Community Affairs:
Financial Literacy Resource Directory
This directory provides information on financial literacy resources, issues and events that are important to bankers, organizations, and consumers of all ages. The directory includes descriptions and contact information for a sampling of organizations that have undertaken financial literacy initiatives as a primary mission, government programs, fact sheets, newsletters, conference materials, publications, and links to Web sites.
In advisory
letter AL 2001-1 ,
the OCC provided national banks with information on the types of financial
literacy programs that have been undertaken by banks and aspects of those
programs that have been most important to their success.
Financial Literacy and Education
Commission
The Financial Literacy and Education Commission (Commission) was established under Title V of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act of 2003 to improve financial literacy and education of persons in the United States. The Commission is chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury and composed of 19 other Federal agencies. The principal duties of the Commission include encouraging government and private sector efforts to promote financial literacy; coordinating financial education efforts of the Federal government; identification and promotion of best practices; development of a national strategy to promote financial literacy; establishment of a website Mymoney.gov to serve as a clearinghouse and provide information about financial education programs and grants; and establishment of a toll-free hotline (1-888-MyMoney) available to provide information about issues of financial literacy and education.
The President's
Advisory Council on Financial Literacy (the Council) was created on January 22, 2008 by President George W. Bush. The Council's purpose is to help keep America competitive and assist the American people in understanding and addressing financial matters. The Council will work with the public and private sector to help increase financial education efforts for youth in school and for adults in the workplace, increase access to financial services, establish measures of national financial literacy, conduct research on financial knowledge and to help strengthen public and private sector financial education programs.
"Taking Ownership of the Future: The National
Strategy for Financial Literacy" - Nationwide Conferences
In April 2006, the FLEC published "Taking Ownership of the
Future: The National Strategy for Financial Literacy." As part of the National Strategy, during 2006 and 2007, the FLEC agencies hosted a series of four regional conferences to share strategies and best practices around banking the unbanked. Each conference link below will bring you to the conference agenda, a list of speakers, and presentations and information presented.
- Midwest
Regional Conference - "Making Business Sense of Serving the
Unbanked" - Chicago, Illinois - May 1, 2006
Topics: Partnerships and solutions, serving immigrant communities, business
benefits of serving the unbanked, reaching young customers, and financial
education.
- Southwest Regional Conference - "Unbanked at the Border
and Serving Immigrant Unbanked" - Edinburg, Texas - December 4, 2006
Topics: Unbanked people in border and immigrant communities, financial
institutions' role in financial literacy, impact of being unbanked, and a
survey of Latino Earned Income Tax Credit filers in border communities.
- Northwest Regional Conference - "Working Together to Move
People Ahead" - Seattle, Washington - March 27, 2007
Topics: Regional needs, large and small institutional models for reaching
the unbanked, role of community-based organizations in reaching the unbanked,
and updates on state and federal policies.
- Eastern Regional Conference - "Reaching Unbanked People"
-New York, New York - October 4, - 2007
Topics: Reaching unbanked people,
participation in the financial mainstream, asset-building and
financial access, and alternative financial institutions.
Basic financial services and asset building
General
Resources
The Federal Reserve System has developed a campaign to
call attention to the importance of personal financial education entitled
"There's a Lot to Learn about Money." The campaign includes public service
announcements as well as educational resources.
http://www.federalreserveeducation.org/
Native Financial Education Coalition (NFEC) - The NFEC brings together local, regional and national organizations and governments to promote financial education in Native communities. By working collaboratively, NFEC members seek to increase awareness about the need for financial education in Native communities through outreach, policy and research. They look for ways to build the financial education capacity of Native governments and organizations by offering instructor training and information about national financial education resources. Working with financial institutions, NFEC helps to provide financial literacy training to tribes throughout the nation. www.nfec.info
Individual Development Accounts: An Asset Building Product for Lower-Income Consumers (February 2005) Abstract - This edition of Insights examines Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) as a tool for banks and other financial institutions to encourage lower-income persons and families to save money and thus build assets for particular financial goals. It describes why banks offer IDAs, shows how banks are involved with IDAs, and addresses barriers to the growth of IDA products. The information presented here was obtained from a variety of sources including financial institutions, IDA policymakers, nonprofit service providers, and program funders. Several hundred banks participate in IDA programs which can receive positive consideration under the Community Reinvestment Act. Appendix 1 of the Insights paper contains a resource guide for banks considering participation in an IDA program.
