Financial Literacy Education

Academic Articles & Resources

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APEF Vision 2020 Financial Literacy Report Card
The consequences of financial illiteracy manifest themselves throughout our society. This national crisis may seem daunting and, at times, impossible to overcome, but the American Public Education Foundation thinks otherwise. We believe financial literacy begins in the classroom at the earliest ages. Together, we can embrace our responsibility to prepare the next generation for learning, for leadership, and for life, and change the course of their future.

The 2019 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey 
The NFCC’s Financial Literacy Survey provides an overview of financial literacy statistics in the U.S. In 2019, about two in five U.S. adults – a proportion that has held roughly steady since 2007 – say they have a budget and keep close track of how much they spend on such things as food, housing, and entertainment. The proportion of U.S. adults that has non-retirement savings remains 7 in 10, with most adults saving or investing their money in a savings account.

PwC’s 8th annual Employee Financial Wellness Survey – 2019 Results
PwC’s 8th annual Employee Financial Wellness Survey was conducted during the last two weeks of January 2019 and tracks the financial and retirement well-being of working U.S. adults nationwide. This year it incorporates the views of 1,686 full-time employed adults.

Financial Wellness Program Market Share Worldwide Industry Growth, Size, Statistics, Opportunities & Forecasts up to 2024
Global Financial Wellness Program Marketreport 2024 focuses on the major Types and Applications for the key players. Global Financial Wellness Program market research report also provides analysis of the market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market. The Financial Wellness Program market research report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of Global Industry. The research study on the Financial Wellness Program market projects this industry to garner substantial proceeds by the end of the projected duration, with a commendable growth rate liable to be registered over the estimated timeframe. Elucidating a pivotal overview of this business space, the report includes information pertaining to the remuneration presently held by this industry, in tandem with a meticulous illustration of the Financial Wellness Program market segmentation and the growth opportunities prevailing across this vertical.

Closing the financial literacy gap: Turning passion into action
Improving the overall financial education of the U.S population is a massive, long-term undertaking, but it is one that financial advisers are uniquely positioned to course-correct. This paper, based on unique research and data, as well as dozens of interviews with advisers and industry experts, highlights the contributions and efforts of a number of individuals who have found ways to successfully improve financial literacy. The paper details how advisers can help to improve financial education levels across a range of age groups, starting as early as grade school. In addition, it provides a framework for “turning energy into action,” which is a set of guidelines for finding the right organization or effort to work with. It also includes information on a number of existing groups that partner with thousands of advisers on a range of financial education initiatives. December 2018

Understanding and Achieving Participant Financial Wellness
From August 25, 2017 to January 31, 2018, the companies of OneAmerica® fielded an online survey to retirement plan participants in order to better understand participant financial wellness and factors that contribute to — or impede — the ability to become financially well. A total of 12,211 retirement plan participants answered questions about financial wellness, ancillary wellness factors — such as working with financial professionals — and education preferences.

Assessing the Impact of Financial Education Programs: A Quantitative Model, April 2018
This paper discussed the effectiveness of financial education programs, especially those offered in the workplace. It explains measurement differences in evaluation and outcomes.  It shows that the more effective programs provide follow-up in order to sustain the knowledge acquired by employees via the program; in such an instance, financial education delivered to employees around the age of 40 can raise savings at retirement by close to 10{21ff4f36868fa9830ff11f4d939007e345b08a69fa4833b8bf3a08fd16b9151c}. By contrast, one-time education programs do produce short-term but few long-term effects

2018 Hot Topics in Retirement and Financial Wellness
The 2018  Hot Topics in Retirement and Financial Wellness is based on an annual survey that Alight Services administers to employers in an effort to capture their intended changes to retirement and financial wellbeing plans in the years ahead. The 2018 version is the 14th installment of the report that comes from the responses of nearly 200 organizations that employ close to a million workers.  The survey was administered in the fall of 2017.

Employee Financial Health: How Companies Can Invest in Workplace Wellness , May 2017
This paper includes “spotlights” on what we consider the most innovative and effective financial products to address income volatility, unexpected expenses, and other financial health challenges confronting many American workers.  Authors: Sohrab Kohli, Senior Associate, CFSI Rob Levy, Managing Director, CFSI

The Employee Financial Wellness Survey 
A 2017 publication from PwC’s employee financial education and wellness practice. It tracks the financial well-being of full-time employed US adults nationwide. This year it incorporates the views of more than 1,600 full-time employed adults.

Employee Financial Literacy And Retirement Plan Behavior: A Case Study
This paper uses administrative data on all active employees of the Federal Reserve System to examine participation in and contributions to the Thrift Saving Plan, the system’s defined contribution (DC) plan.

Common Cents Lab – End of Year Report 2016
The Common Cents Lab is part of the Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University. Common Cents is comprised of researchers and experts in product design, economics, psychology, public policy, advertising, business administration, and more. The lab is led by famed Behavioral Economics Professor Dan Ariely. Dan has written three New York Times bestsellers, including Predictably Irrational. To fulfill its mission, Common Cents partners with organizations, including fin-tech companies, credit unions, banks and nonprofits, that believe their work could be improved through insights gained from behavioral economics.

