FORT DETRICK, Md.- Current times have many struggling with achieving personal financial goals, but fortunately Fort Detrick has a new personal financial counselor who is eager to help anyone interested on learning how to meet those goals. Meet in Rebecca Carlson, Rebecca has over 15 years in the finance field, and this is her first installation.
We sat down with Rebecca for a brief question-and-answer session to get a feel of what she hopes to do here and how she can help.
Q: What is your position here at Fort Detrick?
A: I am the new Personal Financial Counselor here at Fort Detrick. If you know Madeline Green, I am taking over for her. (Everyone remembers Mrs. Madeline Green. You saw her everywhere and she continued to entertain us all so many times with her dollar bill necklaces and sunglasses. Last year she retired)
Q: Are there specific educational requirements for this position?
Advertisement
A: I have a master’s degree in personal finances, and I hold the Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC) certification through the Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education.
Q: What does that position require of you?
A: My focus is to assist Service Members and their families in achieving their financial goals. We can discuss debt, building/repairing credit, TSP, spending plans, large purchases, preparing financially to PCS, divorce, new babies, and anything in between.
An Army Personal Financial Counselor (PFC) provides essential financial support and education to service members and their families.
Their responsibilities include:
Advertisement
• Financial Counseling: They assist service members in evaluating their financial circumstances and setting financial goals.
• Education and Tools: PFCs offer tools and education to help individuals and families achieve their financial objectives and overcome challenges.
• Support Services: They provide face-to-face appointments, group presentations, and referrals to military and community resources for budgeting, credit management, and navigating benefits.
• Professional Guidance: PFCs are trained professionals who help service members address their financial concerns and provide referrals to appropriate services.
This role is crucial for enhancing the financial wellbeing of service members and their families.
Advertisement
Q: Any goals or what you hope to do while here?
A: My goal is to integrate myself into the units to ensure their financial success. As a fiduciary, I work in the best interest of the service member. I am not an advisor but am an educator.
Q: Can you assist anyone, contractors, active duty, DoD civilians, spouses?
A: I am a free and confidential service provided to Service members, and their immediate families.
Q: Will you host any training events or informational sessions?
Advertisement
A: I host multiple finance classes that change monthly, along with teaching whole unit classes. You can find information through the Fort Detrick Weeklies and the My Army Post App. Financial literacy training provides the pathway for sustaining financial wellbeing and resiliency with benchmarks of meeting all financial responsibilities, building wealth, and obtaining a sound financial future and a secure retirement. PFCs are beneficial in providing service members with training and resources to help avoid debt and create practical solutions for financial goals.
Q: Where are you located?
A: I am in Army Community Services located in building 1520, room 125.
Q: Any tips you can provide readers or resources you recommend?
A: Along with myself, below are a few of many great websites to gain information and guide service members. Military OneSource https://www.militaryonesource.mil/ Office of Financial Readiness https://finred.usalearning.gov/
Advertisement
Personal Finance Counselor prohibited services.
While PFCs provide valuable services through a wide range of financial readiness capabilities, there are several services that are prohibited.
Personal Finance Counselors cannot:
• Act as an agent for a military aid society in providing emergency financial assistance.
• Provide financial investment advice in specific investment funds/ opportunities.
Advertisement
• Make financial or financially related decisions on behalf of a client to include, but not limited to, TSP asset allocations, designation of beneficiaries for assets, etc.
•Perform inherently governmental functions such as certification training and responding to media queries on behalf of the government.
Personal Financial Counselors stay in their position for a minimum of 12 months, and then they can choose to stay in place or move to a new open position. We certainly hope Mrs. Carlson finds Fort Detrick
Rebecca Carlson is the new Personal Financial Counselor at Fort Detrick. She is available to provide free and confidential financial counseling to Service members, and their immediate families (Photo Credit: Rebecca Carlson)
VIEW ORIGINAL
Advertisement
as special as so many of us do and decides to stay as long as she can.
Cornell University administrator Warren Petrofsky will serve as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ new dean of administration and finance, charged with spearheading efforts to shore up the school’s finances as it faces a hefty budget deficit.
Petrofsky’s appointment, announced in a Friday email from FAS Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra to FAS affiliates, will begin April 20 — nearly a year after former FAS dean of administration and finance Scott A. Jordan stepped down. Petrofsky will replace interim dean Mary Ann Bradley, who helped shape the early stages of FAS cost-cutting initiatives.
Petrofsky currently serves as associate dean of administration at Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences.
As dean, he oversaw a budget cut of nearly $11 million to the institution’s College of Arts and Sciences after the federal government slashed at least $250 million in stop-work orders and frozen grants, according to the Cornell Daily Sun.
He also serves on a work group established in November 2025 to streamline the school’s administrative systems.
Advertisement
Earlier, at the University of Pennsylvania, Petrofsky managed capital initiatives and organizational redesigns in a number of administrative roles.
Petrofsky is poised to lead similar efforts at the FAS, which relaunched its Resources Committee in spring 2025 and created a committee to consolidate staff positions amid massive federal funding cuts.
