You know you need to learn more about personal finance in order to make financial decisions, but you just find it too overwhelming, too intimidating, or too time consuming. This (free!) (really!) class is for you.
This class isn’t about “getting rich quickly” (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but it’s about gaining knowledge and building your capacity in order to live a good life. What’s a “good life”? I don’t know, everyone’s definition is different. What’s important is that you take the time to define what a good life is for you, and then align your financial decisions with that. The goal of this class is to help you think about your finances in such a way that you have the independence to lead the life you want to live; to give you as much control as possible over your financial situation so that your finances don’t prevent you from living the life you want.
The content is broadly applicable to everyone from ages 16 through 60, but is probably the most helpful to folks in their 20s and 30s. There will be three, three-hour class sessions on consecutive Sundays at Koelbel Library (in Centennial, Colorado).
- Week 1: Sunday, October 26th, 1:00 – 4:00 pm
- Intro
- Purpose
- The Basic Equation of Personal Finance
- The Three Big Rocks of Spending
- Your Financial Infrastructure
- Week 2: Sunday, November 2nd, 1:00 – 4:00 pm
- Insurance
- Employer Benefits
- Taxes 101
- Debt
- Using Credit Cards for Good or Evil
- Week 3: Sunday, November 9th, 1:00 – 4:00 pm
- Investing
- Creating Your Personal Financial Action Plan
The structure of each week will be similar. Before each week I will send you a short activity to do to prepare for the session. This may include a short article to read and/or ask you to gather some information to bring with you to the session. Each session will then include a presentation by me which will include activities where you can work with your own information as well as time for discussion and questions. I will then provide you with a short list of optional resources that you can explore on your own time if you are interested. You will want to bring a laptop/tablet to each session in order to complete the activities (the library has free wifi).
This class is free. Really. And I’m not selling anything. I’m simply trying to pay it forward and share some knowledge that can help everyone live the life they want to live. If you would like to attend, please complete this short google form. It’s even better if you have friends or family members you can convince to come as well, as having someone you know there to talk things over with can be very helpful (and we need a minimum of ten participants to run the class).
Full Disclosure: I am not a financial planner. I taught students mathematics and computer science for over thirty years, but I have no formal training in personal finance or investing, and no certifications. I am simply a lifelong learner, constantly curious, and have been interested in personal finance since working in a credit union during high school and college. I have continued to learn about finances my entire adult life and have frequently served as a resource for friends, family and colleagues. I served on the benefits and negotiations teams for my school district and as a Board of Trustee member for Colorado PERA (the public pension plan in Colorado), and ended up becoming the “person” that many folks in my school went to with financial questions. I’ve written some books about teacher pension plans, wrote and teach a class on personal financial literacy for Colorado educators, write a blog about financial literacy, and made some presentations to teachers in various school districts. While I think (hope) those are helpful, they don’t necessarily reach everyone, so that’s why I’m trying this approach as well.
Fisch Financial 