Money Smart - A Financial Education Program
Financial Education.....A Corporate Commitment
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 3 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 education fosters financial stability for individuals, families, and entire communities. The more people know about credit and banking services, the more likely they are to increase savings, buy homes, and improve their financial health and well-being.
The Money Smart curriculum for consumers is available free of charge in several versions:
- Instructor-led curricula for adults on CD-ROM available in nine languages and Braille and large print versions for the visually impaired (learn more)
- Instructor-led curricula series for young people in grades pre-K through 12 (learn more)
- A stand-alone instructor-led module developed by the FDIC and CFPB that targets the needs of older adults (age 62 and older). Money Smart for Older Adults is available in English and Spanish.
- A self-paced Computer-Based Instruction (CBI) format online for ages 13 and over in English and Spanish (learn more)
- A portable audio (MP3) version, Money Smart Podcast Network (learn more)
And, the FDIC in collaboration with SBA, offers the Money Smart for Small Business instructor-led curriculum focusing on the needs of new or existing entrepreneurs.
The Money Smart program may be used by financial institutions and other organizations interested in sponsoring financial education workshops. Collaboration is important to the success of any education effort. The FDIC encourages banks to work with others in their communities to deliver financial education and appropriate financial services, including to individuals who may not have a relationship with an insured depository institution.
The Money Smart program can help banks fulfill part of their Community Reinvestment Act obligations. The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA) encourages federally insured banks and thrifts to help meet the credit needs of their entire community, including areas of low-and moderate-income. When a bank's CRA performance is reviewed, the institution's efforts to provide financial education and other retail services are a positive consideration.