Events and Event Descriptions

Below is information on the offerings during America Saves Week including confidential express credit-check-ups, individual counseling sessions, and live webinars (scroll down to see the webinar topics and descriptions).

Express Credit Check-ups

UW Credit Union

Gain an understanding of your finances with an Express Credit Check-up.

During this confidential, no-cost 30-minute appointment, you will meet virtually one-on-one with a UW Credit Union financial specialist to review your credit report and discuss your financial goals. An Express Credit Check-up pdf is tailored specifically to your needs, from understanding your credit score to exploring opportunities to save money.

The financial experts can help you:

  • Learn how to improve or maintain your credit score
  • Find ways to save money
  • Build confidence in your finances

To verify identity, have your ID readily available (such as your driver’s license or government issued photo ID). Also, decide if you want the financial expert to retrieve your credit score. Note: If you have a freeze on your credit, you will need to unfreeze it through Experian prior to your appointment, so your credit can be retrieved.

Individual Counseling Sessions

Fidelity Counseling Sessions (403(b) Program)

One-on-one counseling sessions are confidential, free, and available to employees eligible for the UW 403(b) Supplemental Retirement Program (SRP). Counseling sessions are available to all employees and do not require you to open an account. Sessions are generally 30-45 minutes, depending on location.

TIAA Counseling Sessions (403(b) Program)

One-on-one counseling sessions are confidential, free, and available to employees eligible for the UW 403(b) Supplemental Retirement Program (SRP). Counseling sessions are available to all employees and do not require you open an account. Sessions are generally 45-60 minutes, depending on location.

Empower Counseling Sessions (WDC 457 Program)

Schedule a meeting with a Wisconsin Deferred Compensation (WDC) 457 Program Retirement Plan Advisor to discuss topics like your asset allocation, savings rate, planned retirement age, retirement income needs, and how they all work together to create your retirement readiness.

Webinars

Webinars are available systemwide. Click on the title of the event to jump to the description below.

Webinars Descriptions

Create a budget and build emergency savings

Learn how to set-up two important building blocks of your financial well-being, your budget and your emergency savings.

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Customize your debt plan to save money

This session will help you understand your debt and how it is currently structured. It will provide you with insights on important factors of your debt that aren’t always considered. You should walk away feeling more confident about the actions you can take to meet your debt reduction goals and save on interest costs.

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establish a spending and savings plan that you can stick to

Establishing a spending and savings plan (budget) means organizing your finances so you have a clear view of your unique scenario, allowing you to make informed decisions with your money. During this session, you can expect to get a clear view of your finances, set financial goals based on your lifestyle, create/revise your budget, and receive help along the way!

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Financial wellness with Wisconsin Deferred Compensation (WDC) 457 program

The Wisconsin Deferred Compensation (WDC) 457 Program is a supplemental retirement program that allows you to invest a portion of your income on a pre-tax and/or after-tax (Roth) basis. Join this webinar to learn more about how the WDC can help you reach your retirement savings goals!

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Five Money Musts

Learn about five basic money concepts to help you start or continue your financial journey on the right foot!

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First time home buyers

Buying a home is a major life and financial milestone. Join this session to learn from home buying experts about preparing for your home search, exploring different loan options, understanding the mortgage process, and managing your budget and costs prior to and after purchasing your home.

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handling financial stress

A significant percentage of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, even those with six figure incomes. This webinar will provide you with concrete steps to stabilize and support your income, control your spending, and plan for emergencies. Best practices for maximizing opportunities to earn and save will be shared so you can apply solutions to your personal financial situation.

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Identify and Prioritize Your savings Goals

Get strategies and tips for prioritizing and funding your specific savings goals, such as buying a home or car, saving for your children’s higher education, and more!

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Inside money: managing money and debt

It’s your budget, so take control. People talk about budgets but how many of us actually have one. Most people have some debt but how many understand its effects on their lives and their futures. This webinar will teach you about the real impact of budgeting and debt and how to help make your money work. This session will explain the importance of cash flow, and how to manage your saving, spending, and debt.

