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Money Matters
Feeling stressed out by money is normal when you’re dealing with mental health or addictions challenges. We made Money Matters because we understand financial troubles can cause unneeded stress when people are on the road to recovery. Together, we can improve your money management skills and reduce money related stress
Money Matters is a partnership between Momentum,YWCA Calgary, The Alex and Calgary John Howard Society (CJHS) that provides financial literacy support and services to individuals living with mental health or addiction challenges.
Financial Education
Momentum facilitators deliver a series of seven workshops hosted by various organizations within the Calgary health community. We work with organizations to ensure our programming is delivered at the right time for those on the road to recovery.
Financial Administration
The Financial Administrator from CASS and CJHS offers one-on-one participant-directed support to individuals who find it difficult to manage their finances on their own.
Participants in this program experience positive changes in their lives, including:
Increased financial stability.
Increased mental wellness and improved ability to manage addiction.
Maintained housing and supported in feeling more independent.
Decreased feelings of social isolation.
To book Money Matters workshops for participants at your agency call
403-204-2687 or [e-mail]
If you or someone you know are not facing mental health or addictions challenges, but would still like to access our money management programs, Matched Savings For Adults might be a great program to explore!
Whilst some ‘autopilot’ initiatives such as auto-enrolment and auto-escalation in retirement savings - inspired by insights from behavioural science - have certainly had huge impacts and made leaps forward in basic participation in savings schemes, they ask nothing from individuals in terms of engagement.
This type of approach leverages what is known in behavioural science as a ‘System 1’ approach – when behaviour change is achieved by relying on our tendency towards inertia and settling for the status quo, and for choices and selections that require the least effort in both thought and action on our part.
In this scenario, an individual could be auto-enrolled into a pension in their current job, accept the default fund(s) and the default contribution rate (currently 2% in the UK, but increasing over time to an eventual 8% in 2019), but have very little understanding or engagement with their pension. Individuals might not even remember they are enrolled in a pension plan, let alone think about how to optimise it for their needs. And not consciously choosing to do something can result in a lower level of commitment and responsibility or ownership.
In the US, this lack of engagement also means that people are cashing out their retirement savings, not understanding how vital it is to keep these savings untouched. One in four households with a defined contribution fund cashes-out its savings, meaning that as much as $70 billion is withdrawn from 401(k)s on an annual basis.
Jonathan Rowson of the RSA summarises the issue succinctly: “Nudge changes the environment in such a way that people change their behaviour, but it doesn’t change people at any deeper level in terms of attitudes, values, motivations etc.” He and other social scientists still see the need for a more conscious, thoughtful engagement, which aims to “foster the transformative learning we need to make significant and enduring changes to our behaviour.”