If you find yourself bewildered by terms like “home equity” or thoroughly confused about how mortgages work, a new series of financial workshops may be able to help you.
The United Way of Greater Nashua and Bangor Savings Bank created the free workshops to help people manage their finances. The Financial Wellness Workshop Series will be held on the first Wednesday of every month from September through February.
Each session will focus on a different financial education topic, including different types of loans and how to manage debt. The first workshop on September 2 will focus on recognizing financial scams and protecting banking information.
“You don’t know what you don’t know,” said Jerry Gutierrez, one of the workshop instructors with Bangor Savings Bank. “A lot of younger people don’t know how to fill out a check. And we have a lot of people who have been homeowners for a while that don’t know how a home equity line of credit works.”
Gutierrez hopes the workshops will give people a place to learn about finances without any judgment, as financial education can be intimidating on your own. He said it can also be an opportunity for parents to learn how to set their children up for success with financial education basics, like helping them establish a credit score or open a savings account.
The classes are open to anyone regardless of where they live, but Gutierrez said there are a few things people who can’t attend can still do to learn these financial skills. For one, see if your bank offers financial wellness classes for clients.
“Too often we look at banking as a purely transactional event in our lives,” Gutierrez said.
He also recommended people reach out to local nonprofits like the United Way, which can either point you to educational resources or refer you to someone with the answers to your questions.
“They want to help people out,” Gutierrez said. “Getting on your feet financially is one of the best ways you can help somebody.”
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