The "States" of Financial Capability
Last December, the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College issued a report card on U.S. states and their personal finance education offerings in high schools. At that point, only Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia and Utah received “A’s,” signifying that they require 60+ hours of personal financial instruction for graduation. Utah got an “A+” because they also require students to pass a state test on the subject.
However, there has been progress...
Digging Deeper: Money and Gender Part I – the Pay Gap
Apr 30, 2018
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Research, Career, Current Events, Employment, Personal Finance, Policy
Two events in April brought the issue of gender pay gap into the headlines this past month. The first was the April 4 deadline for all companies in the United Kingdom to report on pay by gender in their companies. (Apparently, it is against the law to pay different rates/salaries by gender, but the government agency responsible for enforcing this is woefully short of staff and funding.) For those reporting by the deadline, 80% in fact pay men more. This has brought the issue...
What's the Catch?: The Case of Golden Valley Loan Company
If they won't regulate, we better educate.
Listening to Planet Money podcast (20 minutes) last week about an online lender, Golden Valley Loan, Inc. It was being sued by CFPB for "unfair, deceptive and abusive business practices." Under new CFPB leadership, the lawsuit has been dropped.
So, I went to Golden Valley's website to read the fine print of their short-term, high interest loans to see if I could find the "gotchas."
What a beautiful website...
Here's how they...
Schools in the News (late February)
By Tim Ranzetta
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Mar 01, 2018
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Schools In News, Professional Development, Policy, Personal Finance
Here's what's happening with personal finance across the country:
Will the state of Florida require a personal finance course? (Tampa Bay Online):
Hukill, a Port Orange Republican, has been pushing to get this information into teens’ hands for five years. Her bill would remove the financial literacy material currently in the state’s basic economics course, and create a separate half-credit course that students would have to pass in order to graduate.
NGPF Fellow, Jill Wilson,...
What I'm Reading This Weekend (2/10-2/11)
By Beth Tallman
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Feb 09, 2018
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Investing, Policy, Cryptocurrencies, Student Loans, Podcasts, Current Events
What happened to the 15 months of placid, upward sloping trend lines for all major stock indices that we had grown so accustomed to? Find out what changed with the markets and more in Beth's most excellent curated reads below.
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The Market (are we talking about anything else this week?)
Did anyone else get whiplash (or perhaps motion sickness) from the roller coaster ride the stock market took this week? Here are several articles that help put is in...
Let's Get Philosophical: What's the Purpose of Companies?
By Tim Ranzetta
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Jan 21, 2018
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Current Events, Article, Audio Resource, Ethics, Policy, Teaching Strategies
Make a profit OR serve other constituencies, like customers, employees and communities. The "maximize shareholder value" mantra (a.k.a. the stock price is all that matters) for public companies has been in vogue for the past several decades. However, if pronouncements from a top investor is any indication, there may be a shift afoot. Business teachers might enjoy taking this current event into the classroom and using it to spur a debate.
Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, an asset manager with over...
Question of the Day: How many monthly withdrawals can you make (without penalty) from a savings or money market account?
By Tim Ranzetta
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Nov 09, 2017
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Question of the Day, Savings, Checking Accounts, Debit Cards, Policy
Answer: 6
Hat tip to Jessica and her PLC group, Diane Mondoro, Steve Penley, Vicky Livesay, and Kayla Bousum for generating this question. (Sign up for the next round of our PLCs here)
On to the details:
From NerdWallet:
Regulation D, also known as Reg D, is a Federal Reserve Board rule that puts a limit of six transactions per month on certain transfers and withdrawals from your savings or money market account. If you go over the limit, the bank or credit union can charge you a fee, close...
What's the Latest in Financial Education Research?
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Oct 03, 2017
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Article, Financial Literacy, Credit Cards, Personal Finance, Policy
We like to bring you the most current information relating to financial education. From elementary school to college and beyond, financial education is not only a necessity, but a fundamental topic that educates students and teachers alike on how they can financially prepare for their future. Here are six recent academic journal papers from George Washington University’s online Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center that you might find helpful in thinking about your instruction:...
Current Events: What's New With Overdraft Fees?
As readers of the blog know, overdraft fees are big profit generators for the big banks. Tens of billions of dollars big. So, what's new? The CFPB sees these large fees (average of $34 per overdraft) and wonders whether consumers really understand what they are signing up for when they opt-in to overdraft protection. This current event is a good opportunity to blend a discussion about policy while helping your students better understand a checking account "gotcha."
Let's start at the beginning....
Tim Talks To: Allie Nault, Advocate for Financial Education and Miss America's Outstanding Teen
I know you will enjoy my conversation with Allie Nault, Miss America’s Outstanding Teen for 2016. From working at a 24 hour diner to grilling presidential candidates about our nation’s debt, Allie has a level of composure and maturity well beyond her years. She uses her platform to advocate for financial literacy and she travels throughout the country talking to students, parents, and teachers about the importance of financial education. Listen to this podcast and you will learn...
What Actions Are Countries Taking To Improve Financial Education?
Thanks to NGPF intern Grace Deng for her tremendous notes on a recent panel at OECD/GFLEC GLOBAL POLICY RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM TO ADVANCE FINANCIAL LITERACY. This panel “Policy Research to Improve Financial Education Outcomes” captured how other countries (China, Australia, England and Russia) are implementing financial education (see video here starting at 2 hour 35 minute mark of video). Interesting to see the parallels in the challenges they identify in their home countries and the...
NGPF Podcast: Tim Talks to Dave Mancl About How Wisconsin Increased Access to Financial Education
I really enjoyed my recent conversation with Dave Mancl. He provided awesome insights about how actions at the state level can act as an accelerant to get financial education into more K-12 classrooms. Dave’s state, Wisconsin, has been an early adopter in seeing the value of this education and created a comprehensive and holistic approach to increasing access. In this podcast, Dave shares his work as director of the Wisconsin Office of Financial Literacy in the Department of...
The Need for Financial Education Is Everywhere...!
As we embark on an advocacy strategy that you will see unfold in the weeks and months, I become more convinced everyday that there is a groundswell of grassroots support for making financial education as much a part of K-12 as the three Rs. I also am beginning to recognize the gaping hole that exists for financial programs targeting underserved populations. This kind of fits the innovation model described in this Clay Christensen Harvard Business Review article where a disrupter targets...
Wrong Question: Should College Students Be Required to Take A Personal Finance Course?
By Tim Ranzetta
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Mar 20, 2017
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Policy, Question of the Day, Research, Personal Finance, Financial Literacy
Kudos to WSJ for asking the question and getting opposing viewpoints on the answer to the question. I am having trouble containing myself so I thought I better get my thoughts down on paper before I explode. First, the newspaper is asking the wrong question. The right question is “Should High School Students Be Required to Take A Personal Finance Course?” College is too late. The biggest financial decision that young people make occurs BEFORE college. Those decisions are “where...
What's New With Credit Reports?
By Tim Ranzetta
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Mar 14, 2017
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Credit Reports, Credit Scores, Policy, Research, Current Events, Video Resource
Here are a few new developments that we are tracking:
Consumers are about to benefit from changes afoot with credit reports (From WSJ [subscription] with hat tip to NGPF Team member, Sonia):
Many tax liens and civil judgments soon will be taken off people’s credit reports, the latest move to omit negative information from the powerful financial scorecards.
The decision by the three major credit-reporting firms— Equifax Inc., Experian PLC and TransUnion—could help boost credit scores for...
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