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You are here: Home / Newsroom / Newsletters / Family Economics News - February 2007

Family Economics News - February 2007

The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) works with land-grant university partners and others to advance knowledge for agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities through national program leadership and Federal assistance. Among the Agency’s goals is to support increased economic opportunities and quality of life in rural areas. Family economics aligns with this goal by focusing on how individuals and families obtain and use resources such as money, time, human capital, material resources, and community services; by exploring the relationship between individuals and families and the larger economy; and by studying the impact of public issues, policies, and programs on family economic well-being.

Research/Program Evaluation

  • Financing Long-Term Care: Risk Management Intentions and Behaviors of Couples
  • Payday Lending = Financial Quicksand

Education/Extension

  • America Saves Week
  • Small Steps to Health and Wealth
  • GAO Financial Literacy Report

Resources

  • Telephone Excise Tax Refund/Split Tax Refunds
  • AARP Public Policy Institute 
  • A Project of the New America Foundation: Asset-Building Program    

Opportunities

  • Call for Papers:
    • Journal of Personal Finance
    • Journal of Youth Development
    • Financial Counseling and Planning
    • The Journal of Consumer Affairs (Special Issue)
    • Financial Planning Association's Financial Frontiers Awards
  • Funding:
    • NASD Investor Education Foundation
    • National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®) 
    • MMI Education Foundation
    • Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards
    • Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)

Calendar

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At the November 2006 Annual Conference for the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE), a research report on financing long-term care was recognized as the Outstanding AFCPE Conference Paper. The paper used qualitative methods to examine how couples perceived and articulated their intentions and behaviors regarding managing the risk of financing long-term care. The paper identified two overall decision-making styles for addressing the risk of long-term care: scrambling and advance planning. Scramblers may or may not intend to address the risk of long-term care. Advance planners are goal-oriented and work to achieve their definition of financial security. Some focus on preparing for a long and healthy later life, whereas others address the risk of long-term care. To learn more, visit the AFCPE Web site.

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) is a nonprofit research and policy organization dedicated to protecting homeownership and family wealth by working to eliminate abusive financial practices. CRL produced a report titled Payday Lending = Financial Quicksand. This study revealed that, every year, payday lenders strip $4.2 billion in excessive fees from Americans who think they're getting a 2-week loan, but end up trapped in debt. This study calculates the cost of predatory payday lending state-by-state. The report finds that, across the nation, payday borrowers are paying more in interest (at annual rates of 400 percent) than the amount of the loan they originally borrowed. To access more resources and to learn more about the Center for Responsible Lending, visit their Web site.

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It's not too late to participate in the first America Saves Week, February 25th – March 4th, 2007. This is an on-going effort in the partnership between Cooperative Extension and America Saves, coordinated by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). Resources from the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and America Saves can help you participate. Your participation in this national recognition week will help motivate low- and moderate-income individuals to save money, build wealth, and reduce debt.  Extension has been actively involved with America Saves since 2002. The “America Saves Week Guide for Extension Educators” will help you plan, implement, and evaluate an effort in your locality. A team of Extension educators, working with America Saves/CFA staff, developed this guide. To learn more about America Saves, and to access this guide, visit the Financial Security in Later Life Web site, click on "Educator," then "Program Toolkit," then "America Saves.”    

The Small Steps to Health and Wealth™ (SSHW) program encourages participants to make positive behavior changes to improve simultaneously their health and personal finances. The SSHW Web site includes fact sheets that describe linkages between health and personal finances and 25 specific behavior change strategies for better health and increased wealth. Users can also register online to set personal health and wealth goals and periodically report their progress. The SSHW Web site also includes a narrated PowerPoint presentation and downloadable posters.

