Learn Financial Literacy for Free Right Here in Burlington

If you’ve ever tried planning for your financial future, or been in a difficult financial situation, you might have found yourself overwhelmed, wondering where you’re even supposed to start. How do you get the information you need? What information do you need to begin with? And how much is it going to cost to secure your finances for your retirement and other future needs?

Burlington Community Financial Center is here to answer all those questions, along with the ones you never knew you had. Founded in 2019 by Kannika Seung, BCFC has a simple mission: To empower individuals and communities with the knowledge to secure their financial future and create a cycle of generational wealth for their families.

Like many who immigrate to the United States, when Kannika arrived in 2009 she didn’t have a strong understanding of how the country’s financial system works. Though Kannika graduated with a degree in accounting from UMass Lowell, she found herself embroiled in a debt that seemed insurmountable.

In seeking to free herself from debt, Kannika found an organization called World System Builder (WSB) that helped her straighten out her finances and develop financial literacy. Once she became financially independent, she made it her goal to help others do the same.

The mission of WSB is to empower 30 million families by 2030 with the tools they need for a better financial future, and they’ve already reached 3 million. Here in Burlington, BCFC is doing their part by offering free financial workshops to anyone who is interested in learning how to protect and manage their finances and invest in their and their family’s future.

Those who have immigrated to the United States are an especially receptive audience, says Kannika’s business partner, Ryan Lipson, because they’re aware of what they don’t know and eager to learn how to make the money they earn in the U.S. work for them. But those who have grown up here often have little understanding of how our country’s financial system works, either.

This is because we have little to no financial literacy education in our nation’s schools. Access to information about financial literacy, then, is restricted to those who can afford financial planning services or those whose family can counsel them around how to build wealth. For the millions of Americans who don’t have that access, the cycle of generational poverty continues, and for many the only way they learn about the ins and outs of this country’s financial systems is by making very costly mistakes with long-term consequences.

Burlington Community Financial Center and WSB are working to partner with educational agencies and lobbying along with the Common Start Coalition at the state level to provide financial literacy education for our nation’s students, but in the meantime Kannika and Ryan are committed to teaching adults how to prioritize saving and investment now so they can save money later. Their vision is for everyone in the country to be in the financial position they’d like to be when they are ready to retire, or in the case of something unexpected happening. “Generations changing will change society itself,” says Lipson, who sees the impact of this work one client at a time.

“When we ask someone how much money they’d like to have when they retire,” says Lipson, “most people say ‘a million dollars.’” But when the volunteers at BCFC work with clients to go over their finances, often they find that number would be impossible without some lifestyle changes. “Everybody can save money,” says Lipson, “but you must make it a priority.”

Ryan’s best piece of advice for those who are working toward financial independence is to look at their personal finances to find where they can trim down and protect their money, such as with life insurance policies and other interest-bearing vehicles. He also cautions clients against relying on pensions, social security, and other government programs to provide everything they need during retirement, especially given the rate of inflation and the downward trend in social security benefits.

While you consider that, why not also take a look at all Burlington Community Financial Center has to offer? Take one of the free workshops (offered seven days a week!) on topics from debt management to asset accumulation to the interplay between financial wealth and physical health. Get referrals to professionals who can help you implement the skills you learn in their workshops. If you make a low to moderate income, take advantage of free tax preparation in conjunction with the IRS.

We all want to leave our children in a stronger financial position than we and our parents were in. Burlington Community Financial Center can help you make that dream a reality.

You can reach Kannika and Ryan at (617)-624-8081 or bcfcofma@gmail.com, or at their website or business address: 83 Cambridge Street, Suite 2a; Burlington, MA.