Financial Education

Yesterday the White House launched a new Financial Literacy Volunteer Initiative to help connect struggling homeowners with financial counselors and to provide financial education at-large through a nationwide volunteer corps. New America Foundation's Asset Building Program has long called for the creation of a national Financial Services Corps and has made the idea a central component of its financial education policy agenda at both the federal and state level.

The announcement by the White House is… more

Explosive growth in the number and complexity of financial products available to Americans has far outstripped programs aimed at teaching consumers how to choose and use those products, experts said Wednesday at a financial education conference in Oklahoma City.

Consumers have dozens of options unavailable to previous generations in terms of retirement plans, loans and credit cards, said Karen Murrell of the New America Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

"What hasn't changed is the amount of education people get… more

(WASHINGTON, DC, 12/14/06)— In response to the growing complexity of financial services, the persistent need for widespread, effective financial education, and the increasing importance of reducing debt and building wealth by millions of low-, moderate- and middle-income Americans, the New America Foundation’s Asset Building Program is establishing the Financial Services and Education Project, with funding from the Ford Foundation.

“To build and retain personal and community assets, Americans must navigate a financial system that is innovative and robust, but complex… more