As part of its planning process, the committee has quietly brought on external help. Over several months, consultants from McKinsey & Company have been interviewing dozens of administrators and staff across the FAS.
Petrofsky will also likely have a hand in other cost-cutting measures across the FAS, which is facing a $365 million budget deficit. The school has already announced it will keep spending flat for the 2026 fiscal year, and it has dramatically reduced Ph.D. admissions.
In her email, Hoekstra praised Petrofsky’s performance across his career.
Advertisement
“Warren has emphasized transparency, clarity in communication, and investment in staff development,” she wrote. “He approaches change with steadiness and purpose, and with deep respect for the mission that unites our faculty, researchers, staff, and students. I am confident that he will be a strong partner to me and to our community.”
—Staff writer Amann S. Mahajan can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at amannsm.38. Follow her on X @amannmahajan.
My spreadsheet reviewed a WalletHub ranking of financial distress for the residents of 100 U.S. cities, including 17 in California. The analysis compared local credit scores, late bill payments, bankruptcy filings and online searches for debt or loans to quantify where individuals had the largest money challenges.
When California cities were divided into three geographic regions – Southern California, the Bay Area, and anything inland – the most challenges were often found far from the coast.
The average national ranking of the six inland cities was 39th worst for distress, the most troubled grade among the state’s slices.
Bakersfield received the inland region’s worst score, ranking No. 24 highest nationally for financial distress. That was followed by Sacramento (30th), San Bernardino (39th), Stockton (43rd), Fresno (45th), and Riverside (52nd).
Advertisement
Southern California’s seven cities overall fared better, with an average national ranking of 56th largest financial problems.
However, Los Angeles had the state’s ugliest grade, ranking fifth-worst nationally for monetary distress. Then came San Diego at 22nd-worst, then Long Beach (48th), Irvine (70th), Anaheim (71st), Santa Ana (85th), and Chula Vista (89th).
Monetary challenges were limited in the Bay Area. Its four cities average rank was 69th worst nationally.
San Jose had the region’s most distressed finances, with a No. 50 worst ranking. That was followed by Oakland (69th), San Francisco (72nd), and Fremont (83rd).
The results remind us that inland California’s affordability – it’s home to the state’s cheapest housing, for example – doesn’t fully compensate for wages that typically decline the farther one works from the Pacific Ocean.
Advertisement
A peek inside the scorecard’s grades shows where trouble exists within California.
Credit scores were the lowest inland, with little difference elsewhere. Late payments were also more common inland. Tardy bills were most difficult to find in Northern California.
Bankruptcy problems also were bubbling inland, but grew the slowest in Southern California. And worrisome online searches were more frequent inland, while varying only slightly closer to the Pacific.
Note: Across the state’s 17 cities in the study, the No. 53 average rank is a middle-of-the-pack grade on the 100-city national scale for monetary woes.
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com
The up-and-coming fintech scored a pair of fourth-quarter beats.
Diversified fintech Chime Financial(CHYM +12.88%) was playing a satisfying tune to investors on Thursday. The company’s stock flew almost 14% higher that trading session, thanks mostly to a fourth quarter that featured notably higher-than-expected revenue guidance.
Sweet music
Chime published its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results just after market close on Wednesday. For the former period, the company’s revenue was $596 million, bettering the same quarter of 2024 by 25%. The company’s strongest revenue stream, payments, rose 17% to $396 million. Its take from platform-related activity rose more precipitously, advancing 47% to $200 million.
Image source: Getty Images.
Meanwhile, Chime’s net loss under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) more than doubled. It was $45 million, or $0.12 per share, compared with a fourth-quarter 2024 deficit of $19.6 million.
Advertisement
On average, analysts tracking the stock were modeling revenue below $578 million and a deeper bottom-line loss of $0.20 per share.
In its earnings release, Chime pointed to the take-up of its Chime Card as a particular catalyst for growth. Regarding the product, the company said, “Among new member cohorts, over half are adopting Chime Card, and those members are putting over 70% of their Chime spend on the product, which earns materially higher take rates compared to debit.”
Today’s Change
(12.88%) $2.72
Current Price
$23.83
Advertisement
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$7.9B
Day’s Range
$22.30 – $24.63
52wk Range
Advertisement
$16.17 – $44.94
Volume
562K
Avg Vol
3.3M
Advertisement
Gross Margin
86.34%
Double-digit growth expected
Chime management proffered revenue and non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) guidance for full-year 2026. The company expects to post a top line of $627 million to $637 million, which would represent at least 21% growth over the 2024 result. Adjusted EBITDA should be $380 million to $400 million. No net income forecasts were provided in the earnings release.
It isn’t easy to find a niche in the financial industry, which is crowded with companies offering every imaginable type of service to clients. Yet Chime seems to be achieving that, as the Chime Card is clearly a hit among the company’s target demographic of clientele underserved by mainstream banks. This growth stock is definitely worth considering as a buy.
