Institute inducts Nevadan as its first financial educator

By Ben Holman

Nevada Daily Mail

There is a new opportunity in Nevada and the surrounding area for anyone who has ever wanted to be more informed about their financial future. Nevada is now home to the only certified financial educator in the state of Missouri.

Charles Johnson, of Nevada, recently completed a week-long course in Denver, Colo., held by the Heartland Institute of Financial Education and is now a certified financial educator. HIFE, a non-profit organization, was designed for the purpose of providing on-site financial education for the employees and associates of businesses, organizations and associations.

"The whole purpose is to educate (people) so that they can make informed financial decisions," said Johnson.

According to Johnson, the program was started in Colorado and was originally intended to be a college-level course offered at community colleges. In order to better reach the American worker, the program was changed into a three-section course totaling about eight hours of instruction time. The courses are taught on site at businesses who choose to offer them to their employees.

Because it is a non-profit organization, HIFE seeks out independent financial planners who have a backgrounds in education and avoids using corporate financial planners as educators because, "they're really employees of larger companies," said Ward Kinne, regional director for HIFE.

During the education sessions, participants receive information regarding financial options that are open to them. "Some of the people we teach don't even understand their company's own retirement plan," said Johnson. Participants receive information about protecting assets, investments, retirement, tax strategies, estate planning and more and also receive a guidebook that serves as a reference for their financial future.

Johnson said that while most people can't learn everything they need to know in order to make sound financial decisions in an eight-hour course, "they'll at least have a better understanding of their financial outlook and know enough to ask the right questions." He said that everyone that signs up for the course has the opportunity to have a free, one-hour meeting with the instructor to discuss their personal situation but that there is no obligation to take the meeting or do anything further.

"This course is not an opportunity for solicitation," said Johnson, who stressed that the purpose of the course is for the education of the participants.

The cost for the course is $99 per participant -- all of the money goes to HIFE and no money is received by the instructor, Johnson said that companies will often offer to pay for the course for their employees in part or in whole as an added incentive. He added that anyone who takes the course once is welcome to attend future courses free of charge and receive updated information.

"Although we don't like to admit it," said Johnson, "most of us don't know as much about our finances as we'd like to."

For more information about the Heartland Institute of Financial Education, visit their Web site at http://hife-usa.org, or contact Charles Johnson at (417) 684-1276.