personally to be prepared. The discussion motivated him to begin to work on gathering his important life documents to keep in one place and becoming more organized to make it easier for him to go to the next level of his legacy planning journey when he is ready to do so. In addition, the documents will be easily accessible in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency. He now has a level of comfort in knowing what he must do to protect his financial legacy.