The City of Gaithersburg, in partnership with the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund), announces that free legacy planning services are now available to City residents through the Gaithersburg Financial Empowerment Center (FEC). The new legacy planning program offers one-on-one financial counseling to help Gaithersburg residents organize and protect their financial assets for the future - at no cost. Learn more and make an appointment here.
While the vast majority of Americans own at least one financial asset (bank account, 401K, or home) that is valuable today and likely to appreciate, few have taken the steps necessary to secure those assets. Nearly 70 percent of Americans do not have a will or a broader legacy or estate plan. With this new legacy planning program, City residents will have free access to information like adding beneficiaries to accounts and creating essential documents, such as wills and powers of attorney.
“We see this as a vital step forward toward closing the wealth gap in Gaithersburg,” said Mayor Jud Ashman. “With the addition of legacy planning services at our FEC, we are adding a powerful new tool to our financial empowerment toolbelt. We know that lasting financial prosperity doesn’t happen overnight; it is built over the course of multiple generations. We’re investing in this new service because we want to see today’s generation equipped and empowered to protect what they’ve built and pass it along to the next generation so that they can be that much better off.”
“Gaithersburg FEC counselors work hard to help clients build assets. With the addition of legacy planning services, counselors also can help Gaithersburg residents protect and preserve those assets for future generations,” said Jonathan Mintz, President and CEO of the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund. “We are thrilled to partner with the City of Gaithersburg and Mayor Ashman to provide these crucial services and ensure that legacy planning is available for everyone.”
The Gaithersburg FEC provides free, professional, one-on-one financial counseling to help City residents at all income levels manage their finances, pay down debt, and establish and build credit to set them up with a solid path to financial security. Since opening in 2022, the Gaithersburg FEC has supported more than 700 clients, helping them reduce over $2 million in debt and build $700,000 in savings. Nationwide, FECs have served more than 200,000 clients and collectively have helped residents reduce over $344 million in debt and grow their families’ savings by nearly $70 million.
About the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund)
The CFE Fund supports municipal efforts to improve the financial stability of households by leveraging opportunities unique to local government. By translating cutting edge experience with large scale programs, research, and policy in cities of all sizes, the CFE Fund assists mayors and other local leaders to identify, develop, fund, implement, and research pilots and programs that help families build assets and make the most of their financial resources. The CFE Fund is currently working in over 145 cities and counties, and has disbursed over $70 million to local governments and their partners to support these efforts. For more information, please visit www.cfefund.org or follow us on Bluesky at @cfefund.bsky.social; learn more about the FEC Public initiative at www.fecpublic.org.