WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The City of Wausau is holding it’s 12th annual non-profit financial wellness conference on Saturday.
The Financial Wellness Conference from the Community Development department of the City of Wausau begins at 8:30 AM this Saturday. The conference helps local residents learn about personal finance and how to improve their money habits. Tammy Stratz the Community Development Manager for the City of Wausau describes what will happen at the conference after registration.
“You can receive a free credit report of which you can sit down with a credit counselor to have someone go over the credit report with you just to make sure you understand what it means. There’s also an opportunity to sit down with someone to do a my money checkup. Which means going over your budget trying to figure out where your shortfalls are, what you can do to make your money go farther.”
An important part of the event is the breakout sessions after the presentation. Stratz explains the different sessions one can attend. “You can pick your topics. Everything from energy conservation with WPS, budgeting basics, some estate planning, getting the best of your BadgerCare benefits. And then there’s actually three breakout sessions. So you’re able to decide which type of topic you want.”
When you think of financial wellness, you probably think of adults and budgeting. But the conference even includes a financial wellness portion for kids ages 6 and up. Stratz explains why the event includes a kids section.
“It’s never too young to start saving and thinking about money. Kids, they think that money comes easily. So it lets them go through some projects as to what does money mean. How do you earn it, how long does it take to earn what you need to earn to buy what you want? Just makes you start thinking that money isn’t something that just magically appears.”
The conference is in its 12th year and Stratz says they try to mix up the topics so return attendees can learn something new. “We try to mix it up every year so that there are a few more topics. We keep the ones that are most attended to continue to have them come in. We have people that come every year and say that they learn something new. So that’s exciting too. We can all learn.”
Registration for the event begins at 8:00 AM with a continental breakfast at Northcentral Technical College’s Center for Health Sciences. The event also includes a keynote speech from Yengyee Lor. Anyone can show up and register to attend the event which lasts from 8:30 AM to 1:30 PM.
