Blog

by Amanda Byrd, Development & Communications Director

Valentine's Day is the perfect time for a heartfelt THANK YOU. You raised over $133,000 for children like Ricardo in the EARN Family Challenge!

by Ben Mangan, EARN President & CEO

I was greatly encouraged by President Obama's focus on strengthening the American Dream in this week's State of the Union address. It inspired me to make sure we find a way to get a brief message to the President in response. Many of you have ties to the White House -- so I hope you'll pass this message along to anyone who can help President Obama learn directly about EARN's work restoring integrity and opportunity ot the American Dream. 

by Regina Aberin, EARN Volunteer

by Jade Shipman, Senior Research  Associate

Recently, the EARN Research Institute interviewed our Savers about their EARN experience. One Saver said, “It definitely created a tunnel of hope for this family.” Find out what others had to say!

by Ben Mangan, President & CEO

Optimism is America's secret sauce, and we'll stagnate permanently without it. The puzzle for our leaders and policy makers is how to square our need for optimism with our need for fairness. (Good luck!)

by Saundra Davis, Wealthcare Coach

There’s been quite a bit of buzz recently about EARN’s work to break the cycle of poverty by helping people manage their money better. I created the “credit card condom” to encourage people to think about their long term financial goals each and every time they make a purchase.

by Matt Silva, Levi Strauss Storytelling Associate

Recently, EARN launched a fundraising project using Causes to ask our community to support the next generation of strivers and dreamers. We’re hoping to raise $500 to match the hard-earned savings of other low-income entrepreneurs like Julian. As of today, we’re more than half way towards our goal, and you can help get us to the top!

by EARN's MyDebtStory.com team

Remember MyDebtStory.com, EARN's contest website where student borrowers could share their education debt stories for a chance at winning $5,000? The $5,000 prize gave over 50 students an incentive to share their stories. An EARN judging panel reviewed all the videos, and we're excited to announce that they found a winner!

by Charlotte Hill, Communications Associate

Last April, I didn’t know the extent to which dignity was actually upheld at EARN. Now, seventeen months later and a week before I leave the EARN team for my next career adventure, I do.

by Andrea Pokorny, founder of MainstreamMom

If there's one thing I've learned over the past few years, it's that the most relevant self-improvement tool is messing up and learning from it. And trust me, I've messed up a lot when it comes to managing my money.

Fortunately, I've learned from my mistakes and will never repeat them. Like Oprah says, "when you know better, you do better."

by Ben Mangan, President & CEO

The connection between mission and communications capacity might not seem obvious, but to successfully address the massive and complex problems nonprofits tackle in a rapidly transforming media environment, we need proportional levels of competency and resources.

by Tejal Desai, Senior Development Associate

I’m leaving EARN to volunteer as a Kiva Fellow in Samoa, something I have wanted to pursue for some time now. I will learn how Kiva’s model is helping communities in poverty achieve prosperity through microfinance. It’s a very bittersweet transition. This change in paths has made me remember the amazing times I’ve had here at EARN –my first interview here, team retreats, staff meetings, inside jokes, coffee breaks, and so on. I want to share with you top three things I’ve valued the most at EARN.

by the EARN Financial Services Team

A couple months ago, EARN’s Financial Services Team blogged about the exciting new changes we’re making to better meet our Savers’ needs. Today, we are going to take a significant leap on this journey. Are you ready? Ta da… tadadada… (drum roll, please!) The orientation for our matched savings program is going online!

by Sheryl Lane, Director of Public Policy

There was tremendous energy at EARN‘s San Francisco office on July 11. For the first time, we brought our listening session partner organizations together for a day-long meeting to discuss the results of statewide listening sessions that reached nearly 1000 California constituents from as far north as Marin County to as far south as San Diego.

by Matt Silva, Levi Strauss Storytelling Associate

Morsinah Katimin never thought she would run her own business. Originally born in Singapore, Morsinah held a number of jobs before she found herself in San Francisco without a job or a clue what her next step would be. One day, a friend told her about the EARN program.

