FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

April 6, 2004
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Treasury’s Office of Financial Education Joins Florida International University to launch Financial Education Program in Miami

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Education Dan Iannicola, Jr. today visited Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Florida, to help launch FIU’s new Wealth Management Professional Education Program.  Iannicola led a discussion on the importance of financial education in preparing Americans to make informed financial decisions.

The Wealth Management Professional Education Program will be offered through FIU’s College of Business Administration (CBA).  The program will be open to the public and will offer sessions on managing 401(k) plans, mutual fund investing, retirement and estate planning, and strategic wealth and money management.

“Helping people understand basic concepts such as managing money, budgeting, saving and credit can provide them with the skills necessary to build financial security and prevent them from making bad financial decisions later in life.  Financial education can make a difference in people’s daily lives” said Iannicola. 

While in Miami, Iannicola also visited the Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School and assisted Tom Glaser, an economics teacher, in teaching The Stock Market Game™ Program, a Securities Industry Foundation for Investor Education program, which teaches about the stock market, the American economic system, and the global economy through educational investment simulations.

Statistics show that financial education is critical.  For example, 64% of credit card holders ages 18 to 24 do not know the interest rates they pay on their credit cards[1].  According to a 2002 Nellie Mae survey, undergraduate students carry an average of three credit cards and graduate with an average of $20,402 in combined education loans and credit cards balances[2].  In 2001 more people filed for bankruptcy than graduated from college[3].

The positive effects of financial education carry into adulthood.  Studies show that students who received personal financial education have higher savings rates when compared to those who didn’t receive financial education, and individuals who have received financial education tend to participate in employer 401(k) plans at a higher rate and with larger contributions than others.

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Financial Education was established in May 2002. The OFE focuses the Department’s financial education policymaking, and ensures coordination on financial education within the Department and all of its bureaus. The OFE provides the Department of the Treasury with expertise on the many complex and interdisciplinary issues involved in financial education, and taps into the Department’s wide base of expertise on finance.  The OFE also supports the efforts of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, a group chaired by the Secretary of Treasury and composed of representatives from 20 federal departments, agencies, and commissions, which works to improve financial literacy and education for people throughout the United States.

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[1] Margaret Webb Pressler, “Now They’ll Have to Repay the Piper…,” The Washington Post, December 7, 2003

[2] Tami Luhby, “For Students, A New Math / High School Program Shows Youth that Fiscal Responsibility is More Than Adding and Subtracting,” Newsday, May 18, 2003

[3] Patricia Wolff, “ Area Lawmaker Wants Students to Learn More about Personal Finance,” Oshkosh Northwestern, April 28, 2003