Financial Empowerment

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Financial Empowerment
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Introductions

• Introductions

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Goal of Workshop

• This workshop will explore the use of financial
  abuse by batterers to control and isolate their
  partners, and focus on short and long term
  strategies to assist survivors to become
  financially independent.

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Objectives

• Identify forms of financial abuse
• Learn how to create a financial safety plan
• Learn how to help survivors set short term
  financial goals
• How to assist survivors to identify their
  financial fears and emotions attached to money

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Objectives

• Learn how to identify community resources
  available to assist survivors to become
  economically independent
• Learn how to assist survivors to understand
  credit, get a credit report/score, and improve
  their credit rating

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The Problem

• Financial insecurity and economic abuse puts
  women in a position of choosing to stay in an
  abusive relationship or face poverty and
  homelessness
• Once they do leave they face many economic
  barriers
• Many women do not recognize they are being
  financially abused

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Question

• Why is financial empowerment work important for
  battered women?

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Power and Control Wheel
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What is financial abuse?

• Financially healthy relationships
• Definition of economic abuse
• Forms of economic abuse
• Prevent her from acquiring employment and
  resources
• Prevent her from using resources
• Prevent her from maintaining resources
• Effects of economic abuse
• Creates economic dependence on the abuser
• A lack of resources will hinder her ability to
  leave
• Will significantly lower her standard of living
• Adams, Sullivan, Bybee Greeson (2008)

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Helping clients identify economic abuse

• Does your partner
• Steal money from you or your family
• Makes financial decisions without talking to you
• Forbids you from working or going to school
• Overuses credit cards in your name or both of
  your names
• Prevents you from obtaining or using credit, or
  debit cards
• Demands receipts and change when you spend money
• Withhold physical necessities such as food and
  clothes

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Financial safety planning

• Getting your paperwork in order
• Protect your credit and assets
• Save money
• Identify individual, joint and hidden assets
• Assist the individual with creating a list
• When possible ask her to identify the approximate
  value of each asset

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Identifying Assets

• Questions to ask
• Are your property and financial assets held in
  both of your names?
• Is your apartment or home in both of your names?
• Do you have your own bank account or joint
  account?
• Does your partner own antiques, tools, artwork or
  other collections?
• Does your partner receive income not being
  reported to the government?

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Laurens story

• Lauren a successful executive has hidden the pain
  of her abusive marriage to James for many years.
  For a long time she hoped the violence would stop
  but it did not.
• On paper Lauren and James appear to have built a
  very lucrative and successful marriage. This is
  untrue. Despite her success Lauren must ask
  permission to buy anything and does not know what
  they own. She is unclear about the amount of
  assets they have and number of liabilities.
• She has decided to leave but does not know where
  to begin separating the financial
  responsibilities they have shared and created on
  their own.

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Exercise

• Participants begin a list of steps Lauren would
  need to take to prepare to leave the relationship
  focusing on the financial aspects.
• Help her create a financial safety plan and
  identify her assets

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Financial Fundamentals

• How to set short and long term goals
• Management of finances
• How to create a budget
• 3 simple steps
• Strategies for saving

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Managing debt
Creditor Balance due Interest rate Current monthly payment
1.
2.
3.
4.
Total debt and monthly payment
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Elenas story

• Elena recently left an abusive relationship, she
  has two children 6 and 7 years old. She works
  full time at the local retail store and earns
  25,000 a year. She receives no spousal support,
  no child support and no public assistance. Elena
  is living with her mother in order to save money
  for her own apartment. In order to save the
  deposit, and first months rent she must make
  changes in her spending habits. The apartment is
  700 a month. She has also started to rack up
  credit card debt. She has reviewed with you her
  current spending habits and wants your help. She
  just doesnt see where she could possibly cut
  back.

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Elenas list

• Makes breakfast for her children but has no time
  to make it for herself so she buys something on
  the way for 4
• For lunch she buys a sandwich and a drink at a
  local place for 7
• The childrens lunch is supplied at the school
  for 2 each
• She buys frozen dinners for herself and kids 10
  a night
• They go out for pizza and ice cream every Friday
  night 25
• She isnt sure how much she spends on groceries
  each week
• She buys clothes often because the children grow
  so fast she wants them to be fashionable when
  they go to school so she shops at higher end
  stores
• She buys clothes for herself at the retail store
  she works at and other places at the mall she
  uses store credit cards to pay for all of the
  clothes and pay the minimum on the credit cards
  each month cost 55 a month
• She stores furniture from her marriage in a
  facility because it does not fit in her parents
  home at 25 a month
• Her car is paid for gas is 200 a month
• She takes her children to a family fun center
  each Sat - 35
• She gets her nails done each week - 25

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Financial Fears

• Discuss the financial challenges to leaving
• How to address emotions attached to money
• Spending money to feed an emotional need
• Spending money once out of an abusive
  relationship
• Spending money out of guilt or to show love
• Find new ways to treat themselves
• Financial fear checklist

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Community resources

• Access to benefits assist in becoming
  economically empowered
• Become educated
• Build collaborations

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Deannas story

• Deannas partner did not allow her to work and
  restricted her access to all resources such as
  money and bank accounts. He also blocked her
  from keeping a job for any extended period of
  time. She left him once before, living in her
  car and obtaining food from a local pantry. She
  returned back to him - but has just decided to
  leave again. She has no children, and limited
  work experience at a local fast food place as a
  teen. She has no medical insurance, and about
  100 she saved secretly over the last few months.

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Exercise

• Choose 3 short term goals
• Identify the appropriate community resources that
  will assist her with these goals

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Understanding Credit

• Why is good credit important?
• Obtain and review credit report
• Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion
• Annual credit report request service 1 877 322
  8228
• http//www.annualcreditreport.com
• What is in a credit report?
• Understanding a credit score
• Improving a credit score
• Go to www.myfico.com

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Long term Planning

• Planning a will or a trust fund,
• Designate powers of attorney
• Power of attorney handout
• Purchase life insurance

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Last exercise

• You have your own agency
• Name it
• Create 2 policies that would incorporate changes
  to include economic empowerment

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Questions