Help With Budgeting, Debt Management, and Personal Finance

Are you one of the many people who are worried about your personal finances? All University of Minnesota employees are eligible to get free, confidential help through LSS Financial Counseling.

Employees and their families get six free individual counseling sessions a year through LSS Financial Counseling, a nonprofit financial counseling service.

About Your Financial Counseling Benefit

  • Your counseling is private and confidential.
  • You can have up to six visits per year.
  • You and your spouse or family can meet with the counselor so you’re all on the same page with the plan.
  • You can meet face-to-face, by telephone or online—whichever is more convenient for you.
  • You can also attend group financial training webinars for University employees. Visit our Events and Workshops to browse current offerings.

What Can LSS Help Me With?

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Making a budget

A certified financial counselor will help you develop a plan of action to save more and/or reduce debt.

Consolidating payments

A Debt Management Plan (DMP) consolidates your monthly credit card payments into one simple payment–often with a lower interest rate–so you can start paying off those debts and return to financial health. With a DMP, you pay your creditors through one monthly payment to LSS Financial Counseling. Most creditors will stop late fees and reduce interest rates because a DMP helps them to get paid in full. There is a monthly service fee based on the size of your payment, but the DMP set-up fee is waived for University of Minnesota employees.

Mastering your student loans

Learn how you can move from worrying about student loan repayments to having a realistic plan to tackle your loans. LSS is familiar with all types of student loans and public service loan forgiveness programs.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

In addition to personalized financial counseling sessions, LSS offers this blog post on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. This Fidelity PSLF webpage has resources as well.

Improving your credit score

Learn how to read and understand your credit reports and make a personalized action plan to improve your credit score. A counselor will help you learn how to correct errors and prevent identity theft of your credit information.

Protecting your home

Housing counselors who are certified by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) can help you assess your housing options, whether you’re having trouble making mortgage payments or considering buying a home.