August 8, 2005
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Deputy Assistant Secretary Iannicola Speaks at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on Private Sector Involvement in Financial Education

Treasury's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Education Dan Iannicola Jr. today spoke to representatives from non-profits, academic institutions and lenders on the role of the private sector in improving the nation's financial literacy. Iannicola spoke about recent developments in financial education and advised those in attendance on best practices in the field. Meeting participants described the efforts of their organizations to spread financial literacy in the Chicago area.

Iannicola thanked the Federal Reserve Bank for hosting the event and commended those attending for the good work of their organizations in making Americans more financially literate.

"Chicago's approach presents a good model for private sector involvement in financial education," said Iannicola. "Here, private sector groups including non-profits, academic institutions and financial service providers work to improve financial education in their own ways, but yet they all come together under the coordination of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to learn from each other and coordinate their efforts. This arrangement allows each private sector group to concentrate on its area, constituency and topic of choice while remaining connected to the larger effort on financial literacy."

Each year, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago holds "Money Smart Week," which is led by the Money Smart Advisory Council, to help consumers better manage their finances and provide pubic awareness of financial education programs available on topics such as budgeting and using credit wisely.

In addition to Iannicola's address at the Federal Reserve Bank, he also taught children at the James Jordan Boys and Girls Club in Chicago a lesson from the "Money Matters: Make it Count program," which is a financial education program created by the Charles Schwab Foundation and the Boys & Girls Club of America. Through the Money Matters program, more than 4 million young people have been afforded access to additional financial education through a national network of 3,700 neighborhood-based facilities.

The Department of the Treasury is a leader in promoting financial education.  Treasury established the Office of Financial Education in May of 2002. The Office works to promote access to the financial education tools that can help all Americans make wiser choices in all areas of personal financial management, with a special emphasis on saving, credit management, home ownership and retirement planning.  The Office also coordinates 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.  For more information about the Office of Financial Education visit: www.treas.gov/financialeducation.

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