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...
Your Weekend Podcasts
Oops. Meant to get this out on Friday. Here’s what I have been listening to the past week (or hope to listen to soon):
Bill McNabb, CEO of Vanguard Group (Masters in Business with Barry Ritholtz; over one hour). Vanguard recently crossed $4 trillion in assets under management. McNabb describes why index funds are increasing their market share, how Vanguard’s robo-advising business is growing, and the importance of fees when it comes to investing over the long-term. For those...
Question: What Regions of the Country Have The Most Upward Mobility?
The Equality of Opportunity Project released a vast trove of data last Wednesday focused, as its name suggests, on identifying characteristics in communities that foster upward mobility. In looking at over 700 metro and rural areas in the U.S., the researchers defined upward mobility in terms of a children’s chances of reaching the top 20% in income distribution given parents in the bottom 20%.
Here’s the results from crunching lots of data (note the legend that indicates lighter...
Chart: How Strong Are American's Problem-Solving Skills Using A Computer?
By Tim Ranzetta
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Jan 16, 2017
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Career, Policy, Research, Current Events, Chart of the Week, Article
From Economist:
Answer: Meh (or about average for OECD countries with about 33% of adults classified in the “High” category).
This Economist article focused on the need for retraining of low-skilled workers as the pace of automation accelerates and many of their jobs go the way of the buggy whip. As for how to accomplish this, Singapore has a promising example:
But it is Singapore that can lay claim to the most joined-up approach with its SkillsFuture initiative. Employers in the...
Two Charts That Prove We Need To Teach Financial Aid in HIGH SCHOOL!
By Tim Ranzetta
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Nov 14, 2016
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Paying for College, Policy, Research, Student Loans, Chart of the Week, Parent Conversations
From GFLEC Policy Brief on Student Loans:
To summarize, 54% of students didn’t know the monthly payments associated with the student loans that they were taking out and 53% indicated that would make a change to their decision about taking out loans. High school educators please take this incredible opportunity to educate your students about financial aid and how to pay for college. Ensure that your students don’t regret decisions they made because no one provided them the...
If You Are A Teacher Enrolled In a 403(b) Plan, Please Read This!
By Tim Ranzetta
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Oct 24, 2016
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Article, Behavioral Finance, Career, Policy, Index Funds, Investing, Stocks, Current Events, Ethics
This is a great example where your knowledge of investing can come in handy for yourself and other teachers in your building. The NY Times story shows what happens when light regulation meets rapacious financial firms. This is why financial literacy is so important! We can wait for regulation or we can arm ourselves with the knowledge necessary to avoid disasters like the story told below. Without knowing the right questions to ask or understanding the alternatives, too many teachers have seen...
What's New With Prepaid Debit Cards?
By Tim Ranzetta
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Oct 06, 2016
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Debit Cards, Policy, Research, WebQuest, Checking Accounts, Purchase Decisions, Current Events
New regulations are on their way..here’s an FAQ to help you and your students sort it all out:
How big is the market for prepaid cards and who uses them? (Atlantic):
The market for prepaid debit cards has grown dramatically in recent years: The number of people using the cards in addition to their checking accounts increased by 50 percent between 2012 and 2014. According to a report from Pew by 2014, around 23 million Americans were regularly using reloadable cards, and more than...
NGPF Podcast: Tim Talks To Researcher Dr. Carly Urban About The Effectiveness of Financial Education
By Tim Ranzetta
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Sep 13, 2016
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Research, Behavioral Finance, Policy, Personal Finance, Financial Literacy, Current Events, Podcasts
I have to be candid and say that I get a little ticked off when I read about how personal finance education doesn’t work (see here and here and here). Here are just a few of the quotes that I came across questioning its value:
So when it comes to education, I start rolling my eyes when people suggest education is the magic bullet. Let’s get real, please. As heretical as it is to say in our society, “education” is not the panacea for personal finance.
There is almost no evidence...
Question: What Are The Building Blocks of Financial Capability?
By Tim Ranzetta
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Sep 12, 2016
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Financial Literacy, Behavioral Finance, Policy, Question of the Day, Research, Budgeting, Teaching Strategies, Current Events, Case Study, Parent Conversations
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) out with a new report “Building Blocks to Help Youth Achieve Financial Capability.”
Skimming through it quickly to bring you the highlights. Here are their three building blocks they identify as critical to financial capability:
Here are some links to a few NGPF resources that map to the examples that they provide in the table above:
Savings lessons and activities
Our most popular budgeting activity
Rules of thumb
What’s the...
