SHAWNEE, Okla. (OBV) – Citizen Potawatomi Nation is focused on improving financial literacy and economic opportunities for its tribal members.
April was National Financial Literacy month, but the Citizen Potawatomie Nation works year-round to enrich their tribal members with the knowledge they will need for financial success.
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation founded the Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation in 2003 to achieve that mission.
“The very first thing that we focus on with clients with financial literacy is pointing out what they’re doing well before giving suggestions on what they could do better, because it’s sometimes a difficult subject,” said CPCDC Director and CEO Cindy Logsdon.
The CPCDC helps clients reassess financial priorities during individual meetings. Logsdon said several parents rely on the school system to help their children with financial literacy, but she encourages her clients to teach their children the importance of managing their finances.
“We do pick up so many of our habits from our parents and our views on money. Our relationship with money is so grounded in our influences, and that could be school, that could be parents, that could be media, peers. But we know that financial education is either given to you in the home or not, typically,” she said.
The CPCDC partners with other organizations for quarterly “lunch and learn” sessions, covering a range of topics about banking and personal economics.
Logsdon encourages her clients to set short, intermediate and long-term financial goals. An important part of financial literacy is creating a plan, she said.
Clients are assured that the CPCDC is a confidential and judgment-free resource.
“Maybe it’s just having somebody listen and just make suggestions or work out a strategy to get themselves out of the hole,” she said. “But I think the main thing here is, no judgment. We’ve all been there, done that and taken steps through different programs to make sure that we had a more secure financial future.”
Clients’ goals often include home or business ownership, both of which require planning. The CPCDC helps clients find outside resources on their path to success.
“I would set myself up. ‘In five years, I want to be able to buy a home.’ Same with starting a business. … What does this look like? It’s almost like an ever-changing road map to know what the outcome is, and it’s not just here in my head because a lot of business owners, it’s just here in their head, and they never put it to paper,” Logsdon said.
Clients also learn budgeting and saving practices while receiving free resources, including easy-to-use online tools. The CPN-owned Sovereign Bank (formerly First National Bank & Trust, Co.) also assists with housing and auto loans.
Logsdon has tips for financial literacy, recommending a more traditional “three bucket” finance approach — spend, save and share. The plan includes placing 10 percent of total income in a savings account, donating 10 percent to a cause or organization and using the rest on expenses.
“When you start saving, it starts a healthy habit. It creates that emergency savings. … We might suggest a look at a secondary job. ‘Is there a side hustle that you could bring in more money? Is there something that you could do to increase your income, or is there something that you could do to eliminate some of your expenses?’” Logsdon said.
Clients are advised to avoid payday lending, a predatory practice that offers cash advances on upcoming paychecks with steep interest rates ranging from 150 and 650 percent, which can ensnare borrowers into a borrowing cycle.
“You could self-fund putting back a small amount of your paycheck and pay yourself first (instead). … And that should be built into a budget. You should always know where your money is going. And if you don’t know where your money’s going, that’s where you need to plug the spending leaks,” Logsdon said.
Logsdon also encourages her clients to be familiar with their credit score.
“You should pull your credit from each bureau once a year, and you can rotate that into quarters to know what’s on there. And a lot of credit reports aren’t accurate, and the bureaus allow you to dispute anything that may not be accurate to better your score,” Logsdon said.
The Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation counsels tribal members nationwide via phone or internet. To find out more, visit cpcdc.org or call 405-878-4697. Find the CPCDC on Facebook @CPNCDFI.
