Retired advisor helps others sharpen their financial literacy skills

(Editor’s note: This article is one of a series in honor of April as Financial Literacy Month.)

Money is the one tool we all use, and anyone can sharpen their skills with it.

Those are the words that Stephanie Batten lives by as she helps others hone their financial literacy skills.

Batten is a retired wealth advisor in Wilson, N.C., who now uses her experience to help others understand how to make the most of their money.

“After 26-plus years selling insurance and working in financial services, I realized the biggest missing piece – even among people who have money – is basic personal financial concepts,” Batten told InsuranceNewsNet.

Batten said since she retired, she is no longer interested in selling products. Instead, she is devoted to educating people about money and how to use it as a life skill.

“I believe there must be a way we can teach people to be smarter about their money,” she said. “I believe anybody can learn, and I think it should start early, just like math and the alphabet and reading that start with these little concepts in kindergarten, first and second grade. I think money should be approached the same way.”

Using money to the fullest

Not everyone has a house or a car, Batten said, but everyone has money and will use money, which is why she believes everyone must learn how to use money to the fullest.

Batten has been doing financial workshops at a church in her community. Topics include everything from understanding insurance basics to the financial aspects of preparing for death – such as designating beneficiaries and making a will.

She also is doing what she calls “private tutoring” – working individually with people who need help with issues ranging from managing their bank accounts to preparing for retirement.

The one thing Batten said everyone needs to know about financial literacy is that “it starts with a budget.”

“Budget is not a dirty word. Budget is not restrictive. A budget doesn’t have to be something that tells you what not to do,” she said. “A budget can be a guidelines that teaches you what you can do, what you can adjust and what you can expand.”

Batten said she has always built budgeting into her work with clients. “But for whatever reason, I think the word ‘budget’ and the context of the word and how people hear it is in a negative light, and I’d like to turn that into a positive.”

'Lifestyle' and not 'budget'

She prefers to use the word “lifestyle” when discussing budgeting with clients.

“I ask clients, ‘What is your lifestyle?’ And then we always come back to the word ‘budget.’ You can almost see people physically tense up when you say the word ‘budget’ because people frequently believe it’s a restrictive concept.”

Although she teaches clients and community members about money, Batten believes financial literacy education should begin at home.

“Money tends to be a dirty word at home,” she said. “Parents, for whatever reason, tend to whisper their conversations about money around their children instead of opening up the conversation. To me, that’s where it needs to start and I think that’s probably why schools don’t address it – because I think they assume those conversations are going on at home.”

Batten said she believes parents often are struggling with their understanding of money and are forced to learn from their financial mistakes.

“I’d like to see fewer mistakes,” she said. “I think those mistakes could be avoided with a little education.”

 

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