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INVEST for success: 5 principles

No matter where you are in your career journey, this webinar will help you understand the key principles of investing for retirement. From compounding taxes to choosing investments, you’ll learn that how much you invest for retirement is just as important as how much you save. This session will discuss how you can take advantage of tax-advantaged savings accounts, commit and stick to regular contributions, choose an appropriate investment mix, and review your strategy regularly.

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INVEST CONFIDENTLY FOR YOUR FUTURE

Learn how to build and manage a long-term investment plan, for all your accounts, that you can feel confident about.

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investing in your future: introduction to the 403(b) program

Learn how the UW 403(b) Supplemental Retirement Program can help you save for your future.

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Investment basics

An understanding of the role investments play in your finances can help you make the most of your money and build a well-rounded financial plan. An investing strategy can help you achieve your financial goals, whether near- or long-term. How do you know where to start? Join this session to learn the basics of investing and how to set-up a foundation for you to build upon.

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living off your paycheck

Common sense advice for making ends meet. This webinar will cover goal setting and how your money beliefs can affect the way you save and spend. We will discuss how to reduce debt, the difference between “meat” and “gravy,” and how to increase your wealth.

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pay it down: save by creating & sticking to a debt repayment plan

Are you looking to take control of your debt and save money in the process? If so, this session may be for you! We will share insights on how credit can impact savings when paying down debt, how to create a realistic debt repayment plan, and how to stick to your plan.

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PLANNING A FINANCIAL FUTURE

Preparing for the future means having financial resources to fall back on in the event of an emergency while building wealth through saving and investments. Yet many of us are not saving like we should be. During this webinar, we will talk about some typical roadblocks that prevent us from saving and ways to deal with them.

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Saving for Higher Education with a 529 College Savings Plan

Setting a college savings goal and developing a strategy early can fit within a well-planned household budget. 

Join this webinar to learn about the benefits of saving for higher education with an Edvest 529 College Saving Plan. Edvest is a state-sponsored, tax-advantaged 529 college savings plan that can help you plan and save for the cost of higher education. Funds can be used to help cover the cost of tuition, apprenticeships, room and board, books, supplies, computers, technology, and more. Or you can use the funds to pay back student loan debt.

It only takes 15 minutes to open an account. Then, you can set-up recurring automatic contributions through payroll direct deposit or through your bank or credit union. 

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Strategize your savings

This webinar will discuss strategies for prioritizing savings when building your budget and planning your spending. It will also provide different savings tools and products that can help you reach your financial goals. 

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Tackle Debt and Understand Your credit score

Discover different strategies for paying down your debt. Learn how to better understand your credit score. Overall, take better control of your finances.

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Take control of your financial life: 5 steps to managing money

This webinar will help you learn how to manage your money and balance your priorities so you can enjoy life now and save for the future. This session will discuss balancing your income and expenses, prioritizing your spending, using debt wisely, getting your debt under control, and building your credit score.

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Teaching our children about money

Surveys have repeatedly shown that many teenagers do not understand basic financial concepts. This webinar will cover how to teach your children about money by looking at our money values and the way we talk about money. We will discuss parental attitudes toward allowance, working, how to set goals, and spending and saving strategies.

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WRS: How to use ETF’s online retirement calculator

This webinar will walk you through how to use ETF’s online retirement calculator. By the end of the webinar, you should be able to understand your ETF Statement of Benefits, and how to enter information into ETF’s online retirement calculator so you can see an unofficial estimate of how much money you will receive from your WRS benefit during retirement.

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WRS: preparing for your retirement

Are you planning to retire within the next five years? If so, register for this webinar to learn more about your WRS benefits and the retirement process. You will also learn about the different annuity options and how your health and life insurance benefits will change in retirement.

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Updated: 12/19/2024