We're so excited. Each day, more people sign the MyDebtStory.com pledge, promising the spread the word about the student debt crisis to their friends and family. Are you one of them?

by Charlotte Hill, Communications Associate

This morning, Heather Jarvis, a student loan expert and notable blogger, shared her student debt story on her blog for our MyDebtStory.com project. Here's what she had to say.

by Charlotte Hill, Communications Associate

By sharing your student debt story at MyDebtStory.com, you could win five thousand dollars. You could do a lot of things with that money, including paying off your college loans. Need more ideas? Here's what some of our Facebook friends said they'd do with $5,000.

by Ben Mangan, President and CEO

Traditionally, the story of American prosperity goes something like this: study hard, stay focused you'll be able to get the education you need for your share of the American Dream -- and the long-term prosperity that's supposed to be part of this dream. But this country stands at a crossroads with regard to the role that higher education plays in the American Dream.

by Javier Oliver, Public Policy Fellow

California’s most vulnerable residents – children, seniors and low-wage working families – will bear the brunt of a budget that may be fiscally sound but further reduces opportunity for future prosperity.

by Charlotte Hill, Communications Associate

@AARP tweeted about it this morning. @TwitCause did, too. What’s all the hype about, you ask? Shhh – we’ll whisper it to you. We’ve launched a sneak peek of MyDebtStory.com, our new website on student debt!

by the EARN Policy Team

Here are the three main topics that EARN's policy team is focusing on this month: grassroots constituency building, gainful employment, and racial disparities in educational achievement.

by Matt Silva, Levi Strauss Communications Fellow

In the years since I was a child, I’ve come to learn that my father did not, in fact, have to walk to school uphill, both ways, barefoot, in the snow. Actually, he’s from a small island in the Atlantic where there never is snow, and most of the mountains are far outside the town where he grew up. What I’ve also realized, though, is that even if my dad never endured that frozen, barefoot, geography-defying walk to and from school, he did sacrifice time and again so that I could have opportunities that he did not.

by Amanda Byrd, Development and Communications Director

At the Asset Awards on May 20, 2011, EARN announced a special challenge to raise $50,000 for 100 matched scholarship accounts for children. When you quickly exceeded that goal, our generous challenge donors agreed to keep the challenge going.

by Sadie Williams, Wealthcare Coach

Learning to overcome beliefs and behaviors that limit our ability to achieve a level of financial security is a critical step in fulfilling financial intentions. Otherwise, these beliefs transform into behaviors that keep us small and indebted to credit cards, lines of credit, loans from family or friends, and living from paycheck to paycheck. Self-image and esteem are affected. As long as you remain in debt to others, you will not have financial freedom. 

by Sheryl Lane, Director of Public Policy

EARN recently reached a major milestone. As of June 1, 2011, we and several partner organizations have collectively held 70 listening sessions with nearly 1,000 participants in 22 communities throughout California. What we heard was often compelling, sometimes downright riveting, and it provided us with valuable insight about how Californians -- especially those who are low-income and belong to communities of color -- are faring in the current economic environment.

by Charlotte Hill, Communications Associate

The students squirmed anxiously in their seats, red graduation caps bouncing. Their parents beamed from the sidelines, proud of how far their children had come in such a short time. San Francisco’s Treasurer Cisneros, grinning at the kids surrounding him, spoke the words everyone had been waiting to hear: “Congratulations to the graduating class of 2011.”

by Jill Sturm, Financial Services Director

The first of the baby boomers turn 65 in 2011. The number of people age 65 and older will double between 2010 and 2050, with the number of those 85 and older increasing four-fold. This trend has been dubbed the Silver Tsunami. President Obama declared May 2011 Older Americans Month and has invited Americans of all ages to acknowledge the contributions of older generations during this month and throughout the year.

