Tanya* was stressed. The news about the West seizing Russian funds hit too close to home. Her parents had lost everything in the 2008 financial crisis when the banks took their life savings.

Memories of her dad crying over lost opportunities came flooding back. Tanya was determined not to let something like that happen again. She started looking into the Stepping Into Action program to get her finances in order.

Her husband Mike* was skeptical at first. 'It's just more of the same stuff the government always pulls,' he said. 'The little guy always gets screwed over in the end.'

'Maybe, but we have to try something,' Tanya replied. 'I'm tired of living paycheck to paycheck while they play games with our money.'

Some experts agreed the seizure could destabilize the global financial system. 'Countries will lose trust in parking their assets in the West,' said one analyst. But others felt it was justified punishment for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In the end, Tanya and Mike decided getting control over their own finances was the best defense. 'We can't rely on the system anymore,' Tanya said. 'It was hard to find good help locally, so I'm glad we could do this online program.'

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