Financial Literacy Community Developments Fact Sheet
Individual Development Accounts Community Developments Fact Sheet
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA)
The VITA Program offers free tax help to low- to moderate-income ($38,000 and below) people who cannot prepare their own tax returns. Volunteers sponsored by various organizations receive training to help prepare basic tax returns in communities across the country. VITA sites are generally located at community and neighborhood centers, libraries, schools, shopping malls, and other convenient locations. Most locations also offer free electronic filing. To locate the nearest VITA site, call 1-800-829-1040.
School
Programs
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System offers an online resource, aimed at teaching middle school and high school students about economics and personal finances by having them construct a newspaper front page. Students are provided with instructions and a template for designing the newspaper, and are expected to consult with the Federal Reserve's web site, www.federalreserveeducation.org, for information needed. The project helps teachers meet national and state academic content standards for high school economics and personal finance courses.
www.usatoday.com/educate/federalreserve/index_new2.html
Money Math: Lessons
for Life is a curriculum supplement launched by a diverse partnership of private
companies, nonprofit organizations, and the Treasury Department for students in
grades 7-9 that addresses mathematical concepts using real-world financial
scenarios.
http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/mar/marmoneymath.htm
The American Bankers Association's Education
Foundation provides bankers with the tools to help youngsters gain the
necessary skills they need to become financially astute. Programs cover saving, budgeting and
credit, and are designed for students from kindergarten through college.
www.aba.com/Consumer+Connection/default.htm
Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial
Literacy maintains a clearinghouse of resources that seek
to promote financial literacy.
www.jumpstartcoalition.org
Junior Achievement (JA) brings volunteers into the classroom to make economic concepts relevant for grades K-12. JA offers financial literacy programs at every grade level K-12 in the classroom and after school. JA partners business volunteers with local classrooms, where JA volunteers facilitate lessons in financial literacy, workforce preparation, and economics. JA trains and prepares all volunteers and provides the lesson plans and materials.
www.ja.org
The National Academy
Foundation (NAF) sponsors the Academy of Finance, a school-to-career
curriculum operating in 40 states and 300 high schools, serving over 20,000
students. The OCC partners with
schools or school districts in 28 locations across the country to support
academies of finance. Banks
serve as advisory board members to local affiliates and employ hundreds of
students every summer through the academy's internship program.
www.naf.org
The National Council
on Economic Education provides personal finance and economics education
through classroom curricula and the Internet. For example, its Financial Fitness for Life
curriculum presents key concepts in economics and personal finance, using a
variety of real life examples appropriate to particular age groups.
www.fffl.ncee.net
Adult Basic Financial Services
Operation Hope - Banking on Our Future - Operation Hope, Inc. (OHI), a private nonprofit financial empowerment organization, offers a national financial literacy program. Enlisting the services of its many national partners as instructors, OHI is able to reach out to hundreds of schools and other organizations throughout the country.
www.operationhope.org/smdev/lf1.php?id=305
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 smartaboutmoney.org website.
www.nefe.org
The Money Smart
program, developed jointly by the Department of Labor and the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation, provides a comprehensive adult financial education
curriculum at centers nationwide that offer employment and training
services. Banks and other
institutions can also use this curriculum to serve their communities. The curriculum is available in English, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese.
http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/
moneysmart/index.html
Building Native
Communities: Financial Skills for Families is a curriculum designed to
enhance the capacity of Native tribes, organizations, and people to better
manage their financial assets. Tribal organizations, nonprofits, and banks can use this curriculum,
developed through a partnership between
First Nations Development Institute and the Fannie Mae Foundation, to improve consumer financial
literacy in their communities.