2016 Survey of the States: Economic and Personal Finance Education in Our Nation’s Schools
Every two years, the Council for Economic Education (CEE) conducts a comprehensive look into the state of K-12 economic and financial education in the United States, collecting data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The biennial Survey of the States serves as an important benchmark for our progress, revealing both how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go.

What Is Financial Literacy And Why Should We Care
Shin Freedman and Marcia Dursi

Does financial education impact financial literacy and financial behavior, and if so, when?
Tim Kaiser and Lukas Menkhoff,

Financial Literacy: An Overview of Practice, Research, and Policy
Sandra Braunstein and Carolyn Welch

Personal Finance Education in the Workplace: What Works
Thomas Garman

Three Questions Answered
Thomas Garman

Using the Personal Finance Well-Being Scale
Thomas Garman

Financial Wellness Programs Gain Traction
Sony Stinson

Financial Wellness at Work: A review of promising practices and policies
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Taking on the U.S. “Financial Edu-Crises” How We Can Begin Closing the Gap
By Dan Martin
Director, Digital Communications and Strategy, Jackson®

Financial Well-Being: The Goal of Financial Education.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The Future of Financial Wellness
Conference Proceedings
Stanford Center on Longevity
2014

Financial Counseling and Financial Access among Job Training Participants
University of Wisconsin-Madison: Center for Financial Security
Michael Collins, Nathalie Gons, & Kasey Wiedrich
2014

Workplace Financial Education Facilitates Improvement in Personal Financial Behaviors
Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning
Prawitz & Cohart
2014

The MetLife Study of Financial Wellness Across the Globe: A look at how multinational companies are helping employees better manage their personal finances
Prepared by Boston College Center for Work & Family
Sponsored by MetLife
2011

Raising Household Savings: Does Financial Education Work? 
William G. Gale, Benjamin H. Harris, and Ruth Levine

The Financial Management Behavior Scale: Development and Validation
Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning
Dew & Xiao
2011

Financial Knowledge and Best Practice Behavior
Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning
Robb & Woodyard
2011

Strategies for Motivating Employees To Develop Positive Financial Behaviors: An Application of the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change
Special publication of the Personal Finance Employee Education Fund
Xiao, Prawitz, Prochaska, O’Neill, Kim, & Garman
2008

Progress in Measuring Changes in Financial Distress and Financial Well-Being as a Result of Financial Literacy Programs
Consumer Interest Annual
Garman, MacDicken, Hunt, Shatwell, Haynes, Hanson, Hanson, Olson, & Woehler
2007

InCharge Financial Distress/Financial Well-Being Scale: Development, Administration, and Score Interpretation
Financial Counseling and Planning
Prawitz, Garman, Sorhaindo, O’Neill, Kim, & Drentea
2006

The InCharge Financial Distress/Financial Well-Being Scale: Establishing Validity and Reliability
Proceedings of the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning education
Prawitz, Garman, Sorhaindo, O’Neill, Kim, & Drentea
2006

Financial Distress: Definition, Effects, and Measurement
Consumer Interest Annual
O’Neill, Sorhaindo, Prawitz, Kim, & Garman
2006

Development of and Norms for the InCharge Financial Distress/Financial Well-Being Scale: A Summary
Consumer Interest Annual
Garman, Sorhaindo, Prawitz, O’Neill, Osteen, Kim, Drentea, Haynes, & Weisman
2005

Delphi Study of Experts’ Rankings of Personal Finance Concepts Important in the Development of the InCharge Financial Distress Scale
Consumer Interests Annual
Garman & Sorhaindo
2005

The Development of the Beta Version of the InCharge Financial Distress Scale
Consumer Interests Annual
Garman, Sorhaindo, Kim, Xiao, Bailey, & Prawitz
2004

Educational Desires of Credit Counseling Clients
Financial Counseling and Planning
Bailey, Sorhaindo & Garman
2003

The Effects of Financial Education in the Workplace: Evidence from a Survey of Households
Journal of Public Economics
Berhneim & Garrett
2003

Household Financial Management: The Connection Between Knowledge and Behavior
Federal Reserve Bulletin
Hilgert, Hogarth & Beverly
2003

Financial Literacy: An Overview of Practice, Research, and Policy
Federal Reserve Bulletin
Braunstein & Welch
2002

Education on the Money
HR Monthly, Packer

Money Managers–The Good, the Bad, and the Lost
Proceedings of the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education
Hogarth, Hilgert, & Schuchardt
2002

Financial Education and Savings Outcomes in Individual Savings Accounts
Washington University in St. Louis
Clancy, Grinstein-Weiss, & Schreiner
2001

Workplace Financial Education Improves Personal Financial Wellness
Financial Counseling and Planning
Garman, Kim, Kratzer, Brunson, & Joo
1999