Financial Capability Resources

Resources by Content Area

• Financial Planning and Money Management
  • Feed the Pig – tips for savings with interactive game on spending
  • Mint – financial goal setting, budgeting and tracking
  • Citi Office of Financial Capability – information and resources for financial behavior change
  • MoneySmart - FDIC MoneySmart curriculum
  • Money Wise - multilingual financial education materials and curriculum
• Creating Savings
  • www.assetplatform.org  - financial tools for your communities
  • www.thebeehive.org - savings account tools
  • cfed.org/programs/idas - Individual Development Accounts
  • www.d2dfund.org - innovative tools and games for saving for lower income consumers
  • www.jumpstart.org – financial education for youth
  • wiseupwomen.tamu.edu – financial education for generation x & y women
  • www.smartypig.com/ - interactive tools for goal setting and savings

• Using Financial Products and Services
  • www.helpwithmybank.gov– OCC website on common banking issues and questions
  • www.mymoney.gov - the basics of financial education from 20 federal agencies
  • /www.bankrate.com – consumer information on a variety of financial products
  • www.FederalReserve.gov – resources for educators and consumers
  • www.handsonbanking.org/en/ - basic money tools based on demographics

Developing Credit

• financialliteracy.cas.psu.edu/CreditMatters.html  - tools
• www.controlyourcredit.gov/  - interactive gamed created by the Treasury
• www2.nefe.org/eval/  - smart evaluation directions
• financialentertainment.org/play/celebritycalamity.html  - a behavioral game
• www.practicalmoneyskills.com – resources for consumers and curriculum
• www.myfico.com – education on credit, scoring, includes educational videos

• Assessing Insurance Needs
  • www.insweb.com – for consumers to comparison shop for insurance policies
  • www.NAIC.org - The National Association of Insurance Commissioners – for resources and to locate your state’s insurance department
  • www.iii.org  - The Insurance Information Institute – a guide for resources and tools
  • www.griffithfoundation.org - The Griffith Insurance Education Foundation – resources to study and teach insurance, includes education modules
  • www.aspira.org/insurance-literacy-program - insurance education curriculum

Marketing through Social Media

Facebook.com is a social network service and website with more than 500 million active users.  Agencies can promote their business and events; get found by people who are searching for your products or services; connect and engage with current and potential customers; create a community around your business; promote other content you create, including webinars, blog articles, or other resources.

Agencies can also create a “group” to encourage dialogue, information sharing and accountability for their Financial Education clients.

Twitter.com is a real-time information network that connects businesses to customers in real-time. Businesses use Twitter to quickly share information with people interested in their products and services, gather real-time market intelligence and feedback, and build relationships with customers, partners and influential people.

You can tell your story within your Tweet, or you can think of a Tweet as the headline, and use the details pane to tell the rest with photos, videos and other media content.  For more information, check out Twitter 101 for Businesses.

YouTube.com is the leader in online video, and the premier destination to share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com and across the Internet through websites, mobile devices, blogs, and email.  Agencies can promote their business with videos of client testimonials, upcoming events, available housing, etc.

Housing Counselor's Toolbox

• CounselorMax™ - This NeighborWorks Web application is the premier client management system used by the most advanced housing counseling agencies in the United States. HUD Compliance, other grant and subsidy tracking, education and counseling capabilities have made our system the number one choice of counseling agencies.
• Housing Counselor's Worksheets [xls] - Worksheets to help clients make a monthly budget, make payments on their debt, control their money and save to make down payments.
• www.powerpay.org - an online Web application to help turn debtors into savers.
• www.nefe.org - American Express and the National Endowment for Financial Education, developed the Financial Education Clearinghouse to support the delivery of community-level financial literacy programs to teach and motivate underserved segments of society, (including the newly employed, young workers, individuals moving from welfare to work, and immigrants) to make changes in financial behaviors that will lead to economic independence.

