FAME Launches New Webpage to Improve Mainers’ Financial Skills

April is Financial Literacy Month and what better time to roll out new financial wellness resources. According to the Pew Research Center, only half of the adults in America believe they have a good handle on their personal finances.

The Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) has launched a new webpage that will make it much easier for adults to take the steps needed to build their financial skills. The page is the latest enhancement to FAME's free online educational platform. You can find it here at Build Your Financial Wellness.

"A key part of what FAME does is help families to be able to afford higher education by providing financial planning tools and programs," said Mary Dyer, Education Affordability and Financial Wellness Manager. "This new webpage is designed to help adults expand their money management skills in a very straight forward, user-friendly way."

The site includes personalized financial lessons, interactive tools, articles, quizzes, and calculators. People can learn how to set goals, track their spending, create a budget, and reduce expenses among other useful skills. FAME's objective for this program is to break down what can seem like a daunting goal into small steps, making learning easier.

In addition to the new webpage, FAME offers a variety of resources and events to support financial wellness in Maine:

• Invest in ME Reads: This free family financial wellness program was created by FAME to help parents and caregivers teach early financial skills. As part of the program, FAME provides free books, educational resources, activities, and tips to all Maine public school students in grades one through six to share at home with their families. Invest in ME Reads is now reaching over 84,000 elementary students across Maine.
• Financial Check-in with FAME These free online seminars are designed to help Mainers prepare and pay for education beyond high school, become financially savvy, repay student loans, and much more. Learn more at FAMEmaine.com/checkin.
• Free Online Personal Financial Education: FAME offers a free online financial education platform to support Maine people during high school, college, and beyond. Any Maine resident can create their own account and use the interactive modules to learn their money personality, complete a course, create budgets, and more.
• Claim Your Future®: Created by FAME, Claim Your Future encourages students to explore education after high school, future careers and money management. It includes career comparison tools, expanded student loan decision-making, and career videos. This free program is available as both a classroom game and an online resource.