General FAQs
1. What does financialfootprint do?
financialfootprint llc provides personal finance education and guidance support services to its Members for an annual subscription fee. financialfootprint is a web-based service designed to help young adults understand and deal with personal finance issues. Each individual, through our website, picks a personal finance guide from our team of experts. Via one-on-one web video, audio, or instant message chatting, we educate Members on personal finance questions and help build strategies to manage and improve each person’s financial situation. Currently the service supports ten personal finance topics: auto insurance, auto loans, banking basics, budgeting, credit cards, employee benefits, financial aid, health insurance, investing basics, and renting properties. We update our content continuously, and we will be introducing more topics pertinent to personal finance for young adults.
2. What kind of information will I share with financialfootprint?
To establish your Membership with financialfootprint llc you will be asked to provide:
- Basic contact information (your name, email address, phone number)
- Buyers of Subscriptions Only – Basic billing information (credit card number, billing address, card type, expiration)
- From time to time you may be asked to share additional information relative to your personal finances so financialfootprint can tailor the education and guidance services to your specific needs. Review our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for details relative to how financialfootprint llc protects your information and privacy.
3. What does financialfootprint do with the information I provide?
Some information is used to maintain your Membership account (name, email address, etc.) Other information is used in the process of providing individualized education and guidance support. The information is between you and us. Review our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for details relative to how financialfootprint llc protects your information and privacy.
4. How much does a financialfootprint subscription cost?
financialfootprint llc is a subscription based service. The annual cost of this subscription is $120. This amount is to be paid in full before the subscription is to begin. Subscription to financialfootprint provides unlimited one-on-one access to our team of experts (Personal Finance Guide), as well as content, resources, and apps across a number of personal finance topics.
5. How does financialfootprint make money?
financialfootprint llc generates its revenue via the purchase price for each member’s subscription. We also have relationships with high schools, colleges, and universities who purchase our services for student and alumni populations. These institutional relationships are also structured in the form of subscriptions and may from time to time include certain fee for service elements.
Additionally we have created a “recommended reading” list that we update periodically. Members can purchase books from this list via a direct link to Amazon.com. financialfootprint llc receives a small marketing allowance for each purchase.
We do not make money from advertising and do not sell financial products or receive commissions whatsoever.
6. Do I have to download Skype?
No, you do not need to download Skype. We recommend using Skype to communicate with our Personal Finance Guides, but we also offer to speak with Members via the phone or GoogleChat. If you do not select Skype as your communication preference you do not need to download the application.
Skype is a free application that our Personal Finance Guides use to communicate with our Members. Once downloaded and installed on your computer, Skype allows users to web chat, and make audio/video calls over the Internet. We also love Skype for its “screen share” feature which allows us to show you (real-time) items on our computer screen that will further enhance the way we answer and address your questions. This feature works great for showing our Members how to get started with a budget, how to use any of our calculators and other tools. We have found this to be an effective tool in delivering our service but, again, it is not the only tool we use.
If you do select the Skype communication option you will need the following:
a) Keyboard if you want to web chat
b) Microphone & Speakers if you want to engage in an audio chat
c) Web Camera if you want to engage in a video chat
(Keep in mind the video chat feature is completely optional, so there is no need to run out and buy a web camera).
7. Do I have to use Skype to connect with financialfootprint?
No. Our Members do not have to use Skype to connect with financialfootprint. That is one option we suggest. financialfootprint can also contact you on your cell phone or GoogleChat for the appointment. Through the appointment scheduling process, you will be able to select your communication preference.
8. Does my computer have to meet certain software/hardware requirements?
All you need to use the financialfootprint website and connect with your Personal Finance Guide is a Windows or MAC computer, an internet connection, a keyboard, speakers, and a microphone. If you decide to engage with us via a videochat (purely optional of course) you will need a built-in or external webcam.
financialfootprint Personal Finance Guide
1. What is a Personal Finance Guide?
An employee of financialfootprint llc whom is also a Certified Personal Finance Counselor®. Each of our Members choose a Guide to start with. Members have the opportunity to change their Guide at any time during their subscription period. From time to time your Personal Finance Guide may bring in other experts on the team to assist in supporting you in the most effective manner possible.