Training Opportunities

• HO209b-rq Deliverying Effective Financial Education For Today's Consumer (Mon-Wed)
  This course addresses the fundamental components to successfully deliver a well-designed financial education program starting with group education and the core content areas for instruction: Banking, Credit, Debt, Assets, Taxes and Insurance. Participants will explore growing industry trends surrounding comprehensive "financial capability" programs, lifestyle changes, counseling, coaching and measuring outcomes.
• HO310: Financial Coaching: Helping Clients Reach Their Goals  (Thur-Fri)
  In this 2-day course participants will learn how coaching differs from and complements financial education, knowledge sharing and counseling.You will gain an understanding of practical coaching techniques using interactive case studies and demonstration activities to learn coaching essentials, client sensitivity, and communication skills.

• ED175 Designing and Implementing Individual Development Account Programs (Thu -Fri)
  In this interactive course, participants get an overview of asset-building and IDAs, then they identify and analyze the key drivers of IDA program design (target markets and outcomes), the nuts and bolts of account structure and potential program services. Participants examine IDA program models, taking into consideration partners, costs, funding sources and collaboration. The course also explores marketing strategies for recruiting accountholders, data collection needs and information management systems.

• NA141 Creating a Path to Self-Sufficiency through Native Integrated Asset Building Strategies
  This one-day course provides an introduction to a variety of institutional and development services related to entrepreneurship, basic financial education, homeownership, etc. Specific asset building strategies like Individual Development Accounts, Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) outreach and free tax preparation are highlighted within this framework. Participants learn how to link these services to help their clients achieve a wide range of financial goals -- including, but not limited to, debt reduction and better savings and spending habits to improve self-sufficiency.

• AM258 Resident Services: Financial Literacy

  This course was jointly developed by NeighborWorks America and Enterprise Community Partners. This one day course is designed to assist Multi-Family Residential Service providers in understanding and identifying the value of developing a Financial Literacy program so that they may develop a comprehensive Financial Literacy Program and effectively assist their residents in becoming more financially educated.

• CB190 Youth Financial Literacy

  The ability to manage one's personal finances is a key life skill for youth to learn and practice. The goal of the course is upon completion, participants will be able to more effectively communicate, engage and implement a youth financial literacy program for youth ages 13 – 20. The course is divided into two parts: (1) reaching youth and (2) teaching youth. The course will provide insight into the teen psyche, marketing techniques for targeting youth, suggested content for a financial literacy program and recommendations for implementing a youth financial literacy program.

Reports

From Financial Education to Financial Capability: Opportunities for Innovation (2010)
As the economy rebounds, one solution for financial success lies in consumers’ ability to take responsibility for their finances through behavior changes as well as increased financial knowledge. Center for Financial Services Innovations (CFSI) proposes, in a new research paper from CFSI sponsored by the Citi Foundation that financial capability becomes the focus in moving towards a new financial landscape. Whereas financial education is a set of provider outputs, financial capability is a set of consumer outcomes. The implications of this research are far-reaching. Becoming financially capable is a critical step toward establishing financial security and bringing America back to prosperity.

Financial Capability in the U.S. (Dec 2009)
Part of the National Financial Capability Study by FINRA Investor Education Foundation, U.S. Department of Treasury and the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy by Applied Research & Consulting LLC.  The purpose of this study was to establish a baseline measure of the ability of Americans to manage their money.  The purpose was to benchmark key measures of financial capability and evaluate how those key measures vary with underlying demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal characteristics.

Using a Financial Coaching Approach to Help Low-Income Families Achieve Economic Success: Challenges and Opportunities for the Field (2010)
In the last decade there has been a growth in for-profit and nonprofit services that use the term “coaching” to provide some form of support on financial issues. This brief describes the current context of financial coaching in its many forms, with a focus on programs delivered by nonprofit community-based asset building programs. 

For more information on NeighborWorks Financial Fitness Program, please contact NeighborWorks Senior Homeownership Specialist Milt Sharp.