cccs of rochester/rethinkingdebt headquarters: 1000 ... 2014 newslet… · for many, the holiday...
TRANSCRIPT
Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Rochester/ RethinkingDebt want to take this oppor-
tunity to salute military families during Military Family Appreciation Month, applauding our
service members and those who stand behind the service member by providing support and
making sacrifices of their own.
CCCS of Rochester/RethinkingDebt have many military-specific national partnerships to assist
service members with their financial concerns:
Coast Guard Mutual Assistance: Since 2003, NFCC members have offered tailored financial
counseling for Coast Guard members and their families. Recently the partnership expanded
to include financial education workshops.
Military OneSource: Since 2008, NFCC members have offered face-to-face financial counsel-
ing to service members and their families under the Military OneSource program.
Hands on Banking® for Military: Sharpen Your Financial Focus™, includes a program ex-
clusively for service members. Hands on Banking for Military is a free financial education pro-
gram created to address the financial literacy challenges facing military members, veterans,
and their families. The program is designed to address military service members' unique
needs at every stage of their career.
Army OneSource: CCCS of Rochester participates in the Army OneSource NYS Financial Alli-
ance, a group of government agencies and nonprofit collaborators with a mission of promot-
ing financial education to our service members and their families.
CCCS of Rochester/ RethinkingDebt are here to help our service members and families with
their financial concerns. Call us at 585-546-3440/ 888-724-2227 or visit our website at
www.cccsofrochester.org/ www.rethinkingdebt.org.
Military Family Appreciation Month
CCCS of Rochester/RethinkingDebt Headquarters: 1000 University Ave, Rochester, NY 14607 **FALL 2014**
Inside this issue:
Military Families 1
Holiday Spending 2
MyMoneyCheckup 2
ElderONE 3
New Website! 4
Ask CCCS 4
FICO Score Changes 5
By: Lynette Baker, Director of Outreach and Marketing
Page 2
Holiday Spending Tips
For many, the holiday season is a time
of year that is filled with fun and
laughter while being surrounded by
family and friends. However, it can
also be a time when we can lose track
of our financial goals and struggle
with keeping a balanced budget. Here
are a few tips to allow you to spread
holiday joy while maintaining a rea-
sonable budget this holiday season.
Make a list of what you will be
buying – by limiting spontane-
ous purchases, you are better able
to keep your budget in line.
Decide how much you will be
spending on each person –
though we often have an idea in
our minds, writing things down
and updating as we spend helps
keep our purchases in line with
our budget.
Set aside money each month as
part of your budget – putting
money aside each pay period
helps people not feel the effects
of holiday spending all at once.
This can be done by transferring
funds to a savings account or
even simply putting funds in an
envelope that is kept in a safe
place.
Pay in cash – With debit cards,
it is easy to lose track of how
much is being spent. Even worse,
when items are placed on a credit
card, balances are often not paid
in full and accrue interest. This
throws the idea of a balanced
budget out the window. Paying
with cash will help you better
stick to your spending limits.
Be Creative – personalized gifts
that are homemade are not only
less expensive, but are unique and
show added thought and effort
and can be better received.
Call us for additional budgeting
assistance or help with holiday
spending.
Sharpen Your Financial Focus
(SYFF) is a program which launched
at NFCC member agencies in Fall
2013. This Fall marks year 2 of the
program. SYFF is a 3 step personal
financial stabilization program.
MyMoneyCheckup– this is a
web-based financial assessment
tool. It takes 10-15 minutes to
complete and gives you a prelimi-
nary idea of how you are doing
with your finances. This tool can
be accessed on our websites.
Comprehensive Financial Re-
view– This a more in-depth view
of your finances with one of our
Certified Financial Professionals.
This is a free appointment that
can be completed in person or
over the phone. You will receive
a detailed action plan and a rec-
ommended budget.
Targeted Education- This step is
designed to be a targeted activity
that allows for further education.
It could be a workshop or a fol-
low-up to your financial review.
These 3 steps can be completed in
any order and, while we recommend
all three steps, not all three steps are
required. You can pick and choose
which you would like to complete.
