Starting the Money Conversation With Clients

One of the most frequent questions that we get at FHI is, “How do you begin the conversation about money with a client?” This question is interesting and revealing for various reasons –stick with me for a moment, and I’ll circle back to this. 

In our Frameworks in Financial Health class, we use a statistic that says, “61% of Americans don’t have enough money in savings to cover a $1000 emergency.” We’ve seen several surveys, all with similar findings. If these numbers are accurate, then it appears that most Americans –not just people in poverty– have very little in cash or liquid savings, which is potentially very problematic.

While our ability to absorb economic shocks through our cash savings is dwindling, consumer debt is growing.  A report from the Federal Reserve (reported here from MarketWatch) tells us that our consumer debt has now gone over $4,000,000,000,000 – that’s $4 trillion dollars.

The inability to cover a financial emergency with cash often leads many people to use credit cards as a backup  – but that’s not a sustainable long-term strategy. When a person doesn’t have cash or credit, they might resort to various mental processes and behaviors, seeking solutions that don’t truly improve their financial or economic position.

The obvious concern here is that economic security and mobility are strained, not just for the people we serve.  It’s about all of us –our neighbors, co-workers, friends and family.  And, unfortunately, it feels like this has become the cultural norm. 

So what can we do?

Are you financially healthy?

In January, we launched a class series called “Conversations in Economic Mobility,” and one of the first questions I asked the 25 people in the room was, “Are you economically mobile?” 

I asked this because I believe it is common in the fields of Human Services and Economic Development to really want to help others, and that is a wonderful thing. But when it comes to helping ourselves –financially or economically– do we really know how?

And this brings me back to the question people ask us about: “How do we begin the conversation with our clients?”  I believe that it's time that we stop making this solely about having the conversation with “our clients” or with “them.”  It’s time to start having a conversation with ourselves, our families and our children. Why? Because we cannot begin to understand how to help others if we do not know how to help ourselves.

I am asking that we collectively begin working on our own financial health, or economic security, or economic mobility—whatever term you choose to use.  I am asking for us to commit to the process of learning to help ourselves first. Then, we will begin to understand more viscerally the complexity around our personal finances and economic lives. And when we experience firsthand how difficult it can actually be to shift the paradigms we have about our own finances, we’ll develop a deeper empathy for the people we wish to help.  When we undertake the behavior changes that are needed to shift our own financial lives, we can see just how daunting and difficult this process can really be.

Once we have a better understanding of economic mobility and security for ourselves, having a conversation with someone else becomes less challenging.

So where do we start? 

Well, there are many things we can begin working on to improve our own economic situation, but for now we’ll start with one simple tip: collect data on yourself.

If you’ve been through our Frameworks program, you are familiar with the “receipt exercise.” It’s time to take this one out, dust it off and try it again! If you have not been through our classes, I think you will find this to be a very beneficial (and only slightly painful) exercise. Through this exercise, we can collect data and start a conversation with ourselves on our spending habits. In the link you will find instructions on how to do this exercise.

Additionally, we would like to invite you to take our online course called Leveraging Assets to Absorb Economic Shocks as a start. Here at FHI, we provide various online courses, customizable hybrid in-person and/or online programs, and much more to help professionals help their clients reduce stress and improve financial health. Let’s start with these steps, and we'll take it one step at a time toward a stronger financial future.