Highlighted Project

No Fear of Money is a FREE six-week financial literacy program for teens and young adults.

The pilot test program will be offered at public libraries in the greater Boston area in the fall and winter of 2024. 

Each session will contain no more than four participants at a time so that everyone can have their individual questions answered and their needs met.

Topics

Session 1: Knowing What You Want

Who am I and what's important to me? What are my hopes and fears about the future?

Session 2: Creating a Plan for Getting There

How do I get where I want to go? How much should I save? How do I open a bank account?

Session 3: Putting Your Plan into Action

How do I keep track of where my money goes? How do I create a budget?

Session 4: Protecting Your Plan, Part 1

Do I need insurance? What's a credit score and does it matter?

Session 5: Protecting Your Plan, Part 2

How do I keep my money safe? How do I prevent or deal with fraud?

Session 6: Revisit Your Plan Again and Again

How often do I need to look at my budget, credit score, etc.? Where can I go if I need help?

Future topics for young people will include: Filing taxes, thinking WAY ahead for retirement, buying a car, renting an apartment, and buying a home!

We will also offer future workshops for seniors (How to best protect yourself from fraud) and women (How to help ensure you are financially secure, with or without a partner).

Dr. Christine Andrews earned her CFEI® certificate in 2023. She has been a volunteer financial literacy coach since 2022. Through her culturally-responsive educational research, Christine has been working with children and adults across the lifespan since 1987. She has worked with community members from all walks of life across a diverse range of settings, from public to parochial schools to Bureau of Indian Education schools. She also recently completed a certification in trauma-informed coaching. 

Christine grew up in a working class family in a modest Central Mass town. She was raised during a time and place where most people she knew didn't have money and they had a fear of it. Determined to face her own fears and pull herself out of a financial hole, she taught herself how to budget and invest. Years later, she was the first person to earn a doctorate in her family and eventually became the owner of a successful, small evaluation practice.

Christine is the proud mom of two young women who are being raised to feel confident that they can manage their financial lives independently. As a Certified Financial Education Instructor℠, she applies lessons learned from her own financial journey to empower young people to overcome their fears of money and create the solid foundation she wishes she had when she was starting out in life.