Remember, all are free of charge,
though.
CCCS of Rochester/ RethinkingDebt
are thrilled that over 1200 people
have taken advantage of this program
in the first year. We are hoping to
have even more participants this year.
Start by visiting our websites and
clicking on the MyMoneyCheckup
link, or call us for an appointment.
One of our Client Support representa-
tives is available to answer your call
M-F 9a-5p or you can send us an
email through our websites. We look
forward to helping you get your fi-
nances back on track.
By: Anthony DiLuglio, Advisor
Sharpen Your Financial Focus 2.0
By: Lynette Baker, Director of Outreach and Marketing
Page 3
ElderONE
By: Doris Green, Director of Managed Financial Services
BalancedCare is one of the many pro-
grams of CCCS of Rochester. One of
the services of BalancedCare is to
provide Medicaid Application Assis-
tance for older adults who are seeking
community based services in order to
remain independent in the communi-
ty. Access to Medicaid is the only
way to qualify for Medicaid Managed
Long Term Care (MMLTC) services
such as home care, PERS units, day
programming, home health care aides
and more.
BalancedCare receives referrals from
many agencies in the Rochester area.
In this newsletter, we are highlighting
one such agency- ElderONE. We
receive many referrals from Elde-
rONE for families that are seeking
the unique services offered by Bal-
ancedCare. Our role at BalancedCare
is to assist these families with the
complex Medicaid application pro-
cess. If needed, we then help our cli-
ents gain access to a pooled trust.
Pooled trusts are designed to help
people with disabilities shelter excess
income in order to qualify them for
Medicaid and community services.
In many instances, we also need to
assist in the qualifying process for
older adults to use a pooled trust. We
provide comprehensive information
on all Rochester area agencies that
offer these community based ser-
vices.
ElderONE is an affiliate of Roches-
ter Regional Health System and gives
elderly men and women an alterna-
tive to nursing home placement. De-
signed for individuals 55 years or
older, the Program of All-Inclusive
Care for the Elderly (PACE) provides
highly coordinated services that ena-
ble participants to remain in their
own home- maintaining their inde-
pendence without compromising their
medical care or safety.
PACE offers all of the necessary
health, medical and social services
needed to ensure that participants can
enjoy their independence while main-
taining their dignity and quality of
life with confidence. These services
include medical care, home health
and personal care, social services,
prescription and over the-counter-
drugs, home nursing services, medi-
cal specialists, rehabilitative and sup-
portive services, transportation to
program-related medical and social
services, adult day care, acute hospi-
tal care and nursing home services.
All ElderONE participants must be
55 years old or older and fit the fol-
lowing criteria:
You must be determined to be in need
of nursing home level of care, based
on an accepted standard guideline set
by New York State.
You must be determined to need El-
derONE services for more than 120
days and you must be capable of re-
siding safely in the community with
ElderONE support services at the
time of enrollment.
You must also be a resident of Mon-
roe County.
Upon determination of eligibility you
must complete the ElderONE assess-
ment and enrollment process.
Contact Doris Green at CCCS of
Rochester if you would like to know
more about BalancedCare and our
Medicaid Application Assistance Pro-
gram- 585-360-1856. You can also
visit our website for more infor-
mation– www.cccsofrochester.org/
balancedcare
Page 4
New Websites
CCCS of Rochester/ RethinkingDebt are
very happy to announce the launch of
our newly updated websites. We have
recently made significant changes to our
websites, while still retaining all the
information and tools you have always
used on the sites. They have been
streamlined to make them easier to read
and navigate. The websites are also now
mobile optimized so you can access our
website on your cell phone, tablet or
other mobile device in the proper format.
The layout is much cleaner and easier to
read and we have made it very simple to
contact us or to find the information that
you are looking for. The menus are
mega drop down menus and we have
narrowed the options but have still re-
tained all the important features. The
Quick Links feature makes it effortless
to quickly get to the things that most
people seek on our websites.
There are now multiple services that can
be paid for online. You can make online
payments for the Debt Management Pro-
gram, Student Loan Counseling, Medi-
caid Application Assistance and New
Homebuyer Education.