2. What is a Certified Personal Finance Counselor® (CPFC) program?
The Certified Personal Finance Counselor® is a comprehensive program designed to allow financial counselors to assist clients with establishing personal budgets, evaluating debt loads, setting financial goals, and developing a plan of action. Certification ensures that individuals have been trained and tested in counseling skills and the fundamentals of personal finance management. This program is administered by the Center for Financial Certifications.
3. What does a Personal Finance Guide do?
Our Personal Finance Guides are hired to provide objective individualized personal finance education and guidance in a one-on-one setting to our Members. Personal Finance Guides will focus on addressing issues and opportunities specific to each Member. During the one-on -one meeting they will look to resolve questions, teach personal finance concepts, and provide guidance. Members will have the option to meet with Personal Finance Guides regularly over the course of the year or purely on an ad hoc basis. Appointments are scheduled 30 minutes at a time, but can be shorter depending on the need. In addition to running the learning session, Personal Finance Guides will also assist in providing research, putting together session notes, and helping Members with using the various applications within the website.
4. What is the interaction between me and my Personal Finance Guide?
The primary interactions will happen via web or phone based communication including web chat, web audio, and video chats. In addition, Members will be able to contact their guide via e-mail and wall posts within their financialfootprint personal Dashboard.
5. I want to schedule an appointment with a Personal Finance Guide. How do I do that?
Scheduling an appointment with a Personal Finance Guide is easy. First, log into www.financialfootprint.com and you will be taken to your personal Dashboard. From there, click on “connect with a guide” from the navigation menu. You will be taken to the 5 Easy Steps instruction where you can get started with the process, but if you’re ready, then just click on “Get Started”.
Step 1: Pick Your Guide. Mosey through our guide profiles and learn about each guide. Pick whoever you want, and if you want to change up your guide later, go for it. Get the help that fits you best.
Step 2: Choose Your Method. Select how you want to communicate with your guide. Use what you want: Skype, phone, GoogleChat, or smoke signal (smoke signal temporarily down), all for free. Our favorite is Skype because we can share our screen with you and send you cool stuff! BTW, did you know Skype works without video? No need for a webcam.
Step 3: Submit Questions. You got personal finance questions? We got answers. Write down any question you have. Write a few or even an essay. That way, we get all the info to answer your questions.
Step 4: Schedule an Appointment. Check out available times for your guide. Appointments are 30 minutes or less. We are here Mon-Sat from 9am-7pm.
Step 5: Rendezvous. On the day and time of the meeting, we’ll contact you so … see you then!
Once you’ve submitted a date and time, you will receive an e-mail confirmation. In addition you will receive reminder e-mails 24 hours and 1 hour before your appointment. You can also keep track of your appointments and other scheduled events in the alert notification section of your personal Dashboard.
6. I want to pick a new Personal Finance Guide. How can I do that?
You always have an option to pick a new Personal Finance Guide. We encourage our Members to stay with one Guide to build a longer term relationship, but we allow all our members the opportunity to switch at anytime. Simply log in at www.financialfootprint.com and you will be taken to your personal Dashboard. From the Dashboard you will see the Personal Finance Guide widget and select the “change your guide” link.
financialfootprint safety and security
1. How do I know that all my personal finance information is safe with financialfootprint?
We have established policies and procedures both internally and with our third party partners to maintain the security of all member information. Please review our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for more information.
2. Do I need my credit card information to use financialfootprint?
If you are the person purchasing the subscription, yes. Your credit card is processed and charged the individual subscription fee of $120 annually so you can start to utilize financialfootprint.com, make an appointment with your Personal Finance Guide, and access your personal Dashboard, content, resources and apps. If you received your membership as a gift or through your school you will not need to provide your credit card information.
3. Do you store my credit card information on your servers?
Our transaction processing has been established via a Payment Gateway with PayPal. Through this relationship we capture your credit card information to accept subscriptions to our service but we DO NOT store your credit card information on our servers. Your credit card information is stored via a secure third-party service, PayPal. We do store your billing address for the purposes of contact information only. Via Amazon.com we also facilitate the opportunity for you to purchase certain books and in that process you will be utilizing Amazon.com’s merchant processes. See our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for more information.