www.firstnations.org/publications.asp#financiale
Asset Builders of America is a non-profit
organization, sponsored by a group of banks in Wisconsin, that promotes
financial literacy for people of all ages. It provides day-long
seminars and weekly sessions for middle school and high school students, as well
as adult learning seminars that cover basic to more advanced financial
topics. www.assetbuilders.org
The Financial
Services Education Coalition was formed by the Department of the Treasury in
conjunction with the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) 99 initiative requiring
direct deposit for most federal payments by January 2, 1999. The council has
published a guide, "Helping People in Your Community Understand Basic Financial
Services," intended for community educators for use with a variety of audiences
who currently do not have accounts with financial institutions or who need basic
information about how to use accounts.
http://www.fms.treas.gov/eft/
promotional/helping.html
The NeighborWorks® Network includes the neighborhood revitalization and educational services offered by NeighborWorks® America, Neighborhood Housing Services of America, and a national network of public and private partnerships. Through their "Financial Fitness Training Program" local NeighborWorks® affiliates teach the basics of finances and consumer skills by addressing topics such as setting financial goals, assets and liabilities, and using banks wisely.
http://www.nw.org/network/neighborworksprogs/financialfitness/default.asp.
The Department of
Agriculture Cooperative Extension System 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.
http://www.csrees.usda.gov
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.
www.woodstockinst.org/document/evaluationguide.pdf
Individual Development Accounts (IDAs)
Corporation for
Enterprise Development (CFED)
CFED promotes asset-building and economic opportunity
strategies, primarily in low-income and distressed communities, that bring
together community practice, public policy, and private markets. CFED has promoted the IDA as a means of
enabling low-income individuals to develop assets and is currently drafting
certification standards for IDA Programs. CFED
coordinates the American Dream Demonstration (ADD), a large-scale IDA program
which has designed and implemented IDA initiatives in 13 locations around the
country.
www.cfed.org
Assets for
Independence Demonstration (AFI)
The AFI Demonstration is the first federal law to fund IDA
programs. Administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this initiative has been authorized to fund 5-year project grants to establish new IDAs across the country.
www.acf.hhs.gov/assetbuilding/assets.html
Retirement and Financial Security
Consumer Federation
of America (CFA)
America Saves Campaign
CFA is developing 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.
www.americasaves.org
Choose to
Save
Education Program
Sponsored by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the
American Savings Education Council, this public education campaign on retirement
savings has run for three years in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The campaign includes a series of public
service announcements, weekly news segments, and an annual one-hour prime time
television special.
www.choosetosave.org
Credit management and credit repair
National Foundation for Credit Counseling, Inc. (NFCC) - The NFCC is the nation's oldest and largest nonprofit credit counseling organization. With 115 member agencies and nearly 1,000 local offices throughout the country, NFCC agencies counsel approximately 2 million people per year. All members are nonprofit, mission-driven, community-based agencies and many are known as Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS). The NFCC offers credit counseling, debt reduction services, and financial literacy education to consumers throughout the country. For more information about the NFCC network go to www.nfcc.org or call (800) 388-2227.
Get CheckingTM - Access to Mainstream Financial Services
Get CheckingTM is a national financial education program designed specifically to help consumers establish a primary banking relationship and gain access to mainstream financial services. Get Checking is sponsored in tandem by eFunds Corporation and the University of Wisconsin Extension.
www.getchecking.org
Homeownership counseling
The U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development certifies and funds housing counseling
agencies throughout the country that can provide advice on buying a home,
renting, defaults, foreclosures, credit issues, and reverse mortgages.
www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hccprof14.cfm
HUD offers a Homeownership for All program that provides prospective homeowners with modules that explain the basics of buying a home, and what is expected of a buyer.
www.hud.gov/webcasts/archives/homeforall.cfm
NeighborWorks® Network Campaign for Homeownership - 1993-2005
This joint four-year effort of banks, insurance companies,
the secondary market, government, the real estate industry, and others working
with more than 100 local Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) organizations aims
to educate 500,000 families, create 50,000 new low- and moderate-income
homebuyers (including 30,000 minority homebuyers), and generate $2.9 billion of
investment. By teaching these
consumers about homeownership and by preparing them to be homeowners through
pre- and post-purchase counseling, local NHS organizations reduce the risk of
delinquency and foreclosure.