by the EARN Financial Services Team

In response to our Savers’ needs, and in alignment with our core value of scale and our research on financial self-efficacy, our team created a thoughtful list of improvements to test. We’ll be sharing these with you over the next few months, starting today.

by Charlotte Hill, Communications Associate

This morning, popular nonprofit Twitter personality "The Blogunteer" wrote a piece profiling EARN for her blog. Being an avid Twitter user, I was quite pleased to see EARN featured and figured I'd pass the post on to you guys.

by Ben Mangan, President & CEO

This week, the future of money came to San Francisco as the conference Finovate Spring 2011 unfolded in SOMA. After two days of hearing many excellent pitches from scores of visionary entrepreneurs in the financial tech (fintech) industry, five things became clear.

by Matt Silva, Levi Strauss Fellow

I’ve had the absolute honor to work with this year’s awardee, Julia Orellana. Julia is an incredibly strong individual and a loving mother who has made many sacrifices to ensure that her daughters will have more opportunities than she did growing up. Most importantly, through EARN, Julia was finally given a chance to say “yes” to those dreams she held so quietly for her daughters.

by Charlotte Hill, Communications Associate

“It’s Friday, Friday” -- and EARN’s jumping on the viral internet meme bandwagon! No, we’re not sharing Rebecca Black’s infamous song. Instead, we’re launching our first-ever covert-stealth-ninja-Facebook mission: the YES campaign. Here’s how to join in:

by Sheryl Lane, Director of Public Policy

Last week, I led EARN’s first civic engagement and advocacy workshop for current and past participants of our matched savings programs. This workshop served as a continuation of EARN’s efforts to build a statewide grassroots constituency that is active, empowered, and organized on public policy issues related to asset building.

by Sunaena Chhatry, Public Policy Manager

In our most recent Visionary Speaker interview, Dr. Tony Iton, Senior Vice President of the California Endowment, speaks about the consequences of chronic stress. Dr. Iton suggests that we can promote health and prosperity by giving people more power to craft their own solutions.

President Obama wants you to get money smart. That's why he declared April to be Financial Literacy Month. In honor of this important presidential declaration, here's a funny video on how to discriminate between financial needs and wants. You can thank us later -- watch the video now!

by Tejal Desai, Senior Development Associate

It’s that time of year again, when we at EARN publicly celebrate the accomplishments of our Savers. We hold a special luncheon at the Four Seasons called the Asset Awards, giving us – EARN staff, supporters, volunteers, and donors – a special opportunity to hear firsthand the story of a hard-working Saver who has overcome all odds to achieve prosperity for his or her family.

by Charlotte Hill, Communications Associate

We posted the following poll on our Facebook page last week: Fill in the blank: If I were an EARN Saver, I'd save for... 1) my first home sweet home, 2) that small business I've always wanted to start, 3) the college degree I never had a chance to get, or 4) my child's education, so s/he can have a better future. Can you guess which answers tied for first place?

by Saundra Davis, Wealthcare Coach

It is very easy to find motivational resources; there are too many self-help books, tapes, seminars and -- of course -- Google sites to count, all focusing on motivation for every goal imaginable. And now, of course, “there’s an app for that,” too. With all of the resources available to us, why is it so difficult to change our behavior?

by Matt Silva, Communications Fellow

I hope that something about our work at EARN has resonated with you, so much so that you’re excited to get others involved, too! That’s the same exact feeling I had when I joined EARN, and I want to tell you a story about how I acted on that feeling this past holiday season.

by Charlotte Hill, Communications Associate

On Monday, we asked our Facebook friends to write "YES" in the comment box if they believed that students should be able to attend college without taking on a mountain of debt. Here are the faces of some of the people who said "YES!"

by Sheryl Lane, Director of Public Policy

Congress has set April 8th – this Friday – as the deadline for a federal shutdown if the House and Senate can’t negotiate and approve a budget deal. As the shutdown looms, the Pell Grant program is one of the key issues that threatens a budget compromise. Pell Grants are the main source of financing for low-to-moderate income students, and the future of these students’ higher education will be disrupted if Congress can’t agree over how to fund them.