4. I forgot my financialfootprint password. What do I do?
From financialfootprint.com, click on the “sign in” button on the top right navigation. This will take you to the financialfootprint login page where you will click on the “I don’t remember my password” link.
financialfootprint subscription
1. I want to purchase a subscription for myself. How can I do that?
From financialfootprint.com, you click on the “subscribe now” button. You will be taken to the subscription page where you will choose “purchasing a subscription for you” and this will take you to the subscription form. All we need is your name, email, password, telephone number, Skype username (optional), and billing information to complete your subscription purchase.
2. I want to gift a subscription to someone. How can I do that?
From financialfootprint.com, you can click on the “gift now” button. You will be taken to the subscription page where you will choose gifting a subscription and this will take you to the subscription form. All we need is your name, email, and billing information. We also need the name and email of whoever you are gifting the subscription to in order to complete the “gifting a subscription” process.
3. How do I redeem a gift subscription?
You can redeem your pre-paid subscription in two ways. First you should receive an e-mail entitled “You have been gifted a subscription to financialfootprint.com”. Within that e-mail is a link to the redeem page of the site. If you were unable to locate this e-mail in your inbox, you can visit financialfootprint.com and click on the “Redeem Now” button located on the marketing page. This page will allow for you to input your e-mail address to receive an activation token for your account via email. Keep in mind you must enter your e-mail address that was submitted by the gifter during the gift process.
4. I’m not satisfied with my subscription. What do I do?
financialfootprint llc has established a Money Back Guarantee benefit for all Members. We hope that you provide us with feedback prior to considering whether or not to take advantage of the guarantee. Should you be less than satisfied please provide feedback via our online Feedback icon located on every web page or drop a note via the Contact Us section of our site. For additional information on the Money Back Guarantee please review our Terms of Use.
5. I want to cancel my subscription. How can I do that?
financialfootprint llc has established a Money Back Guarantee benefit for all Members. Outside of this benefit we do not offer any partial or full refunds. Please review our Terms of Use for further details as to how this benefit works.
financialfootprint features
1. When I sign-up, I have to answer a Financial Awareness Survey. What is that?
The Financial Awareness Survey (FAS) is a short ten question survey that we provide to help gauge your overall personal finance awareness before engaging in our service. It helps us better tailor our service to meet your overall needs.
2. What is my financialfootprint Dashboard?
Your financialfootprint Dashboard is your own personal hub of information, resources, and access to apps. Think of it as your own financialfootprint homepage where you can interact with your Personal Finance Guide, view your schedule of events and appointments, view notes from past sessions with guides, take polls, view FAQs, and popular articles others are reading, and so forth.
3. What is my financialfootprint Learning Center?
The Learning Center is filled with easy to digest articles, resources, FAQs, checklists, and so forth across the following topics: auto insurance, auto loans, banking basics, budgeting, credit cards, employee benefits, financial aid, health insurance, investing basics, and renting. Each topic has an introduction, further details and subtopic, as well as key points to remember. If you have any questions, your Personal Finance Guide is there to help you.
4. What personal finance topics can financialfootprint help me with?
financialfootprint covers a range of personal finance topics, which includes: auto insurance, auto loans, banking basics, budgeting, credit cards, employee benefits, financial aid, health insurance, investing basics, and renting. So go ahead, ask any questions you might have regarding any of these personal finance topics.
5. What type of questions will financialfootprint NOT answer?
financialfootprint llc does not provide accounting, investment, legal, or tax advice we are strictly an education provider and through that process inform and guide our Members so they are confident and educated relative to personal financial challenges they face. Should you be in need of any of these services you should reach out to a licensed professional.
financialfootprint troubleshooting
1. Who do I contact if I’m having technical difficulty with Skype?
You can check out Skype’s support page directly (https://support.skype.com/)or you can contact us via the contact us tab or feedback tab located at the left hand side of each page.
2. Who do I contact if I’m having technical difficulty with my financialfootprint Dashboard?
Feel free to reach out to us via the contact us at the bottom of each page or the feedback tab located at the left hand side of each page.