Building Financial Confidence at Every Stage:
Recapping the 2026 Financial Wellness Forum

 

On Wednesday, April 29, COAERS members and City of Austin employees gathered at Austin Energy HQ for the 2026 Financial Wellness Forum,  a half-day event built around a simple idea: that financial confidence is something you build, one decision at a time, at every stage of life.

In recognition of April as Financial Literacy Month, the forum brought together COAERS staff and trusted community partners to share practical guidance, useful tools, and the kind of straightforward information that helps members make smart choices today while planning for what’s ahead. From early-career employees just starting to think about saving, to those balancing family responsibilities, to members on the doorstep of retirement, the day’s sessions were designed to meet attendees wherever they are.

 

A Look at the Day

After check-in and a warm welcome, attendees moved through a full slate of sessions led by experts in their fields:

• Managing Today’s Finances with Confidence, presented by Foundation Communities, opened the day with grounded, real-world strategies for handling everyday money decisions — budgeting, saving, and managing debt in a way that supports long-term goals.
• Making the Most of Your COAERS Benefits gave members an inside look at how to get the full value out of their retirement plan, including key features that are often underutilized.
• Building Financial Longevity, also presented by COAERS, dug into the longer view — how to think about retirement income, planning horizons, and the choices that compound over a career.
• Navigating Aging, Caregiving, and Community Resources, presented by the Austin Area Agency on Aging, addressed a topic that touches almost every family at some point: how to plan for and support aging loved ones while protecting your own financial wellbeing.
• Understanding Long-Term Care, presented by Michael Gill, demystified one of the more complex pieces of the retirement puzzle — what long-term care actually involves, what it costs, and how to plan for it.
• Protecting Your Financial Life in a Digital World, presented by AARP, closed the day with timely guidance on fraud prevention, online security, and protecting your identity in an increasingly digital financial landscape.

 

Between sessions, attendees connected with resource partners offering information on financial wellness, aging services, education, and community support — a chance to take home not just notes, but real connections and follow-up resources.

 

Thank You

A sincere thank you to everyone who attended, to our presenters from Foundation Communities, the Austin Area Agency on Aging, AARP, and Michael Gill, and to all the resource partners who shared their time and expertise. 

 

Couldn’t Make It? We’ve Got You Covered.

If you weren’t able to join us  or you’d like to revisit any of the topics, you can download the presentation materials via the link below. You can also visit the Financial Wellness page on coaers.org for additional resources, or schedule a one-on-one counseling session with a COAERS Member Services Representative anytime.

2026 - Financial Wellness Forum Presentation Materials.pdf

 

We look forward to seeing you at future events.