by Charlotte Hill, Communications Associate

Last Thursday, I asked EARN's Facebook friends why they save money. Their responses were so inspiring that I just had to share them. And, infographic lover that I am, I decided to present them in image form. Enjoy!

by Charlotte Hill, Communications Associate

At EARN, we’re serious about changing public policy. Why? Because policy – when done right – can create opportunities and promote financial success for all Americans. Right now, we’re in favor of four specific pieces of legislation. Check out our letter to Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi below for all the details!

by Jill Sturm, Financial Services Director

What if you could turn back time? With all due respect to Cher, EARN Financial Services Director Jill Sturm wonders whether the growing problem of education debt is the country's next economic bubble.

by Amanda Byrd, Development & Communications Director

Olivia, our Financial Services Associate in Marin County, recently taught a 3-night series of Personal Finance Workshops in Spanish for a group of new Savers enrolling in our program. I thought the feedback from the class was really striking – there’s so much wisdom here, so much uplifting hope and strong determination. But Olivia was hesitating to share this because she doesn’t want to sound like she’s bragging about her class. So, lucky me, I get to be the one to tell you about it! 

by Charlotte Hill, Communications Associate

Popular wisdom suggests that if you want to succeed financially, you need two things: financial knowledge and access to appropriate financial products. This combination is commonly referred to as financial capability. But a groundbreaking paper from the EARN Research Institute points out that these two factors only lead to financial success when paired with a third component: financial self-efficacy.

by Ben Nishimoto, Grants Coordinator

Donald Trump aside, we can all agree that $4.4 million is a ton of moolah. You may be surprised to learn that $4.4 million represents the total personal savings of EARN’s 3,162 matched savings account holders since 2002. Already knew that? Well, then you must have read our Quarterly Impact Report. For the few of you that haven’t (tisk, tisk), feel free to take a gander.

by Javier Oliver, Policy Fellow

EARN, in partnership with Marin Community Foundation, has held focus groups with Marin County residents to understand both the psychological and financial difficulties students are having with the process of paying back their loans. Here are some of our preliminary findings.

by Charlotte Hill, Communications Associate

Ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Of course, at EARN, we've known this for a long time. Against all odds, our Savers, oftentimes people working minimum-wage jobs and supporting families, manage to save their hard-earned money and make dreams like college education, microenterprise and homeownership a reality.

by Sunaena Chhatry, Policy Manager

An estimated nine million households – about one in every 12 – don’t have bank accounts. With little to no access to traditional financial services, these “unbanked” households are limited to high-cost check cashing and payday lending outlets for their routine transactions. The good news is that the US Treasury Department has launched an innovative pilot program designed to nudge unbanked, taxpaying consumers towards low-cost financial products.

by Charlotte Hill, Communications Associate

In order to remain competitive in the global marketplace and ensure that America children don't fall further behind, Robert Reich called for more money in our nation's schools, similar to the massive Cold War-era investments in science-focused education. And while we at EARN agree that increased school funding is absolutely essential, we want to propose that a mere influx of capital won't spark the massive, NASA-scale changes our educational system needs in order to thrive. We need to revive America's spirit of innovation.

by Amanda Byrd, Development and Communications Director

Everyone here felt a bit nervous when we set a goal of raising $250,000 for EARN families by January 15th. We knew that if we could achieve that, we would unlock another $250,000 in challenge funding. The goal was certainly ambitious, especially in this economy – but we felt we had to try, for the sake of hundreds of families who will be turning to EARN in 2011 for the power to achieve their dreams. Half a million dollars can change a lot of lives.

