BASIC FINANCIAL LITERACY
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy helps people understand their personal finances through every stage of life.
The Alliance for Investor Education is a non-profit organization of 18 associations, government agencies and self-regulatory bodies that are leaders in investor education/financial literacy.
Building Native Communities: Financial Education and Asset Building provides financial education, entrepreneurship, home buyer education, and credit counseling programs to Native communities.
The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. offers a Financial Planning Resource Kit to help people learn about financial planning.
Choose to Save is sponsored by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the American Savings Education Council. This public education campaign encourages savings through all stages of life.
Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and American Savings Education Council (ASEC) America Saves Campaign consists of locally based campaigns to publicize the value of building savings and reducing debt to Americans who have not saved adequately. Local offices of the U.S. Department of Labor provide support on each campaign, and U.S. Savings Bonds are one of the savings products promoted. America Saves involves local nonprofit, government, and business leaders in each campaign.
Cultivating Community-based Financial Literacy Initiatives (Spring 2009) OCC Community Developments Investments highlights roles that banks can play in promoting financial stability through local partnership efforts. Its articles describe four programs that help banks and their community partners reach out to consumers to encourage better money management through savings and checking products.
The Department of Agriculture Cooperative Extension System (NIFA) provides leadership to state, regional, and county-level educators who deliver basic consumer education; teaches personal financial management skills to youth, limited-resource families, and young families; and promotes comprehensive financial planning throughout the life cycle.
The Financial Education Evaluation Toolkit, offered by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NFEF), is an online resource that shows how to apply evaluation techniques to programs to document learner impact.
Financial Capability (PDF) OCC Community Developments Fact Sheet Financial Workshop Kits offered by NEFE, provide printable scripts and teaching plans containing handouts, PowerPoint presentations, and related resources for a variety of personal finance-related topics. The Web site prepares people to easily educate adult learners in a variety of group settings.
Money Smart, sponsored by the FDIC, is a financial education curriculum designed to help individuals outside the financial mainstream enhance their financial skills and create positive banking relationships.
The National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) is a foundation dedicated to helping all Americans acquire the information and gain the skills necessary to take control of their personal finances. NEFE accomplishes its mission primarily by partnering with other concerned organizations to provide financial education to the public, and particularly to underserved individuals whose financial education needs are not being addressed by others. The NEFE also has launched a National Financial Literacy Campaign that encourages Americans to start achieving their financial goals today by accessing practical information on the Smart About Money Website.
Native Financial Education Coalition (NFEC) is a group of local, regional, and national organizations and government agencies that have joined together to promote financial education in Native communities.
Navigating the Market: A Comparison of Spending on Financial Education and Financial Marketing, is a study commissioned by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The survey results give an overall indication of the relative amounts spent in the U.S. on financial education and on the marketing of certain types of financial products.
The NeighborWorks® Financial Capability Program helps individuals and families develop sound personal financial management skills.
OCC Financial Literacy Outreach, Community Affairs staff participate in financial literacy events around the country.
Operation Hope – Banking on Our Future – Operation Hope, Inc. (OHI), a private nonprofit financial empowerment organization, offers a national financial literacy education program for elementary, middle and high school students, and adults.
Payroll Cards: An Innovative Product for Reaching the Unbanked and Underbanked (PDF) – OCC Community Development Insights examines the growth of payroll cards and their potential for use by national banks to attract unbanked households into the financial mainstream.
The Society for Financial Education and Professional Development, Inc. (SFEPD) develops and presents financial literacy and professional development training for individuals and organizations. To ensure the accomplishment of its mission, the organization works with financial and education institutions, governmental units, corporations, and foundations, that support financial education and professional development programs. The U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Financial Education has recognized SFEPD seminars for meeting their criteria for effective financial education programs.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission offers its Top 11 Financial Tips for 2011 to help people improve their personal financial fitness.
Visa’s Financial Football, an NFL-themed educational video game, uses the NFL’s structure and rules to teach money skills and to improve financial literacy. Children and adults answer question of varying difficulty about money management. The updated game is available in English and Spanish and can be played online or ordered at no cost.
The Woodstock Institute has produced a guide targeted to a wide range of financial literacy providers that would like to know how effective their programs are but need a format with which to evaluate them. “Evaluating Your Financial Literacy Program: A Practical Guide” can be used to help organizations discover what works best for their customers.
The MyMoney Five — Making the most of your money starts with five building blocks for managing and growing your money. Keep these five principles in mind as you make day-to-day decisions and plan your financial goals.
The Financial Literacy and Education Commission was established under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. The Commission was tasked to develop a national financial education web site ( MyMoney.gov) and a national strategy on financial education. It is chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury and the vice chair is the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Money Smart is a comprehensive financial education curriculum designed to help low- and moderate-income individuals outside the financial mainstream enhance their financial skills and create positive banking relationships. Money Smart has reached over 2.75 million consumers since 2001. Research shows that the curriculum can positively influence how consumers manage their finances, and these changes are sustainable in the months after the training.
Financial literacy plays an important role in helping ensure the financial health and stability of individuals, families, and our broader national economy. Economic changes in recent years have highlighted the need to empower Americans to make informed financial decisions, yet evidence indicates that many U.S. consumers could benefit from a better understanding of financial matters.
The Financial Literacy Resource Center provides information and turnkey resources for CPAs to use in volunteer efforts. From talking to elementary school students about money basics to organizing workplace brown bags on retirement planning, thousands of CPAs volunteer annually as part of the 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy effort.