This Week in Financial Literacy

• HelloWallet, a money guidance service, launched last week; will rely on subscription model (from NY Times) while also providing free service to 300,000 low-income families:

"Last week, a former Brookings Institution consumer finance scholar introduced one such new service called HelloWallet. For a monthly subscription of $4, HelloWallet performs the traditional budgeting and money tracking functions found at free sites like Mint.com.

But HelloWallet will also recommend customized financial plans for everything from saving for college to saving for retirement. Based on tuition cost trends for the particular college you expect your child to go to and your saving history, it will give you recommendations, for instance, for how much to save monthly and where.

In addition, it will help estimate how much you should save to buy a house using local home prices; will forecast your home’s likely worth in the future; and will identity and provide recommendations about gaps in your finances, like having no rainy day fund or emergency savings plan. It will also identify ineffective savings vehicles you may be using, among other functions...

For this reason, HelloWallet is providing the service free to at least 300,000 low-income families over the next five years, and the Rockefeller Foundation is providing funds to nonprofits to provide 10,000 subscriptions to HelloWallet for low-income Americans."

• NY Times Freakonomics blog highlights new financial literacy center being established by Dartmouth College professor Annamaria Lusardi:  

"Annamaria Lusardi, one of the leading academic lights of financial literacy, has begun a new Financial Literacy Center “to develop and test innovative programs to improve financial literacy and promote informed financial decision-making.” This year, the Center will research workplace education for new hires, people’s knowledge of social security benefits, retirement planning, and decision-making among low-income and minority groups."

• "Financial reality day" provides important lessons to high school students (from Beloit Daily News):

"More than 300 business students learned a lesson in financial planning at Barkin Arena Wednesday afternoon.  The arena was host to what was billed as “financial reality day,” in which students chose a career, received a fictional income and budgeted for a fictional life. Students who participated were randomly assigned a marital status. Some students were also assigned children.

Each student received a monthly income based on their occupations. Before the fair, students in business courses researched possible careers...Bosch said the fair gets students thinking about their future and helps them develop valuable skills such as balancing a check book.  It also helps them in decision making."

• Game show "Who Wants To Be Financially Responsible?" developed (from The Hartford Courant):

"It may not be quite as much fun as "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," but the computer game "Who Wants to be Financially Responsible?" may be a lot more useful for most college and high school students.

The new game uses characters like Julie "the boutique binger" and Cameron "the cosmopolitan complainer" to deliver fiscally sound but entertaining advice to high school and college students about everything from credit cards and budgeting to investments and identity theft.

The game, which mixes the flavor of '70s games shows like the "Dating Game" with the improvisational spirit of "Saturday Night Live," is the result of a collaboration among the Connecticut Department of Higher Education, Connecticut Public Broadcasting, the University of Connecticut and other colleges. It can be accessed at flip.ctdhe.org."

• Financial overhaul bill proposed by Senator Dodd would create office of financial literacy (from Legal Newsline):

"Now called the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the agency would have a director appointed by the president, and be charged with making rules for financial products including mortgages, credit cards and payday loans. The agency would not have authority over financial professionals licensed at the state level, such as accountants.

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection would also be charged with establishing an Office of Financial Literacy."

• From ConsumerAffairs.com:  "The bureau would also establish an Office of Financial Literacy charged with educating the public about financial matters and a complaint hot line so consumers will have a single point to report problems with financial institutions."

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