by Charlotte Hill, Social Media Fellow

This Wednesday, I had the great fortune of attending the 8th California Working Families Policy Summit, a rare opportunity for practitioners, policymakers, and advocates to discuss innovative programs and public policies that promise to improve the lives of low-income families across the state. Sunaena Chhatry, EARN’s Policy Manager, spoke on a panel called “Asset Protection and Asset Building." For those of you who missed the panel, here’s a write-up summarizing the main talking points of each speaker.

by Javier Oliver, Policy Fellow

California’s state budget process is dysfunctional. This is a well-documented reality, demonstrated by the consistent failure of California leaders, year after year, to approve a state budget on time, causing ballooning budget deficits to the tune of billions of dollars. The state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office has projected annual budget problems of $20 billion each year for 2015 through 2016.

by Charlotte Hill, Social Media Fellow

In 2010, we launched our blog. And in 2010, you responded by reading it thousands of times! Well, maybe not you, all by your lonesome. Chances are, you missed a post or two. But have no fear -- our compilation of the 5 Most Popular Blog Posts of 2010 is here! Without further ado, here they are:

by Charlotte Hill, Social Media Fellow

If you lost your job, how long could you afford rent, food, and other basic financial necessities? A month? Two? Three? If your checking and savings accounts would be depleted within 90 days, you’re not alone; according to EARN’s latest opinion poll of over 1,000 adults, a full 54% of American families lack a financial safety net that would sustain them for three months without an income. Among low-income families making less than $35,000 a year, that figure rises to a disheartening 64%.

by Mackenzie Donovan, Special Assistant to the CEO

Maybe it’s my ego talking, but knowing how many friends and family I’m about to see for the holidays, I want to look my best.  But travel and gift-giving have left my bank account running on empty, leaving few funds to refresh my look. Luckily, I’ve developed five shopping tips to keep me fashionable and frugal. And since I’m full of the giving spirit at this time of year, I’ve shared them with you below. Read on!

by Matt Silva, Levi Strauss Communications Fellow

After years of drug addiction, La Tanya got clean and sober for her children. She and her husband struggled to build a better future for their family, but when he got laid off, they almost lost everything -- even the kids' dreams of college. "EARN saved us," she says."EARN taught us to make the most of our money... and the kids learned to save, too."

by Emily Waterbury, Wealthcare Coach

On more than one occasion – I’ll admit – I’ve been told I could use “a little more Tigger” in my life. In case you don’t remember or aren’t up on your Winnie the Pooh, Tigger is the ultimate optimist – energetic, cheerful, outgoing and confident.  Tigger is always positive. Unlike Tigger and more like Eeyore, I’ve been known to focus on problems or what I might be doing better or differently.

by Sunaena Chhatry, Senior Policy Associate

Self-Help Federal Credit Union has pioneered a new way to meet the needs of families living paycheck-to-paycheck while helping them enter the financial mainstream. This new and highly promising financial innovation, called a Micro Branch, offers consumers a convenient and efficient delivery model of basic financial products that families need in order to achieve financial stability. Check out this short video in which I interview Paul Leonard, a leading consumer advocate, about the policy landscape and Micro Branch innovation.

by Saundra Davis, EARN Wealthcare coach

People who are intelligent, hard working, resourceful, creative, and able to overcome significant challenges in other areas of their lives often are taken to their knees when faced with financial difficulties.  Now more than ever, I find myself having conversations with people who never believed they would have money troubles.  The look on their faces is undeniable – they are ashamed.  After all, shouldn’t they have known better?

by Nick Cooper, guest blogger

Being raised by a single mother, I experienced the hardship of financial struggles on a daily basis.  My mother was always able to provide, but we adhered to a strict budget and lived modestly in order to stay within our means.  I vividly remember the underlying fear of being evicted from the house we rented and the sense of instability that permeated our lives.

by Donna Freedman, guest blogger

I’m always on the lookout for ways to cut corners, stretch available funds and bring in a few extra bucks. Every dollar I don’t have to spend, and every extra dollar I can find, is money I can put aside for the future – or, sometimes, to spend on something like a theater ticket or a visit to my daughter. In a nutshell: I save where I can so I can spend where I want. People write entire books on the subject of how to spend less or earn more. All I have is a single blog post, so I’m going to suggest eight specific techniques.