http://www.nw.org/network/neighborworksprogs/ownership/default.asp
Fannie
Mae
Homepath
These agencies are primarily
community-based nonprofit groups that specialize in pre- and post-purchase
homeowner education and credit counseling. Some of these agencies also provide homeowner
education classes for borrowers who use Fannie Mae's Community Home Buyer's
Program and other loan products that require such education as part of the loan
approval.
http://www.fanniemae.com/homebuyers/homepath/index.jhtml?p=Homepath
Freddie
Mac
Homebuyer Resources
These credit, mortgage
finance, and home-buying resources are designed to assist prospective homebuyers
and existing homeowners.
http://www.freddiemac.com/homeownership/
A Spanish language
version is available at
http://www.freddiemac.com/corporate/buyown/spanish/purchasing/hunting
Recognizing and avoiding abusive lending practices
"Don't Borrow Trouble"
Campaign
This campaign, originally created by the City of Boston and the
Massachusetts Community and Banking Council, is being launched across the Nation
by Freddie Mac. The campaign uses a
combination of advertisements and public service announcements to educate
borrowers about predatory lending practices. In addition to Boston, the campaign has been
introduced in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Dayton, Detroit, Eastern
North Carolina, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Oakland, Southern Nevada, Syracuse,
and the State of Delaware.
www.dontborrowtrouble.com
NeighborWorks® Network - Predatory Lending
Information and training resources that are available through the NeighborWorks® Network. Helps consumers target and avoid some financial products that might pose threats to them, possibly resulting in the loss of their homes.
http://www.nw.org/network/comstrat/predatoryLending/nwresources.asp
Small business and microenteprise technical assistance
Small Business
Administration (SBA)
Small Business Development Centers
(SBDC)
The SBA administers the SBDC program to provide management
assistance to current and prospective small business owners. Nearly 1,000 SBDCs exist nationwide that
provide a wide variety of information and guidance.
www.sba.gov/sbdc/
Service Corps of
Retired Executives is a nonprofit association dedicated to encouraging the
formation, growth, and success of small business through counseling and mentor
programs.
www.score.org
The Association for
Enterprise Opportunity is a national association of organizations committed
to microenterprise development and maintains a clearinghouse of microenterprise
development programs.
www.microenterpriseworks.org The
Microfinance Gateway is a public forum for the microfinance industry at
large that offers a wealth of tailored services for microfinance professionals,
including resource centers on specific topics in microfinance, a searchable
library of electronic documents, a consultant database, a new bulletin board,
and specialized discussion groups. The Gateway's resources constitute a
comprehensive source of information on microfinance on the World Wide Web,
featuring 3900 online documents and over 900 listings of microfinance
institutions (MFIs). www.microfinancegateway.org
Financial literacy for limited English proficiency populations
The Appleseed Foundation - Financial Access for Latino Immigrants - Appleseed is working to bring Hispanic immigrants into the mainstream American financial system, thus helping them avoid predatory and other high-cost financial services, and enabling them to save, access credit, and build wealth.
http://appleseeds.net/servlet/IssueDetails?issue=latino_financial
National Council of La Raza (NCLR) - The mission of the NCLR Community Development program (NCLR-CD) is to build healthy communities through the creation of social, political, and economic wealth. NCLR seeks to measurably increase the level of liquid, nonliquid, and institutional assets held by the Hispanic/Latino community. This will be measured both by the wealth of individual families and the amount of capital assets controlled by Latino institutions. NCLR brings considerable resources to this issue, a strong track record in community development, the largest Hispanic Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) providing low-cost capital to communities, and demonstrated capacity to analyze and shape public policy.
www.nclr.org
Pew Hispanic Center - Founded in 2001, the Pew Hispanic Center is a nonpartisan research organization supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Its mission is to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos' growing impact on the entire nation. The Center does not advocate for or take positions on policy issues.
www.pewhispanic.org
MoneyWi$e - MoneyWi$e, a national financial literacy partnership of Consumer Action and Capital One, is the first program of its kind to combine free, multilingual financial education materials, curricula and teaching aids with regional meetings and roundtables to train community-based organization staff so that consumers at all income levels and walks of life can be reached.
www.money-wise.org
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