Financial Wellness Planner Example

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The image below is a mockup of what a neighbor would see in their Financial Wellness Planner, with hypothetical data. A parent with two children earning $15 an hour full-time grosses about $2,600 a month and qualifies for SNAP. A one-dollar raise takes them to about $2,773, over the gross line once child support is counted, and the whole SNAP benefit ends: a raise of about $173 a month that costs more than that in groceries. Today a case manager works that out on paper, if they catch it. The tracker shows it as the raise is being discussed, with the alternatives: time the raise to the SNAP recertification, bank the difference for the months it takes to clear the gap, or ask for the wage at which the household is actually ahead again. The goal is never to refuse a raise. It is to take it with eyes open, and to know the income at which the family is finally ahead.