Retired Vincy police inspector becomes financial literacy advocate, coach

Retired Vincentian Inspector of Police Arden C. Tannis, a Brooklyn resident, now a financial coach. He served the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force from 1979 – 2011 and climbed from the rank of constable to inspector. He retired in 2011 and migrated to the United States that same year.

Tannis, who was born on the northern Grenadine island of Bequia, has declared his intention to continue serving his community not as a police officer but as a financial literacy advocate and coach.

Last month, he completed a course of training from which he was awarded a certificate in financial coaching from Ramsey Solutions, a training institution based in Franklin, Tennessee that specializes in financial education and coaching.

Tannis said his reason for pursuing this new chapter in his life was “to help middle income families struggling with financial illiteracy, helping to prevent them from making the same mistakes” he made concerning money.

In quoting, Ron Lewis, a former United States Congressional Rep., Tannis said: “Financial literacy is an issue that should command our attention because many Americans are not adequately organizing finances for their education, healthcare and retirement.”

He disclosed that, as a police officer, he earned “hundreds of thousands of dollars over a 30-year period” but found that he “could not account for most of it after retiring.”

Tannis said most of his pension and gratuity went to paying off debts and mortgage, which he incurred along the way.

He said he heard similar stories from other retirees, especially police officers, teachers, nurses and civil servants in general – “all of whom had to seek employment just to make ends meet.”

Tannis said it was a chance encounter with a financial coach in December, 2022 in New York, who told him that the reason for his financial dilemma was “financial illiteracy.”

“I was financially ignorant all my life and did not know it,” he said. “What is funny, most, if not all, my friends and family are.

“That was the moment when I decided that I would learn as much as I can about money, so that I can teach others about it; so that they don’t end up where I was,” Tannis added.

He said his new mission to help reduce financial illiteracy in his community — both in the Diaspora and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

“My goal is to collaborate and work with schools and PTAs (Parent-Teachers Associations) to advocate that churches and community organizations implement basic financial literacy programs to benefit members and their family,” Tannis said. “As a financial coach my aim is to help make the financial aspects of people’s lives less stressful.

“It is not the amount of money you work for,” he said, “it is how much money you have working for you that brings you financial peace. This is what financial literacy is about; it’s understanding how money works.”

Tannis said that when he was about five years old, his family relocated to mainland St. Vincent, and that his preteen years were spent in Rose Place, Kingstown, the Vincentian capital, before his family moved to Redemption Sharpes, Kingstown.

Tannnis said he attended the Kingstown Anglican primary school and received his secondary education at the Emanuel High School Kingstown.

On completing secondary education, he enlisted in the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Force.

Tannis said his major attachments in the force were to the Special Services Unit, Telecommunications, and Human Resource and Planning.

“As part of my service in the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, I was seconded to the (RSS) Regional Security System, based in Barbados, as a training instructor,” he said.

During 10 years of secondment, Tannis said he performed peacekeeping missions in Haiti as a unit commander of International Police Monitors in operation “Uphold Democracy” in 1995.

“Over the years, I have devoted myself to youth development between 2000 and 2011,” he said, stating that he “successfully formed and led 12 youth clubs throughout SVG (St. Vincent and the Grenadines)” and was a member of the youth organization, formerly known as the Grammar School Cadets.

In migrating to the US in 2011, Tannis said he “immersed” himself in community work.

He joined the Brooklyn-based SVG Ex-Police Association USA, serving as president for four years. He also served as vice president of the umbrella Vincentian group in the US, the Brooklyn-based Council of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Organizations, USA, Inc. (COSAGO).

“Currently, I spend my time as a financial coach,” Tannis said.