by Ben Mangan, CEO

Unless you're living in seclusion out near those nukes that went offline in Wyoming, you're caught up in the Giants' run to finally win the World Series as San Franciscans. And after last night, millions of us are growing and dying black beards. A lesser-known fact, however, is that the San Francisco Bay Area people who save with EARN, folks we call EARN Savers, have quite a bit in common with the Giants. Here are the top 3.

by Charlotte Hill, Social Media Fellow

For most people, college is a financial maelstrom, sucking up hard-earned income and savings and saddling victims with debt. Not for me. I finished my senior year in the black, boasting a healthier savings account -- and a deeper knowledge of personal finance -- than ever before. Here are the lessons I learned along the way.

by Ben Mangan, CEO

Trainwrecks are painful, complex and challenging to stop. There are a few Trainwrecks unfolding before our very eyes as I write this. I want to call your attention to one in particular – taxpayer dollars enriching the owners of for-profit colleges who are ripping off students.

by Sunaena Chhatry, Senior Policy Associate

Last July, President Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.  This landmark legislation has helped create a much needed independent consumer watchdog, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Although the agency is in the embryonic stage of development, its upcoming regulatory decisions will affect each and every American.  Here’s what you need to know.

by the EARN Team

It’s Financial Planning Week, and to celebrate, we’d like to call special attention to a close friend and colleague, Saundra Davis. Several years ago, Saundra co-founded our innovative financial coaching program, "EARN Wealthcare." Today, she’s the president of her own company and continues providing high-quality pro bono financial planning to low-income workers throughout the Bay Area. For her deep commitment to volunteerism and service, we’re excited to announce that Saundra will be honored this Sunday by the Financial Planning Association (FPA) with a 2010 Heart of Financial Planning Award.

by Iliana Montauk, Financial Services Associate

Last week was non-stop at work. Next week will be busy, too. And yet here I am, sitting at home on a sunny Sunday afternoon, doing what? Working. Last Friday, I planned to write a blog post for EARN, so I carefully blocked off some time on my Outlook calendar to accomplish the task. Then a deluge of EARN clients, whom we call Savers, came gushing into the office. It would have been a normal influx if my co-workers had been available, but they were out of the office. As I jumped up to help, I pushed aside my thoughtful time-management plan and chose to focus on my priority: serving EARN’s Savers.

by Charlotte Hill, Social Media Fellow

Bleary-eyed and groggy, I snap to attention at the sound of my blaring alarm. The clock reads 7am. Of all my waking moments, this one consistently ranks at the bottom of my list. But day after oh-so-early day, there’s one thing that gets me out of bed and out the door to our San Francisco office: the story of Dametra Williams.

by the EARN Policy Team

Defaults on student loans are on the rise. And according to current data, a main cause may be the recent surge in enrollment at for-profit colleges. In recent years, the sheer number of these schools has grown considerably, with enrollment climbing from about 365,000 students to almost 1.8 million. For-profit colleges draw the greater part — sometimes 90% — of their funding from federal aid. Since higher enrollment equates to more money, these for-profit schools have a strong economic incentive to encourage students to enroll.

by Sheryl Lane, Director of Constituency Building

California, like many states, continues to struggle with passing a state budget and providing the resources that some individuals and families need to survive. Meanwhile, in these changing economic times, the number of Golden State families living from paycheck to paycheck, if they still have one, is steadily increasing.

by guest blogger Saundra Davis, co-founder of EARN's Wealthcare coaching program

One of the first lessons I learned as a new financial planner was the concept of the “three-legged stool.” Now, this was the very first time I had ever heard of this piece of furniture and I was thrilled to know that I had one. I took great interest as my instructor discussed how the stool represented the three financial streams that would fund my retirement: social security, employer pensions and personal savings. He described it so eloquently that I found myself chanting “a financially secure retirement comprises what your employer does for you, what your government does for you, and what you do for yourself.” After a few moments, I realized that at least one of my three legs was missing. Oops!

