Take-Aways From AFCPE Symposium Recordings-Part 1

 

A great feature of the annual Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE) Symposium is that AFCPE records all the breakout sessions and makes them available online to attendees for one year. Long gone are the days when you needed to 1. choose one session from multiple topics of interest and miss hearing others, or 2. buy cassette/DVD recordings of missed sessions.

 

Over the past ten months, when I had time, I slowly made my way through video recordings of parts of the 2025 Symposium that I was interested in. This post provides a very eclectic summary of my key take-aways from the “rest of the 2025 AFCPE Symposium.”

Money Mindsets- Relationships with money last an entire lifetime; actually longer via estate planning decisions that affect others. A good way to change a difficult money relationship is to flip the script. Example: “I’m bad with money” to “I’m working on my relationship with money.”

 

Heirs Property- This is where a property owner dies, heirs do not have a deed or will, and land or a home are underutilized. Someone pays property taxes but real property cannot be sold or borrowed against without clear title. The best solution is an honest family conversation about moving forward.

 

Youth Financial Education- Research has found lower credit card delinquency rates and better post-secondary education loan decisions linked to financial education graduation requirements. In addition, teachers’ finances are positively impacted by personal finance professional development.

 

Buy Now, Pay Later- BNPL, where payments for something are spread into future installments, is most attractive to young adults and people with income constraints. It can lead to overspending and impulse buying. Research found that BNPL use is associated with decreased long-term planning.

 

Trauma-Informed Financial Education- Trauma is not the same as stress, which tends to dissipate over time. Trauma sticks around. Financial trauma is caused by persistent financial instability and multiple negative experiences (e.g., homelessness, domestic abuse) result in complex trauma.

 

AI for Professionals- People who know how to use AI are valued. Benefits of AI include time savings, a “cool, trendy factor,” and brainstorming ideas and content. Cons include incorrect output called hallucinations, math errors, and environmental concerns (e.g., water, electricity, and noise).

 

Reverse Mortgages- 95% of borrowers still have equity in their homes when they pass away with a reverse mortgage (RM). At least one borrower must live in the home for six months and a day or a RM loan comes due. A RM line of credit is based on the age of the youngest borrower. Heirs of a RM house have three options: sell it, purchase it, or give the house to the lender and walk away.

 

Debt Relief Options- If it is not possible to repay existing debt, people have six debt relief options: 1. Direct negotiation with creditors, 2. Debt consolidation (refinancing), 3. A debt management plan (DMP) through a non-profit credit counseling agency, 4. Debt settlement, 5. Bankruptcy (Chapter 7 or 13), and 6. Debt forgiveness, where a debt is cancelled (e.g., Public Service Loan Forgiveness).

This post provides general personal finance or consumer decision-making information and does not address all the variables that apply to an individual’s unique situation. It does not endorse specific products or services and should not be construed as legal or financial advice. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.