Lexus and DaVante's Stories

To find out more about financial wellness and what OU has to offer, two financial educators at OU Credit Union — DaVante Montgomery and Lexus Finegan — share their thoughts on what it all means.

“I think financial well being is when you can get to the point where you are comfortable making financial decisions, ‘I know if I make this financial decision, I know that it's going to impact my financial wellness,’” Montgomery says.

“Understanding your why, I think that's like the pinnacle of financial well-being because you're comfortable in how you're making those decisions. It doesn't mean that you won't feel discomfort, but that you have the tools to navigate that,” he adds.

It can be easy for people to give advice out to anyone, but being able to practice what they preach is a whole different ballpark. But for Montgomery and Finegan, that just comes with the job and experience.

In Montgomery’s case, he is an avid believer of writing things down and keeping different labels on his money in terms of how much gets spent on what. He also has learned to not feel guilty for not sharing his wealth and understanding his own limits.

For Finegan, it is about establishing different financial goals both short and long term, things like affording trips at the end of the year or establishing a cushion of funds for her family and baby. She also navigates this by taking into account her husband’s financial situation and using them to structure these goals.

Each has their own motivation for their journey, Finegan’s being her family and where she grew up — Detroit — and wanting to bring her knowledge to other generations. She will talk to not only her younger cousins and siblings, but also her aunts and uncles to help them understand different aspects of finances.

“To be able to go back and let the generation behind me be able to be ahead and have a step ahead of me of where I was at. Makes me feel good. I get endorphins from it,” she says.

She will also go back to her high school to inform students on what she did not understand such as the choices you have like paying interest back on your loans while in college.

Family is a common motivator and that stays true to Montgomery who wants to stay on the path to financial wellness so he can avoid experiences he had overcome in his youth. With his mom having 12 children, seven of them obtained a college degree and used that precedent and determination to achieve his degree.

Financial wellness tips and advice

After talking about their personal connection to financial wellness, Montgomery and Finegan wanted to provide some tips when it comes to financial wellness. To start, they broke down the different spending behaviors people can have, such as a giver, a separatist or a YOLO person.

The most dangerous of these would be the YOLO person, someone who spends their money too freely without thinking of the consequences of those actions. This is not to say you can’t spend your money, but making sure you are being smart about it.

A good way to approach this is to allow yourself a set amount of money each month to spend on the finer things in life. Another important step is thinking about your emotions and how they can alter your spending habits.

A general tip Finegan offered for not only financial wellness but life in general was to ask as many questions as possible. Even if you are unsure if the person you are asking has the answer, they may have additional resources that can help.

The OU Credit Union has a feature called “Ask an Educator” on their Financial 4.0 website where general questions can be answered. Another piece of advice Montgomery has is to allow yourself grace as the information may not have always been available.

“It's okay if you made a mistake or you felt like ‘Hey, I didn't do this right.’... be a lifelong learner,” he says.

There are other programs that OU Credit Union offers, like their seminar series, which are geared towards employees and teaches things like navigating Social Security. They have programs on the aforementioned Financial 4.0 website, geared towards college students with online presentations.

The last bit of advice is understanding that being financially well does not necessarily mean being wealthy. Finegan highlights that just because someone makes a large amount of money, it does not mean they have anything to show for it if they are constantly spending money. “It comes down to what you're doing with your funds, which makes you financially wealthy,” she says.

Montgomery emphasizes that 98% of people one comes in contact with are not rich, but it does not mean they don’t feel financially well. He references a documentary on Netflix called “Living Your Rich Life” where living this life is defined as doing what you want with it.

“You can be well and not make a bunch, you can be unwell and make a bunch of money. Understanding that that's why we call it financial wellness, not financially wealthy,” he says.