by Charlotte Hill, Social Media Fellow

Check out this brief "Happy Labor Day" video from the few EARN staff members still at the office on Friday evening!

by William Lapp, Ph.D., Research Manager

Think your job is killing you? You might have something there, especially if you’re underpaid and overworked. Harnessing the power of multivariate statistical analyses, we’ve examined recently released data on a representative sample of the United States – a full 428,000 people — from the Center for Disease Control.  When these people’s health is graphed relative to their age and income, the wealth–health connection is plain to see.

by Sunaena Chhatry, Senior Policy Associate

Landmark credit card reform legislation enacted by President Obama in 2009 reached its final phase of implementation last Sunday, August 22.  Called the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009, the bill significantly impacts U.S. consumers – or, more precisely, their wallets.

by the EARN Wealthcare Team

We all have beliefs about money that trigger strong feelings and emotions. It’s important that we learn to recognize our beliefs and begin to understand how they influence the way we live with and manage our money.

by Charlotte Hill, Social Media Fellow

While a college education may not be the panacea that people once imagined, a clear trend still remains: graduates earn more money than their dropout — or, worse yet, completely college-less — peers. To join the middle class, chances are you’ll need a four-year degree.

by Charlotte Hill, Social Media Fellow

Remember the good old days of childhood? Otter Pops, spontaneous adventures in the backyard, constant praise of relatively minor successes (“You brushed your teeth all by yourself? I’m so proud of you!”) — all staples of that carefree lifestyle that so many of us long to recapture.

by guest blogger Holly Gillian Kindel

Every day we face risks: some we recognize, others we may not. Getting into the car, eating prepackaged food, and watching television are all behaviors with a certain level of risk. Risk management is simply the process of assessing your risks and choosing how to handle them. You can manage risk by avoiding it, retaining it (either consciously or through inaction), or transferring it to another (through the purchase of insurance). We all employ a combination of these methods; the ideal is to have our method of handling risk match our risk capacity (typically measured financially) and risk tolerance (more of a gut check).

by the EARN Wealthcare Team

We love coaching. Yet we struggle with the word. After all, what is a coach? What differentiates a coach from a counselor or consultant?  And furthermore, what makes someone qualified to coach? From the perspective of EARN’s Wealthcare team, we bring you a few descriptions and things to consider when engaging one of the 3 C’s:

by the EARN Wealthcare Team

Since we’re half way into the year, July is a great time to pause and take a look at your financial affairs. Is your financial house in order?

by Ben Mangan, CEO

Ask ten "experts" whether we are headed for a double dip recession, and you'll likely get ten different answers. And the press is having a field day with this ambiguity. This is not surprising since stories predicting economic apocalypse are almost as tantalizing as forecasting the next boom. If you are already nervous about what's to come for the economy, following the press on this issue will only exacerbate your anxiety. And if you aren't anxious yet, you will be soon if you keep reading.

by Ben Mangan, CEO

The nation's premier event on domestic Microfinance - Microfinance USA - opens here in San Francisco on May 20th. I have the privilege to speak on a plenary on savings at the conference, and look forward to what I know will be a fascinating conversation. There appears to be a consensus among those of us working to encourage savings among lower income earners, that driving savings is a powerful strategy that can help people create prosperity. But there are sharply divergent views over the best way to encourage savings, and lots of data and perspectives that inform the arguments.

by Ben Mangan, CEO

Will the housing market start to slip again as the homeowners' tax credit expires? The tax credit expires today and reflects a very public move in the government's really significant disinvestment in the market. The government's role in the housing market has undeniably kept it, and much of the economy afloat. Now that we let the market back into the driver's seat, will the center hold? Will we slide into the start of a double dip recession? Who knows.