Spouses attend financial readiness class

By Pfc. Jamal WalkerMarch 11, 2009

Spouses attend financial readiness class
Gwen McCarthy, Financial Readiness Program Manager, listens to spouses as they ask questions on the many financial concerns they have about Health Care Insurance during their monthly financial readiness class held at the Pear Blossom Cottage, Feb. 27... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

RED CLOUD GARRISON - Spouses and Family members attended a Financial Readiness Class Feb. 27 held in the USAG-Red Cloud Pear Blossom Cottage. The class taught servicemembers and their Families how to manage financial problems they may face.

The class is informal and Family oriented. Gwendolyn McCarthy, financial readiness program manager and Army emergency relief officer, always stops to ensure everyone understands what she is teaching and goes into great detail to explain the points she discusses in her class.

The financial group learned about life insurance, disability insurance, health care insurance, and long term care. Following each discussion were many questions from family members who were not sure whether to start putting money aside for health care insurance when the job she is applying for will cover health care or if McCarthy was giving another reason why it is important to start saving for long term care.

"Health and money plays a huge part in why we retire," McCarthy said. "Some do not save enough and need to continue working until their finances are adequate while others continue working through retirement because they don't have enough health insurance to provide for them. The older you get, the more expensive health insurance will be, so it is wise to start saving money for those heavy expenses."

The class is held the last Friday of every month in the PBC at 1 p.m. The next session will discuss the Thrift Savings Plan.

"I am very young and I do not know anything about finances," said Stephanie Damron, "so I come to just about every meeting."