Annuity.org’s Rachel Christian Earns Financial Certification

Rachel Christian, staff writer for Annuity.org, is now a Certified Educator of Personal Finance. Christian successfully completed the self-paced process through Fincert.org, a division of the Institute for Financial Literacy.

“I’ve always been passionate about personal finance and financial literacy. Learning more effective ways to communicate and teach people about important financial topics is what drove me to pursue this certification.”

What It Means to Be a Certified Educator of Personal Finance

With this certification, Christian can better communicate financial literacy themes to the Annuity.org audience. She will provide readers greater context on setting financial goals and mastering money management techniques. After Christian applied to the program, she received the learning materials from Fincert.org, then completed the certification within seven months. The final exam was 125 multiple choice questions, and moving forward, Christian must complete 16 hours of ongoing education every two years.

Certification Highlights

According to Fincert.org, “Certification ensures that individuals have been trained and tested in education techniques, the elements of financial management and the various published content standards in financial literacy.” The certification helps financial educators provide guidance on the following competencies:

• Creating personal budgets
• Evaluating debt
• Setting financial goals
• Improving credit
• Planning for retirement
• Purchasing life insurance
• Investing

In addition to the core financial topics, the Certified Educator of Personal Finance program outlined national standards and implications for K-12 and adult financial literacy.

Why Is This Important for Annuity.org Readers?

Earning this certification helped Christian broaden her financial expertise while considering the needs of diverse readers with unique backgrounds. In her writing and research, Christian will apply her knowledge and training to provide trustworthy, authoritative information. Christian aspires to share her financial literacy with others, promoting goal-driven decision making toward financial wellness. Specifically, Christian believes that debt management before and during retirement is an important concept that closely aligns with the Annuity.org audience. “I graduated from an underserved public high school with a student poverty rate over 65 percent,” Christian said. “In addition to leveraging my new certification to better serve Annuity.org readers, I would love to use my new skills and training to establish an after-school personal finance program at my old high school.”