Money Management

The company is now preparing to offer Springfield businesses its powerful curriculum.

CEO Alice Whinnery and LFE Institute instructors have worked with organizations nationwide to provide employees with curriculum that helps them find more money in each paycheck.

“The average employee that goes through our courses will be able to find an extra $5,000 to $8,000 in the coming year,” said Whinnery, who moved her company to Springfield in 2004. “And it’s not teaching anything gimmicky. It’s just teaching them a structure that they just aren’t thinking about.”

For example, Whinnery said, consumers should watch out for credit cards with a “universal default” clause. Any kind of negative report to the credit bureau, even if it doesn’t affect that particular card, can result in universal default kicking in and bring interest rates to 35 percent.

Employers typically provide the LFE program as an employee benefit, Whinnery said, because it helps employees recognize and avoid common financial mistakes.

“(Companies) know that if their employees make those mistakes, it’s going to negatively impact productivity, morale, employee retention and safety concerns, just because of distraction over finances,” Whinnery said. “It’s much more cost-effective for them to prevent it from happening than to wait until that worker rage ends up escalating into something much more serious.”

Companies either purchase the money management course and teach it in-house or bring in a certified LFE instructor to teach the program.

Instructors are trained in Springfield and are located across the country. There are approximately 30 instructors throughout the nation who act as independent contractors, offering the skill-based, interactive curriculum to their respective markets.

“It’s a very powerful learning methodology. You teach by asking, not by telling,” Whinnery said, noting that participants answer questions about specific financial challenges, allowing them to verbalize what they’re learning as they’re learning it.

Each course also includes a six-month hotline service for follow-up questions.

While instructors work with employer groups, LFE Institute-certified counselors work one-on-one with individuals.

Sonya Adams became a certified counselor in December. Adams, who is the director of Family Conflict Resolution Center in Springfield, said she chose to begin offering this service to individuals and couples to try to prevent relationships reaching a crisis point because of financial issues.

“It is the core of a lot of family problems that sometimes culminate in petitions for divorce,” said Adams. “It can make a difference in their lives that prevents that downward spiral.”

With an understanding of how financial matters affect problems at home and at the workplace, Whinnery is speaking March 21 at Ozarks Technical Community College’s Workplace Violence Conference.

Phil Davis, director of the training resource group at OTC, said the conference will help people identify and prevent workplace violence.

Whinnery believes it is important for corporations to understand that many studies have linked employee problems to troubles with personal finances. She expects the conference will provide LFE Institute with local references so instructors can begin teaching to the Springfield market.

Whinnery said the institute has been focused on training instructors nationally for the last several years, but now it is shifting the focus to local companies.

“Our curriculum has now been taught to over 300,000 employees,” Whinnery said. “Our goal is to reach a million employees. We’re on the pace to do that.”

A Closer Look

This year marks Alice Whinnery’s 20th anniversary in the corporate financial literacy education field. She began offering the curriculum in 1986 under her Minneapolis-based company, A&E Associates. Whinnery moved operations to Springfield in 2004 and changed the name to LFE Institute, which aims to provide lifelong financial education.

LFE Institute Inc.

Founded: 1986

Owner: Alice Whinnery

Address: 1736 E. Sunshine, Ste. 312, Springfield, MO 65804

Phone: (417) 889-3700

Fax: (417) 889-3714

Web site: www.lfeinstitute.com

Services/Products: Corporate employee financial literacyeducation

Employees: 7