“Financial Strength” can mean different things to different people. We define Financial Strength as the ability to withstand unforeseen events that may occur, and the flexibility to take advantage of opportunities with fewer financial restrictions.
The Financial Strength Score is a number that represents an individual’s financial strength. The purpose of the Financial Strength Score (“FSS”) is to provide a comprehensive quantitative score for an individual’s financial strength. It is a tool that takes inventory of your money situation, factors in lifestyle and identifies what areas of your finances you can change to improve your financial situation. Watch Video
A Strong Score (701 to 1000)
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Indicates that a person is in a position of relative financial strength, and unforeseen financial events will not require a change to their lifestyle.
A “Caution” Score (401 to 700)
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Suggests that a person may have the financial means to handle some unforeseen events, but not others.
A Weak Score (0 to 400)
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Indicates that unforeseen financial events in a person’s life are likely to have a significant impact on their current lifestyle.
The first step in calculating a FSS is for an individual to provide four areas of information: WHAT YOU HAVE (assets), WHAT YOU OWE (liabilities), WHAT YOU MAKE (income), and WHAT YOU SPEND (expenses). Each and every individual has these four categories. The FSS is wholly dependent on this information and not indexed to any outside data.
The FSS also measures strength in four categories: Security, Debt, Lifestyle, and Solvency.
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- Security measures one’s ability to manage unforeseen events with WHAT YOU HAVE.
- Debt measures WHAT YOU OWE relative to WHAT YOU HAVE and WHAT YOU MAKE.
- Lifestyle measures the difference of Wants versus Needs in WHAT YOU SPEND category.
- Solvency measures the ability to cover WHAT YOU OWE with WHAT YOU HAVE.
The FSS then provides three types of strength for each category: Weak, Caution, or Strong.
- Weak is defined as any unforeseen event will have a significant impact on lifestyle.
- Caution is defined as some unforeseen events may have a significant impact on lifestyle.
- Strong is defined as most unforeseen events will not require any change to lifestyle.
How Does The Financial Strength Score Help You Find Money?
This score gives you a baseline of where you stand and is the first step in creating a systematic plan for reaching longer term goals. This comprehensive personalized assessment will allow you to manage your monthly progress during the process of building financial strength.Click here to view a sample report
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Financial Strength Score evaluates where your money is really going. It compares your current spending on your home, food, transportation, health and other monthly expenses to the nationally recommended target spending amounts. Your chart will show you exactly what percentage you are currently spending and what your spending should be. If you are currently spending more than the recommended amount in a particular category, your report will also show you how much you can save each month by adjusting your spending to the target amount. Watch Video