In December 2003, the Financial Literacy and Education Improvement Act created the Financial Literacy and Education Commission. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) December 2006 report assesses the commission's effectiveness. The report reviews its progress in developing a national strategy; in developing a Web site and hotline; and in coordinating federal efforts and promoting partnerships among the federal, state, local, nonprofit, and private sectors. The report mentions that coordinating federal efforts has been particularly challenging, in part because the commission must achieve consensus among 20 federal agencies (including USDA/CSREES), each with its own viewpoints, programs, and constituencies. Recommendations in this report indicate further progress is needed to ensure an effective national strategy. To view GAO's complete Financial Literacy and Education Commission report, visit the GAO Web site.  

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The IRS is offering a one-time refund to all telephone customers who paid excise tax on long-distance service after February 28, 2003, and before August 1, 2006.  The refund is the result of recent federal court rulings that the 3-percent tax is no longer applicable to long-distance service as it is billed today. Individuals can request the refund on their regular tax returns. If they don't have to file a tax return, they can use a newly created Form 1040EZ-T to request their refund.  In addition, the IRS is providing a fast and simple option for any long-distance customer by offering a standard refund amount, between $30 and $60, based on the number of exemptions they claim. Communication tools to spread the word about the Telephone Excise Tax Refund are available on the Web site.  

Another ongoing IRS program to assist citizens, beginning in tax season 2007 (for tax year 2006), allows individuals to split their refund with direct deposits into two or three accounts. Go to the IRS Web site to view the Form 8888.

The Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance in the United States Research Report reports distribution of family income, poverty, and health insurance coverage by age group in the United States in 2005. The data for these analyses are from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, March 2006 Current Population Survey.

The Sources of Income for Older Persons in 2004 Research Report reports the income sources for persons age 65 and older in 2004. It analyzes distribution of each income source by gender, race, and personal income level. The data for these analyses are from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, March 2005 Current Population Survey. 

For comprehensive information on asset ownership and policies, go to AssetBuilding.org. This site, maintained by the Asset Building Program of the New America Foundation, includes the rationale, theory, and evidence for asset-based policies, provides links to the key research and policy centers in the assets field, and catalogs the key articles, op-eds, books, testimonies, commissions, and other materials on asset-based policy. The clearinghouse also summarizes any pending legislation in Congress or proposals from the Administration to build assets, and provides descriptions of asset-based initiatives outside the United States.

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  • NASD Investor Education Foundation Grant Programs - The 2007 NASD Investor Education Foundation grant programs are now posted online. For announcements, subscribe to the e-mail newsletter for periodic updates and announcements of new grant deadlines.

  • National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE®) - In 2007, the NEFE® Grants program will include two, rather than three, grant cycles with the June cycle removed. The April and October cycles will continue as before. The grants submitted by December 5, 2006, will be reviewed for the April cycle. The next deadline for grant proposals is June 5, 2007, for the October grant cycle. To learn more about the NEFE® Grants program, visit the NEFE Web site and click on the Grantsmaking section.

  • MMI Education Foundation - The foundation uses its resources to serve the public interest and strengthen the communities. Periodic announcements and grant guidelines are available online.

  • The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. has announced its 2007 Financial Planning Grants Program. Deadline is March 1, 2007.  

  • Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Grant Programs for 2007. Submission dates are April 5, August 5, and December 5, 2007.  

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  • EFERMA Conference, February 28-March 1, 2008, Savannah, GA. Details pending.
  • Galaxy III, Indianapolis, IN, September 14-18.

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  • CSREES Contact: Jane Schuchardt, National Program Leader, CSREES-USDA
  • National Initiative “Financial Security in Later Life” Contact: Nancy M. Porter, Family Resource Management Specialist, Clemson University
  • Financial Literacy for Youth Contact: Erica Tobe, Program Leader for Financial Literacy & Housing, Michigan State University
  • Financial Security for All eXtension Contact: Debra Pankow, Family Economics Specialist, North Dakota State University

Back issues of Family Economics News are available.

To submit items for consideration for this newsletter, contact Jim Terry, Program Analyst, CSREES-USDA.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Mention or display of a trademark, proprietary product, or firm in text or figures does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and does not imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms.

Last Updated: 02/01/2007


07/25/2007