THE MVET WAY CEMN NEWSLETTER...JULY-AUGUST-2016-ISSUE-1

A Personal Story By Professor Harlin, M.A. Part 1 of 3

The Value of the “One-Quarter.” By Steve Smith Part 1 of 3

Today, I saw an old client. This person had come to pick up the remnants of his belongings that had been left behind during his swift transition because of a lack of funding. The remnants where his personal belongings, enough to fill up the back of a pickup truck, easily. The old client showed up with a rolling green trashcan. The one your gardener would use to put cut grass and shrubs. The trash can was dirty, filthy dirty. The old client was packing his belongings into this empty dirty trashcan, and it just saddened me as I watch this old client put about a fourth of his belongings into the trashcan and then roll it down the street to the new place of residency. I thought of this client's predicament. I reflected back to an earlier time when the relationship was much, much more. I remembered having encouraged this old client to get a driver's license amongst the many other attempts to help him move forward. I knew this client had a wife and young child and now another one on the way. My sadness continued to grow throughout the day. Then I realized the numerous steps that we, at the community center, had encouraged along the eight-month journey that led to this moment. I had to surrender to the truth that you can give all you have to give; and still, people will choose not to change. Now, it still makes me wonder and ask, “What must have happened in this person's childhood that left him lacking to this degree?” I still have hope for this old client. It won’t be with me. It may not even be with the old client. It may be with the old client’s children. What I believe is there will always be hope. There is one thing that is for certain and stands out in my mind, the truth that there is definitely a lacking of financial education in many of our communities. With these thoughts in mind, I would like to share with you the importance of financial literacy and education as a part of any community improvement effort.

Over a 29-year career in both conventional and financial education, one thing that has become increasingly apparent to me is how lightly many consumers take to paying an extra quarter – that is paying an additional half or three-quarters of a point when financing their homes, purchasing autos, securing loans, and obtaining credit cards. This nonchalant approach (that’s totally to a lending institution’s advantage) has been very detrimental to the overall financial health of many families. There are a wide array of predators looking to exploit uneducated consumers which place them in undesirable situations. In every lower-income area in the Metro- Atlanta area where I reside, corners are flooded with pawn shops, payday loan stores, and title pawn outlets. One particular acquaintance of mine took out a title loan of $5,000.00 on a vehicle she purchased four months earlier after an insurance settlement. While waiting for a subsequent annuity to cover the principle, she paid $995.00 per month to keep the loan current. She was paying more than 200% interest on that debt. She ended up paying $3700.00 in interest and penalties in less than four months. AND IT WAS LEGALLY STIPULATED IN THE CONTRACT. It’s no coincidence that when I venture into the middle of upper-class neighborhoods, I rarely see these businesses. Are lower-income areas targeted? I’ll let you draw your conclusion. I know for sure that the need for financial education at a young age is so important. The MVET Way Newsletter, as well as CEMN personal and business coaching, have become a great resource for that education. Part 2 will discuss decisions to consider in regards to credit cards and mortgages