Social Media is another enhanced fea-
ture. It is now easier than ever to connect
with us on social media sites like Face-
book, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
A simple click of the proper button will
take you directly to our listing on the
chosen social media.
We hope you will visit our new sites and
look around at all the great features and
information that is there for you.
www.cccsofrochester.org
www.rethinkingdebt.org
Don’t forget that while we have tried to
make it easier for you to contact us via
the digital world, our staff is still here to
answer your calls and questions. If you
prefer contacting us the old fashioned
way, we are here M-F 9a-1p and 2-5p.
Call us at 585-546-3440 or 888-724-
2227.
By: Lynette Baker, Director of Outreach and Marketing
Ask CCCS
By: Michael Riley, Client Support Supervisor
Each newsletter, we will choose a question or two that comes from our clients. These questions will be
ones that we feel could be beneficial to all of our clients.
Question:
Can I get a mortgage loan or auto loan while on the debt management program?
Answer:
This is actually a very common question from many of our clients, and with good reason. When a client enters
into the Debt Management Program with Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Rochester/ RethinkingDebt, they
agree not to acquire any additional debt. However, exceptions are made for necessities. Such necessities could
include but are not limited to car loans, mortgages, and/or refinancing a mortgage. CCCS, like any debt manage-
ment agency, does not decide whether or not a client is able to qualify for a mortgage or car loan. The fact is, that
CCCS has had many clients successfully obtain car loans, purchase new homes, and secure home repair loans.
Many times CCCS has even assisted clients in obtaining these types of loans by providing letters and documenta-
tion that our clients were able to provide to their lending institutions. So the answer is, yes, it is possible, but will
depend on your personal circumstances.
Page 5
FICO Score Changes
Have you ever wondered what effect not paying a medical copay or ambulance ride can have on your
credit score? Currently, not making an on time payment at your doctors office or local hospital could make you
either ineligible for mortgages or credit cards, or force you to pay a higher interest rates when obtaining an auto or
other loan. The steadily rising number of Americans with medical collection accounts / debts has caused Fair Issac
Co. to re-evaluate the way medical delinquencies are reported. Soon, medical delinquencies will be weighted dif-
ferently than credit card and other types of debt. This means that your medical debt will not count as heavily
against your credit score. This change will allow more people to obtain mortgages and car loans with reasonable
interest rates. The following is a list of items used to calculate credit scores and how much each item affects your
score.
• Payment History– 35%
• Amounts Owed– 30%
• Length of Credit History– 15%
• New Credit– 10%
• Types of Credit Used– 10%
The graph below is an example of how your credit score can effect your rates and as a result, your payments. We
should begin seeing this FICO score change around late Fall 2014.
There is also good news for
people who are currently rent-
ing but are contemplating pur-
chasing their first home. Previ-
ously, paying your rent on
time every month would have
no bearing on your credit
score, possibly making it more
difficult to obtain a mortgage.
By: Lynette Rieke, Advisor
However, when purchasing a
home, on time rent payments
could be the most accurate
indication a lender can have
when trying to determine a
borrowers ability to repay
their mortgage. Experian and
Transunion are collaborating
with RentTrack, a service that
enables tenants across the
country to pay their rent
online and benefit by having those monthly payments included in their credit reports.
These new changes to FICO score calculations are expected to help many raise their credit score thus enabling
them to secure loans to help purchase homes, cars, etc at better interest rates than were possible in the past. If
you have questions, feel free to call our Client Support department or sign up for one of our free credit score
workshops.
Non-Profit Org
US Postage
PAID
Rochester, NY
Permit NO. 986
Toll Free Phone: 1-888-724-2227
Email: [email protected]
Headquarters:
1000 University Ave., Suite 900
Rochester, NY 14607
Phone: (585) 546-3440
Fax: (585) 546-5693
Toll Free- (888) 724-2227
This newsletter is a publication of CCCS of Rochester/ RethinkingDebt.org, a Not-for-Profit agency. It is a source of information for clients, sponsors, representatives of the credit industry, and the service networks supportive of our mission and vision.
Stay Connected with CCCS/RethinkingDebt