MODULE 2:
Assessing the situation
Before you start providing financial empowerment services to clients, we want to be sure you
have some tools to help you figure out what your clients may need.
We also want to give you tools to understand your own knowledge and level of confidence about
money management, and the opportunities you have to provide financial empowerment services
to clients.
In this module of the Your Money, Your Goals toolkit, we provide two assessment tools to give
you a starting point. The assessment tools include the following:
Tool 1: Financial Empowerment Case Manager Self-Assessment is a three-part tool to help you
understand how much financial knowledge you already have. Learning more will not only
benefit your clients, but may also benefit you as you apply what you learn to your own life.
Tool 2: Client Goals and Financial Situation Assessment is designed to help you and your client
understand the client’s goals and financial situation. This information can help you target the
right module of the toolkit for each client. For example, if a client has a goal to buy a car or a
home, you can target Module 12: Understanding credit reports and scores because learning
how to improve his credit history may help him qualify for a lower cost loan. If you have a client
that is struggling to make ends meet every month, you can target Module 10: Managing cash
flow.
This tool will help you match each client’s goals and financial situation with specific modules
and tools within the toolkit.